The Athletic 77: Why it’s time to start paying close attention to BYU

The Athletic 77: Why it’s time to start paying close attention to BYU
By Chris Vannini
Oct 5, 2020

It’s time to pay attention to BYU.

The Cougars are the westernmost team to have played college football this season, and their games have been late, but they can’t be ignored right now. After a 45-14 win against Louisiana Tech on Friday night, BYU has outscored opponents 148-24.

With a dominant 3-0 start, BYU has moved into the top 10 of this week’s edition of The Athletic 77.

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Quarterback Zach Wilson is completing a national-best 84.5 percent of his passes, the BYU offense is No. 2 in scoring at 49.3 points per game and the defense is No. 4 at 8.0 points per game.

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe had to rebuild nearly the entire schedule after cancellations. That schedule appeared set at eight games, though the quality of the opponents wasn’t the greatest. However, BYU added Boise State and San Diego State to the schedule with the Mountain West’s return. Though BYU wouldn’t be eligible for the Group of 5’s automatic bid to the New Year’s Six, the Cougars could make some noise for a major bowl game on their own if they keep playing like this.

“I’m going to give the coaches talk because it’s really important for our guys and this generation that we can’t look past anything that is coming up next,” head coach BYU Kalani Sitake told reporters after the win. “We like to be consistent with the things we’re doing well and improve on some of the things we’ve made mistakes on. I’m really happy with the performance of our team in all three phases, but we’re going to keep these guys humble and hungry. We still have a lot to prove and there is still a lot more football to be played. We’re not looking past anything, especially this year.”

BYU hosts a 3-1 UTSA team next week, followed by a trip to Houston.

You may have noticed The Athletic 76 is now The Athletic 77. Welcome to the party, Air Force. As I’ve laid out in the past few weeks, these rankings began with the 76 teams intending to play a full(ish) season, and they will grow once more teams play a game. Two weeks from now, I’m not going to compare teams that have played five or six games to those that haven’t played any. Once there is something to a team’s body of work, they will be added. (The exception is Rice, which never postponed its season but did have to delay. The Owls now sit at the bottom.)

There was a lot of shake-up over the weekend. Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 77.

1-10
RankTeamRecordLast
1
3-0
1
2
2-0
2
3
2-0
3
4
2-0
6
5
3-0
5
6
2-0
7
7
3-0
19
8
3-0
11
9
4-0
25
10
3-0
20

Mississippi State, Auburn and Texas drop out of the top 10. Early shockers like Mississippi State’s win at LSU can lead to huge leaps and sharp drops early in the season, and that’s the situation with the Bulldogs following their loss to Arkansas. But that’s the point: These rankings are volatile early by heavily weighing results, and they will shake themselves out as the season goes on.

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I’ll also add that not all ranking separation is equal. There are tiers, and there is a large gap between Notre Dame at No. 6 and Oklahoma State at No. 7 at the moment — probably larger than the gap between No. 7 and the mid-teens. Oklahoma State moves up in part because of its 3-0 start, but also that close call against Tulsa doesn’t look so bad right now after Tulsa won at UCF. Cincinnati, SMU and BYU all jump into the top 10. SMU beat a very good Memphis team, and it’s the only 4-0 team in the country and has not trailed at all this season. Cincinnati has looked solid, and BYU has decimated every team it has played.

11-25
RankTeamRecordLast
11
2-0
13
12
1-1
8
13
2-1
15
14
3-0
23
15
2-1
30
16
2-0
21
17
1-1
64
18
1-1
4
19
1-1
17
20
1-1
37
21
2-1
9
22
1-2
16
23
2-0
26
24
1-1
10
25
2-0
24

North Carolina is 2-0 but barely escaped Boston College. Louisiana jumps up despite not playing, thanks to Iowa State’s win against Oklahoma. Kansas State also stays ahead of Iowa State because the Wildcats beat the Sooners on the road.

In results-based rankings, why shouldn’t Arkansas be in the top 25 right now? The Hogs beat Mississippi State on the road, and LSU couldn’t do that at home. Again, this will sort itself out, but after that win and the fight against Georgia the week before, Sam Pittman’s team deserves some love. Tennessee looks good, but the Vols’ visit to Georgia this week will provide a better read on them. Virginia Tech has put up impressive rushing numbers twice now with a shorthanded roster. When that team is at full-strength, it could be really good. Memphis’ loss at SMU came on a last-second field goal, so the Tigers don’t fall out of the top 25.

26-50
RankTeamRecordLast
26
2-1
28
27
2-1
39
28
3-1
18
29
1-1
22
30
1-1
42
31
0-2
31
32
3-1
33
33
1-1
27
34
2-1
29
35
1-2
32
36
2-1
38
37
1-1
34
38
3-0
43
39
1-2
14
40
1-1
70
41
2-1
12
42
3-1
35
43
1-0
77
44
0-2
36
45
1-2
40
46
1-2
41
47
1-2
45
48
1-2
46
49
1-1
62
50
2-1
49

Pitt, UCF, Texas A&M and Arkansas State drop out of the top 25. Though Arkansas State’s win at Kansas State was certainly big, the 52-23 loss at Coastal Carolina on Saturday causes the Red Wolves to take a big tumble. Tulsa makes a big jump from near the bottom after its win at UCF, paired with that earlier narrow loss against Oklahoma State.

Ole Miss moves up after an extra-point win at Kentucky, West Virginia hops Baylor after its win and Air Force makes its rankings debut at No. 43 after an impressive 40-7 win against Navy.

51-77
RankTeamRecordLast
51
1-0
54
52
3-0
57
53
1-2
59
54
1-2
47
55
2-1
48
56
0-0
51
57
0-0
53
58
0-2
55
59
1-2
52
60
2-1
50
61
1-3
68
62
1-2
44
63
3-1
56
64
0-2
58
65
1-1
60
66
1-3
61
67
3-1
63
68
0-4
65
69
1-2
66
70
0-2
67
71
1-2
69
72
0-3
71
73
0-2
72
74
0-1
74
75
0-4
75
76
0-4
76
77
0-0
73

Houston, Temple and Rice still haven’t played, but they remain in the rankings as teams that originally planned to play a full season. Houston and Temple are scheduled to play this week. Southern Miss earned its first win at North Texas, but the Golden Eagles remain behind South Alabama and Louisiana Tech because of head-to-head results. Navy falls after its loss to Air Force, meaning Tulane falls a bit with the Midshipmen. After a narrow loss to Georgia Southern, literally inches away from the winning touchdown, Louisiana Monroe gets out of the bottom spot, which is now filled by Rice, which hasn’t played.

(Photo of Zach Wilson: Rick Bowmer / Pool Photo / USA Today)

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Chris Vannini

Chris Vannini covers national college football issues and the coaching carousel for The Athletic. A co-winner of the FWAA's Beat Writer of the Year Award in 2018, he previously was managing editor of CoachingSearch.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisVannini