This weekend is Rivalry Week for college football. We have all of the big games this weekend. Ohio St vs Michigan, Oregon vs Oregon St, and Florida vs Florida St. But we also get to see if BYU can go to a bowl game. BYU needs one more win to go to a bowl. Getting to a bowl game is huge. It means more time together, more practices, and an extended season for a month. It all comes down to Oklahoma State.
Game Recap vs #14 Oklahoma
BYU ALMOST won the game vs Oklahoma. The Cougars ended up losing the game, 31-24, but it was a close, back and forth game. BYU never led in the game, but was tied 4 times with Oklahoma. In the first half, each team was exchanging blows. The Sooners scored first, followed by BYU, followed by the Sooners, and then followed by BYU. It was 14-14. BYU held Oklahoma to a field goal and then was able to get a field goal of their own as time expired in the first half to make it tied, 17-17, at halftime.
2nd Half Recap
For the majority of the 3rd quarter, neither team scored, until about 6 minutes left in the quarter. BYU got down to the 3 yard line and was putting a great drive together, when they threw a INT at the goal line. Oklahoma took it all the way back for a TD. That sucked the life and momentum out of BYU. BYU should have just ran the ball in. They had ran the ball really well so far up until then. BYU came right back though and scored a TD to tie it up again.
In the 4th quarter, there was only 1 score, a TD by Oklahoma. Oklahoma missed a field goal at the beginning of the 4th quarter giving BYU good field position and an opportunity to take the lead. Jake Retzlaff got hit from his blind side and fumbled the ball and Oklahoma recovered with about 8 minutes left. They went down and scored a TD. BYU got the ball back and went 3 and out. They punted after facing a 4th and 7 with 5 minutes left and never saw the ball again. Oklahoma was able to pick up first down after first down run the clock out.
It was a heart breaking loss. BYU had a lot of opportunities. But they looked much better than the previous 3 weeks. They had a fire in them and was putting an all out effort. Unfortunately when you have 3 turnovers and the other team has 0, you most likely will lose the game. Jake Retzlaff had all 3 of those turnovers. An INT and 2 fumbles. I still think he gives BYU the best chance to win because Aaron Roderick calls a better game when we have a running QB. I expect him to start the last game and clean up those turnovers. Besides the turnovers, he and BYU played a great game. Aidan Robbins had 22 carries for 182 rushing yards. Yes, you read that right! 182 yards! The running game FINALLY looked good.
Game Preview vs #20 Oklahoma State
BYU gets to go from playing the #14 team in the nation at home, to the #20 team in the nation on the road. Such is the life in the Big 12. This is a HUGE game for both teams. BYU is obviously going for 6 wins so that they can go to a bowl game. Oklahoma State, on the other hand, is playing for a chance to go to the Big 12 championship.
If the season was to end right now, Oklahoma State is #2 in the conference and they would get to play Texas in the conference championship. They are #2 because they beat Oklahoma and Kansas State, who also have the same conference record as Oklahoma State. So Oklahoma State wins the tiebreaker because they beat both of them. With that being said, all Oklahoma State has to do to go to the conference championship is beat BYU. One last note, BYU hasnt ended a season on a 5 game losing streak or longer since dropping its final 8 games of the 1955 season. 1955!!! That is a long time ago. Lets hope we dont set a new record there.
Oklahoma State Offense Breakdown
You dont need me to tell you that a team that beat both Oklahoma and Kansas State and is ranked in the top 20, is good. We already know that. Mike Gundy is a great coach. And this team is electric. They dont have an amazing QB. He has 10 TDs and 9 INT on the season and averages 226 passing yards a game. But he just makes plays. When they need a big play or need a 3rd down conversion, he gets it. He is gritty and smart.
But their RB, Ollie Gordon II, is one of the best. He is a finalist for the Doan Walker award, the premier RB of college football. He has 1,414 rushing yards and 15 TDs. BYU as a whole team has 1,122 rushing yards and 12 rushing TDs. He has to be kept in check. The Cowboys have a couple of good receivers in Brennan Presley and Rashod Owens, who both have put up 100 yard receiving games, but their main focus and offense is Gordon. They are still only ranked 55th in the nation in rushing yards per game. They are ranked 44th in passing yards per game. The passing game last week was on fire with 348 passing yards. BYU is ranked 117th in rushing offense and 89th in passing yards per game. But that has changed with last week’s performance and Retzlaff at the helm now.
Oklahoma State Defense Breakdown
Their defense is not great, at least from a stats point of view. They are ranked 106th in rushing yards allowed per game. BYU is currently 109th. They are also ranked 115th in passing yards allowed per game. BYU is 75th. I think this game will hinge a lot on how each defense plays. Will BYU be able to stop the Cowboys offense? Or at least slow it down? Will the Cowboys be able to stop Retzlaff and the new running game BYU has? We could be looking at a similar back and forth game that we saw with Oklahoma.
Prediction
Of course, I think BYU wins this game, IF WE START RETZLAFF. If Slovis starts, I think BYU loses. And I dont think BYU would be dumb enough to start Slovis after what happened last week with Retzlaff and how close BYU was to pulling off the upset. But I have been very wrong before! I have BYU winning this game, 28-24.
BYU Basketball Overview
BYU basketball defeated SE Louisiana by a score of 105-48. Trevin Knell had 18 points and so did Fouss. Robinson had 17 points. In total, 4 guys were in double digit scoring with the other being Spencer Johnson with 11 points. Hall, Atiki, and Saunders all contributed off the bench. They shot 51% from the field overall and 42% from 3. It was another great shooting game! They also only had 5 turnovers.
BYU Insight on Starting 5
Whats been interesting is that Pope has been going with the same starting 5 of Fouss, Waterman, Stewart, Johnson, and Knell. This clearly isnt our best 5 guys out there with Hall and Robinson on the bench, but it has been working out really well having those guys come in off the bench.
BYU vs Morgan State Recap
BYU then beat, on Saturday, Morgan St, by a score of 93-50. Robinson led the way this time with 19 points followed by Fouss with 17 and Waterman with 15. One of my favorite things about this team is that anyone can have a great game and anyone can lead this team in scoring. We dont have one guy that will beat you and is the star. They also have had some great chemistry and continuity. Again, the shot great, going 56% from the field and 35% from 3. A so called off night from 3 for the Cougars as they only shot 35% but they had a better overall shooting %.
Vegas Showdown Tournament Preview
Now some real games and teams are coming up. Enough of the pretty easy games. Other than San Diego State, BYU hasnt played great competition. But this weekend, starting tomorrow, Thanksgiving night, BYU is in the Vegas Showdown tournament. They play tomorrow night and then on Friday night.
They are in it with future conference opponent, Arizona State, Vanderbilt, and NC State. With how BYU has been playing, they should be the favorite to win this tournament. NC State is 3-0 and all of their wins has been against no one big. Vanderbilt is 3-1 with a bad loss to Presbyterian. Arizona State is 2-1 with a loss to Mississippi State. These teams are not bad by any means, but I think BYU is the best team with NC State next. Either way, it should be a battle in both games and hopefully BYU comes out on top and champions. But it will be nice to see them play against other P5 teams.
College Basketball AP Poll
BYU jumped up with 138 votes in the latest college basketball rankings. That was good enough to see them jump up to 27th in the nation. They are just on the outside looking in for the top 25! I did not expect BYU to be this good this year, but it is fun to see them playing so well so far. If BYU can win these next two games and the Vegas Showdown tournament, I would expect them to be ranked on Monday when the new poll comes out.
Big 12 Conference Update
Texas hung on to beat Iowa State on the road, 26-16. Oklahoma hung on to beat BYU on the road 31-24. Kansas State beat Kansas on the road, 31-27, in a back and forth nail bitter of a game. Oklahoma State beat Houston, 43-30. West Virginia put the beat down on Cincinnati, 42-21. TCU destroyed Baylor, 42-17. Texas Tech pulled off a thriller against UCF, 24-23.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Enjoy your holiday and the extra time off and dont forget to watch BYU hoops and football for 3 days straight! Share with all of your friends using this link and subscribe here!
