BYU football will be playing Colorado in their Bowl game on December 28th at 5:30pm MT on ABC. This is a big game for BYU for multiple reasons.
First, BYU gets to play a team in the top 25 to close out the season. In case you forgot, BYU is #17, and with a win, could finish the season in the top 15.
Secondly, it could be BYU’s most watched football game in the 100 year history of BYU football. Colorado has consistently drawn a lot of interest and viewers because of their coach and who they have at QB and WR/CB. This bowl game is ranked by numerous media like SI Sports, CBS Sports, and other media as the #1 Bowl Game outside of the CFP. BYU vs Colorado is the only bowl game with two ranked teams going against each other outside of the CFP.
Next, BYU is now facing the projected #1 pick in next years NFL draft in QB Shadeur Sanders and recent Heisman winner WR/CB Travis Hunter. Thats a lot. Let me read that to you again. BYU will face the #1 projected pick in QB Sanders AND this year’s Heisman winner in WR/CB Hunter. Those are two separate guys. Not the same guy. That will be a big challenge. But it also attracts a lot of attention and views.
Lastly, I am excited to see how BYU’s defense does. BYU’s defense is 1st in the Big 12 in total points allowed. Colorado’s offense is 1st in the Big 12 in total points scored. One has to give. Lets just hope its not BYU’s defense.
Game Preview vs #23 Colorado
With Christmas next week, I wanted to give a preview of the game vs Colorado. I have already set up why this game could be the best game outside of the CFP games, but lets take a deeper dive into Colorado.
Colorado Offense
We all know about Colorado’s offense. They are good. They have the projected #1 pick in their QB and this year’s Heisman winner in their WR/CB. Yes, he plays both wide receiver and corner back. That is mostly why he won the Heisman. Colorados MO is to pass the ball. They air it out and they air it out far and long. Sanders average completion yards this year is 8.6. For reference, Retzlaff’s average completion this year is 8.1.
Most of this is because Sanders is a ridiculous QB. He is a complete pocket passer who is able to stand in the pocket and deliver the football. He isnt great when pressured, but can stand in the pocket for a long time.
This also might be BYU’s toughest opponent in terms of the WR group. Obviously, they have Heisman winner Travis Hunter, but they also have Lajohntay Wester who has 880 yards receiving and 10 TDs, and Will Sheppard who has 617 receiving yards and 6 TDs. For reference, Chase Roberts has 843 receiving yards and 4 TDs, and Darius Lassiter has 679 receiving yards and 4 TDs. Colorado basically has a Chase Roberts and Darius Lassiter on their team AND Travis Hunter, the Heisman winner at WR. I expect Colorado to use their skill players at WR and get them involved early.
Colorado Defense
Colorado’s defense is their weak link. They dont have a great defense and most of their games against good teams like Kansas St, Baylor, and Kansas have been shootout type games. With the exception of their last game of the season against Oklahoma St, where they allowed 0 points, this defense for the whole month of November and December havent allowed less than 23 points per game.
Their best positon and area where they excel is up front. They are able to get a great pass rush. That could be worrisome for Jake Retzlaff as he is not as good when pressured. BYU has to stop the Buffs pash rush in order to win this game. They have 9 guys with 2 or more sacks this season and their top 3 guys are all DEs.
So BYUs OL will have to stop the penetration from the defensive line. This doesnt bode well as two of BYU’s offensive linemen are supposed to be out with Keim and Jatta nursing injuries. Makasini, Mitchell, Lupaho, and Leausa who have all started at some point in the season should take over at those positions.
Prediction
This game is going to be hard for BYU. It might even get into blow out warning if BYU does not come ready to play on offense or defense. BYU tends to start games slow and if they do, they could be in real trouble. The pass rush on defense and passing game on offense for Colorado will come at BYU fast. BYU has to be ready. But I expect BYU to be ready. This is a great opportunity for them to close the season out with a win and finish the season in the top 15. If they do that, with how many starters are coming back for next year, BYU could start the preseason in the top 25.
I will never predict a BYU loss, even though this could get ugly for BYU if they are not ready to play. Still, I think BYU will give a good fight because Colorados offense has been slowed down at times and they may be thinking about the NFL already. I think BYU wins by 4, 31-27.
BYU Basketball Game Recaps
Fresno St Recap
BYU played Fresno St last Wednesday night and came out with a win, 95-67. It was a great win for BYU. Egor Demin was out with a sprained knee and was not playing. Demin should be back for BYU’s first conference game against Arizona St on New Year’s Eve. Knell took Demins spot in the starting 5. He was on fire to start the game. Knell had 22 points to lead the team. He shot 4-6 from 3 and also had 10 rebounds to record a double double! All 5 starters scored in double digits for the team.
The team looked much better in this game. The offense was flowing and guys were moving and cutting and the defense was aggressive and the communication was much better. The only negative from this game was BYU had 17 turnovers. Thats a lot of mistakes that you have to clean up.
Wyoming Recap
BYU’s next game was against Wyoming last Saturday night. Egor Demin was still out for this game, but BYU still won 68-49. This game was a little closer throughout but BYU ultimately pulled away at the end of the game. Knell again was the leading scorer for the team. He had 15 points and was 3-4 from 3.
At the beginning of the game, Richie Saunders, got hit in the head and mouth area and didnt return to the game. He had a concussion and busted lip. With 2 starters out in Saunders and Demin, Mawot Mag stepped up. He had 11 points and played lockdown defense on Wyomings star player. Baker also helped ignite the offense with 11 points from him.
BYU’s next game is against Florida A&M this Friday at 7pm MT on ESPN+. This will be the the last game before BYU starts their conference schedule on New Years Eve against Arizona St. So this will be an important game as BYU will have an 11 day rest period between the Florida A&M game and the Arizona St game.
BYU Football News
Transfer Portal Signing
With the transfer portal world that we live in, anything can happen. Crazy enough, the transfer portal opens before the season even ends. Someone has to change that because it is ridiculous. But, BYU did get a commitment from TE Carsen Ryan. He was at Utah last year. He transferred to Utah last year from UCLA after spending two years there. His career stats are pretty good. At UCLA he had just short of 300 receiving yards and 3 TDs and at Utah last year he had 113 receiving yards and 1 TD.
He is great blend of a receiving and blocking TE and does both well. He also is a big body at 6’4 and 256 lbs. Its another weapon that BYU will use and hopefully utilize more next year.
Team Updates on Chase Roberts and Jack Kelly
The other news and rumors is that Chase Roberts and Jack Kelly are coming back for their final years. This was up in the air for both of them due to NFL interest. But the word on the street is that both are coming back. Chase Roberts spoke today with media after practice and he said that he will announce his decision in the next couple of days on social media. With his announcement coming before the bowl game, I think it shows that he is coming back. That would be huge for the WR room and could indicate why Kody Epps decided to leave with a ton of young talent in the WR room too.
The other interesting thing about this is that Jack Kelly is supposedly coming back. Shortly after word got out that he might be coming back, former 4 star recruit and current freshman Aisea Moa announced he was transferring from BYU. This one hurts a little as Moa showed good flashes last year and was a young, good recruit who could develop into something special. But playing time and other young studs likely meant Moa wasnt going to get a lot of playing time.
With Kelly supposedly coming back, BYU will have all of their starting LBs back next year in Kelly, Glasker, and Taggert. Not to mention that there are young studs with a ton of potential in the LB room in Kaufusi, Esera, and Hall.
