The final week of the college football season is here and there is still plenty left to play for with conference play in full swing. One of the most important games of the weekend took place in Provo, Utah as the BYU Cougars hosted the Houston Cougars.
BYU was fresh off a tough loss to Arizona State on the road while Houston came off a loss to Baylor at home. While this game may not have seemed important on paper, it was massive due to Big 12 tiebreakers and determined which team will play Arizona State next weekend in Arlington. In the end, BYU won 30-18. Here are my three takeaways from the game.
BYU’s Physicality
The last few weeks have been shaky for the BYU Cougars but on Saturday night they looked a little like their old selves. BYU ran the football with authority as they racked up 189 yards and averaged almost five yards per carry. Jake Retzlaff didn’t need to do much through the air because of the ground game.
Defensively, BYU was dominant. They gave up an early touchdown but then they held Houston to just 11 points in the final three quarters of the game. Houston is known for running the football a lot, but BYU did an excellent job slowing them down as they held them to just 94 rushing yards on 37 carries.
Houston’s Season is Over
The Cougars were eliminated from bowl contention last weekend after their loss to Baylor. But they did have a chance to spoil BYU’s 10-win season on the road. This team really didn’t do anything great, but I will say that they fought every step of the way. They didn’t quit and they hung in there for four quarters in the Big 12’s toughest environment.
This team wasn’t expected to do much in year one under head coach Willie Fritz, but I will say that they got better as the season went on. They weren’t some pushover team that many of us thought they would be. This team is scrappy, and they have fight in them. They aren’t going to roll over for anyone and I feel confident that Willie Fritz is the right man to build this program. I think a lot of teams found out that you better catch this Houston squad early in the year before they start figuring things out later.
What Could Have Been
A little over two weeks ago people were talking about BYU going to 12-0 and playing for a Big 12 title and a spot in the College Football Playoff. They were playing well on both sides of the ball and won five of their first eight games by double digits. BYU put a beatdown on Kansas State back in September and then went on the road to beat Baylor the following week.
But since the Kansas game, everything has fallen apart for the Cougars. For starters, quarterback Jake Retzlaff was playing well and playing mistake-free football. That has changed over the last couple of weeks. On top of that, the defense has had some lapses and penalties have also been an issue. Maybe this team peaked too early or maybe they just played with fire too many times and got burned.
I know that this BYU team wasn’t picked to do much this season and surprised everyone this year. A 10-win season is definitely something to be happy about but there will still be that regret about what could have been if they would have kept playing well. Who knows where they could have ended up?
