Utah is sitting alone at the top of the Big 12 for the moment, but the race behind the Utes is crowded, volatile and very much alive.
With four weeks left before the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 4 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, seven teams are still within two games of the lead. Utah, BYU, Texas Tech, Arizona, Houston, Baylor and Oklahoma State all remain in the mix, and Saturday’s results only tightened the pressure.
The Utes made the clearest statement of the weekend. No.
3 Utah improved to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 play with a 49-25 win over Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium. Utah is now the conference’s lone unbeaten team, and the No. 3 ranking is its highest since Oct.
18, 2015. The Utes’ highest ranking ever came after the 2008 season, when they beat Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl and moved up to No.
Utah did not leave much room for doubt against a Cincinnati team that had knocked off Texas Tech a week earlier. The Utes jumped out to a 42-6 halftime lead, with Devon Dampier steering the offense and the defense adding two scores of its own.
Dampier finished with 260 passing yards and three touchdowns, and Utah piled up 534 total yards. The win also pushed the Utes up three spots in the Associated Press Top 25.
That sets up the biggest game left on Utah’s schedule: BYU comes to Salt Lake City on Saturday for the Holy War. The Cougars are one game back in the conference race and will try to pull even with their rivals in the loss column.
BYU survived its own scare on Saturday, beating Arizona State 27-20 in Provo, Utah, after last week’s upset loss in Orlando to Central Florida. The Sun Devils started freshmen Jake Fette at quarterback and Cardae Mack at running back, and they made the Cougars work for everything they got.
BYU had six first-half sacks but still could not fully shake loose. The Cougars needed a late 95-yard touchdown drive to hold on and keep pace in the standings. They remain tied with Texas Tech for second place.
“There’s things we need to improve on,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake told reporters following the victory. “We’ll celebrate this and figure things out and try to get back on it and improve for next week, because we’ll need to be for that one.”
Next week is a massive one. A win over Utah would give BYU the head-to-head edge over the Utes and could create a three-way tie near the top of the league, depending on what Texas Tech does against West Virginia.
Texas Tech answered its own setback with a comeback win of its own, taking down Arizona 34-26 and handing the Wildcats their second conference loss. The Red Raiders were down 17-10 at halftime before Tommy Castellanos helped flip the game. He threw two touchdown passes, ran for 117 yards and led Texas Tech to 328 rushing yards overall.
Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 417 yards, but the Wildcats were held to just 12 net rushing yards. Texas Tech improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play, and the result pushed Arizona two games behind Utah. The Wildcats already have conference losses to BYU and Texas Tech.
Arizona still has a chance to shape the race, though. The Wildcats host TCU on Nov. 7 and then welcome Utah to Tucson the following weekend, a stretch that matters both for the Big 12 standings and their College Football Playoff hopes.
Texas Tech’s path looks friendlier by comparison. The Red Raiders still have West Virginia, Oklahoma State, Baylor and TCU left, and none of those teams are ranked right now. With either BYU or Utah guaranteed to take a conference loss Saturday, Texas Tech has a chance to climb without facing another ranked opponent.
Oklahoma State took the weekend’s most painful hit among the contenders. The Cowboys lost 51-49 at Iowa State on a last-second field goal, falling to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. Oklahoma State had grabbed a 49-48 lead with 53 seconds left, but Iowa State drove into range and Kyle Konrardy drilled a 34-yard field goal as time expired.
That loss knocked the Cowboys out of the AP Top 25 and dropped them into a four-way tie for fourth in the Big 12. Their best remaining shot to improve comes Nov. 14, when they host Texas Tech, their only remaining ranked opponent.
Baylor is still hanging around too, and the Bears got a strong start under interim coach Joe Klanderman. They beat UCF 41-9 on Friday, one week after the Knights upset BYU. DJ Lagway threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns as Baylor moved to 5-3 overall and 3-2 in the league.
The schedule, though, is rough. Baylor hosts Iowa State and then runs into three straight ranked teams: No.
7 BYU, No. 13 Texas Tech and No.
17 Houston. Those games offer chances to gain ground directly on the teams above them, but they also leave very little margin for error.
Houston had the weekend off, but the Cougars remain in the hunt at 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play. Their closing slate is more manageable, with Cincinnati, Colorado, West Virginia and Baylor still ahead. The catch is that Houston already has losses to Utah and Texas Tech, which could matter if the standings end in a tie and head-to-head results come into play.
Arizona State is also still positioned to affect the race despite falling to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in conference play. The Sun Devils host Oklahoma State on Nov. 21 and then visit Arizona for the Territorial Cup on Nov. 28, giving them a chance to shake up the path to Arlington.
For now, Utah owns the lead. But with BYU coming to town, Texas Tech rolling into a favorable stretch and four teams bunched at 3-2, the Big 12 race is still wide open.
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