By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
Entering Week 5, it appeared as if once again another team had taken the position of conference kingpin, as the Utah Utes entered the week with a showdown against an Arizona team that looked lackluster for their first three games of the season.
Oklahoma State had previously looked to be the team at the top but a home loss to Utah had set them back. Kansas State, following a win over Arizona, was the clear national team to beat in the conference before a thrashing on the road against BYU.
And once again, a team many consider to be the most consistent and overall most talented suffered a setback as Arizona came into Salt Lake City and dominated the Utes a 23-10 victory that never truly felt close.
With the volatility of the teams at the top of the conference, there’s one team that has flown under the radar of the national media as a true threat but has been the most consistent so far and that’s the Iowa State Cyclones.
Through their first four games, the Cyclones have used a stout defense led by Beau Freyler, Kooper Ebel, and J.R. Singleton to hold opponents to an average of seven points per contest. Offensively, Rocco Becht and his connection with receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins has created one of the best passing attacks in the nation and with three home games in the month of October, Iowa State has a chance to climb up the rankings and be in position to make the conference title game entering November.
Travis Hunter, Mr. College Football
Through the first five weeks of the college football season, no player has personified the game of college football than Colorado’s Travis Hunter.
Whether it’s locking down the opposing team’s top receiver at cornerback or catching touchdowns at wide receiver, Hunter’s ability to do any and everything on the football field makes him a special athlete that is equivalent to Shohei Ohtani in college football as a top prospect regardless of the position he’s playing.
Following an impressive interception against UCF on Saturday, Hunter struck the famous “Heisman” pose, an award that as long as Colorado keeps winning seems more and more likely to go to Boulder, Colorado for the second time in the illustrious history of the award.
BYU, contender or just solid?
BYU’s perfect start to the season continued with a 34-28 victory over Baylor on Saturday in a game that was out of reach for the Bears for 50 minutes of game time but was a nail biter for the games final 10 minutes.
Outside of the impressive victory against Kansas State at home, BYU hasn’t looked the part of a conference contender, two wins over below average opponents and a lackluster offensive performance against SMU have made BYU what the Cougars are so far. But, if the Cougars are truly contenders we’ll know quickly coming off the bye week.
The Cougars host Arizona and Oklahoma State off the bye before traveling to UCF before their second bye week. If BYU was to head into their second bye 8-0 or 7-1 before they play Utah in the Holy War it could be the biggest matchup in the history of the rivalry with a potential playoff and conference title spot on the line.
The ‘Cats are back
Arizona’s victory over No. 10 Utah on Saturday was a referendum on what the Wildcats had appeared to be in their first three games. Northern Arizona gave Arizona all they could handle, the defense struggled to stop New Mexico, and Kansas State made a preseason contender look like a complete pretender.
With a bye week entering the game, the Wildcats made multiple changes most notably deepening the defensive line rotation, getting tight end Keyan Burnett more involved, and taking play calling duties away from Dino Babers and giving them to Passing Game Coordinator/Tight Ends coach Matt Adkins.
All of those changes got the Wildcats on track and once again Arizona looks like a balanced machine that can win the Big-12 once again. With a showdown against Texas Tech this Saturday, a road trip to BYU looming, and a battle at home against Colorado coming in the next few weeks, the Wildcats appear to have found their stride.
Game of the Week: Texas Tech at Arizona, 8 p.m., Fox
A decent bit of teams are on their bye across the conference but this is still a highly consequential matchup in the desert this weekend.
Both teams have started off strong in conference play with the Red Raiders having knocked off Arizona State and Cincinnati already. For Texas Tech this is their toughest conference opponent before a trip to Iowa State at the beginning of November, if the Red Raiders are able to win this game, it is likely Texas Tech will enter November 7-1 and undefeated in conference play.
For Arizona, it’s important for the Wildcats to take care of teams they are better than as their toughest stretch appears to be done on the schedule but with potential landmines littered throughout the schedule. The winner of this game is likely to have their chances of reaching Arlington for the conference title game in December be bolstered.
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