By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Another week has come and gone in the most entertaining conference in the NCAA.
This past week saw the Heisman trophy race get clearer, the conference championship race get murkier, and the sudden loss of one of the oldest players in all of college football. This is the Big 12 week in review.
Tempe turnaround continues
Friday night kicked off the week for the conference as Utah traveled to Arizona State for the annual “blackout” game in Tempe.
Entering the game, the majority of the conversation centered around whether or not seventh year senior quarterback Cam Rising would be available for the Utes after missing the previous three games due to a hand injury. Rising got the start but clearly wasn’t his normal self as an opportunistic Sun Devil defense led by senior linebacker Caleb McCullough intercepted Rising three times as the Utah offense was held to 19 points in a 27-19 Arizona State victory.
For the Sun Devils, running back Cam Skattebo once again ran Arizona State to victory as his second half runs of 50 yards and 47 yards, both of which were for touchdowns, clinched a victory that puts his team on the cusp of making a bowl appearance after back-to-back seasons finishing with a 3-9 record.
For Utah, the conference championship hopes of a team that most sharpied in to make a run to Arlington seem to be completely off the table, especially with the news that came out Monday that Rising will be out for the season after suffering a knee injury.
CFP Cougs?
Entering the season, the BYU Cougars were picked in the preseason conference media poll to finish as the No. 13 team in the conference (full transparency I had them finishing No. 14).
Now, through Week 7, no team has been as dominant in the Big 12 than the Cougars, who rolled through Arizona in an electric environment at Lavell Edwards Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the Big Noon Saturday crew live from Provo pregame and Fox’s A-Team calling the game, BYU put on a show on both sides of the ball as the Cougar defense forced Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita into four turnovers in one of his worst college games so far. The offense picked apart the Wildcat secondary and linebacking group in a second half performance that saw BYU step on Arizona’s neck until the very end.
For the Cougars, as the rest of the conference cannibalizes its playoff and conference championship chances, BYU now is in the driver's seat to get to Arlington and possibly win the Big 12 conference. It's a far cry from what their preseason expectations were.
The two biggest tests for BYU still remain however as the Cougars still have road trips to rival Utah at the beginning of November and a trip to Tempe to face a strong Arizona State team. If the Cougars can get past those tests, it’s likely BYU is the first team with or without a conference title to crash the college football playoff in the expanded 12 team format.
“Perfect Timing” for a comeback
As other matchups throughout the country were the crescendo on the best slate of college football games the season has seen so far, a back and forth battle in Boulder was the perfect ending to the week.
Colorado, early in the contest lost “Mr. Do It All” Travis Hunter to an injury, and not long after fellow wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr left the game as well. Sheduer Sanders had to adjust the offense with his two biggest weapons down, as Kansas State behind their rushing attack from DJ Giddens and quarterback Avery Johnson’s connection with Jayce Brown jumped out to a 21-7 lead. Sanders would establish a connection with LaJohntay Webster and Omarion Miller, who would also leave the game to injury as the Buffaloes outscored the Wildcats 21-3 to take a 28-24 lead with 3:12 to go following an interception from Colton Hood.
Johnson and the Wildcats would get the ball back and would find Brown wide open strolling down the sidelines, where he’d pull in the game winning touchdown and proceed to taunt the celebrity section at the game that included NBA stars Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Carmelo Anthony, amongst others.
Game of the week: Colorado at Arizona, 1PM, Fox
This, without a doubt, is the most consequential game on the Big 12 slate this week. For Colorado, the Buffaloes, even after the close loss to Kansas State, still have an outside shot at the conference championship. But this game is crucial for their chances of making a bowl game as tough road trips to both Lubbock against Texas Tech and Kansas City to face Kansas still loom as does home showdowns against Utah and Oklahoma State.
For Arizona, this game is crucial to avoid a complete bottoming out and collapse for coach Brent Brennan and the Wildcats. Entering the year, the Wildcats were considered conference contenders and ranked inside the top 25. But after a rough 3-3 start, the finger pointing has started in Tucson and a loss to Colorado could unravel everything that has been built following the departure of Kevin Sumlin.
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