The Big 12’s balance sheet shifted in a hurry Saturday, and Utah wound up standing tallest when the dust settled.
No. 10 Utah walked into its matchup with No.
14 Houston already watching chaos unfold around the league. Earlier in the day, rival No.
2 BYU lost on the road to UCF. Then No.
8 Texas Tech, the reigning Big 12 champion, turned in a rough outing against Cincinnati. By kickoff, only three unbeaten teams were left in college football: Miami, UCLA and the Utes.
Utah didn’t look like a team ready to seize that spotlight in the first half. The Utes went to the locker room scoreless, managed more three-and-outs than red zone trips and spent the opening 30 minutes fighting through the kind of inexperience that can show up in a big moment.
But the second half changed everything.
After falling behind 10-0 midway through the third quarter, Utah needed just one quick burst to settle in. Devon Dampier produced 75 yards on five straight plays by himself - two passes and three runs - and the Utes were suddenly on the board just 2:21 later.
On the next possession, Dampier pushed Utah into Houston territory through the air, then Daniel Bray and Wayshawn Parker helped finish the job on the ground. That set up a five-yard touchdown run and Utah’s first lead of the day.
From there, the Utes closed with the kind of timely execution that separates contenders from everyone else. Utah dialed up a sneaky blitz that rattled Houston quarterback Conner Weigman and produced a strip-sack deep in Houston territory. Dampier finished the sequence with another score, and Utah’s defense did the rest to seal the 21-13 win.
The final score told part of the story. The control Utah showed told the bigger one.
According to Game on Paper, 59% of Utah’s plays were successful, which puts the Utes in the 96th percentile. Their rushing success stood out even more, landing in the 93rd percentile. That came even though Utah was missing a key offensive lineman and had turned over all five starting offensive linemen from last season.
The win extended Utah’s streak to 13 games, the longest active run at the FBS level.
Even after beating Houston, Utah is expected to stay behind BYU as the Big 12’s top-ranked team. The Cougars still have that win over No.
2 Notre Dame, plus a victory over Arizona that keeps looking better. Still, the Utes should move past Texas Tech and put themselves in line for an AP Top 5 push.
The schedule still has plenty left in it. Utah has BYU and Arizona coming up, and the Houston win gives the Utes room to split those games and stay alive in the Big 12 title race.
After finishing last season as maybe the best two-loss team in the country, there is urgency here to get this version right. And after losing three straight to the Cougars, finally getting BYU in Salt Lake City remains the big priority.
Utah was supposed to become the Big 12’s new standard-bearer when it left the Pac-12. It took two years and a coaching change, but the Utes are now climbing to the top of the league.
In Other News...
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Baylors decision to move on from Dave Aranda after seven seasons has already started rippling beyond Waco, because any Power Four opening in Texas tends to touch a few different programs before it gets filled. Athletic director Doug McNamee said a change in leadership was necessary, and the search figures to draw plenty of speculation as Baylor looks for a coach who can steady the program and restore momentum in the Big 12.
For Houston, the uncomfortable part is that one of the names under consideration is Slade Nagle, the Cougars offensive coordinator. Even without a hire in hand, that possibility alone creates a familiar coaching-search wrinkle for a team that would prefer stability on its own sideline, especially while Baylor sorts through a list of candidates and weighs its next move. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Just Raised A Brutal Question About Its Big 12 Hopes
Houstons trip to Rice-Eccles Stadium ended with a 21-13 loss to Utah, a result that put an early dent in No. 14 Houstons Big 12 momentum. The Cougars had chances to make it a different kind of afternoon, but their offense never found much rhythm against an undefeated Utes team that controlled stretches of the game and finished with the edge in yardage.
The trouble started to pile up when key pieces were knocked out of the plan, leaving Houston shorthanded at a bad time against a physical defense. Even so, the Cougars still had late opportunities to flip the result, only to come away empty, and now the bigger question is how quickly they can steady the offense before the conference race gets any tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Pat McAfees Utah Blowup Gave Houston Fans An Unexpected Moment
Pat McAfee managed to turn a routine College GameDay prediction into a small side story for Houston fans, and it started with his choice in the Cougars favor over Utah. The former NFL player and current media personality has never been shy about making himself part of the broadcast, but this one took on a sharper edge after he publicly leaned toward Houston and set off a reaction from Utah supporters.
The back-and-forth only got more pointed from there, with the tension tracing back to a frosty exchange involving a kicking contest contestant and a University of Utah Instagram post that took aim at McAfee. For Houston fans, it was a strange little bonus in a week that already had enough built-in energy, even if the full mess between McAfee and Utah still feels like it has another chapter coming. [Read more 🡒]