BYU received a boost to No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings, up three spots and in the center of the expanded playoff bracket.
Fresh after narrowly dodging defeat, BYU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) tries to stay unbeaten and in control of its postseason plans when it faces Kansas on Saturday night in Big 12 play at Provo, Utah.
The Cougars are third among the four projected conference champions, moving ahead of Miami of the Atlantic Coast Conference thanks to the Hurricanes’ loss last week at Georgia Tech.
But it barely got here.
BYU was on its way to dropping out of the Top 10 before rallying for a 22-21 victory over host Utah last Saturday night.
The undefeated season seemed to be lost when Jake Retzlaff was sacked at his own 1-yard line on fourth down with 1:29 remaining as the Utes began celebrating their upset victory.
But a defensive holding penalty was called on the Utes and that gave the Cougars renewed life. Retzlaff drove BYU in position for Will Ferrin’s game-winning 44-yard field goal with three seconds left.
While Utah coach Kyle Whittingham and athletic director Mark Harlan were irate — Harlan was fined $40,000 by the Big 12 for criticizing officials, Cougars coach Kalani Sitake was simple in his remarks.
“That’s the game of football,” Sitake said. “You can’t hold people, you know?”
Retzlaff wasn’t dwelling on the controversial play. To him, it is what BYU did with its second chance that decided the game.
“That’s football,” Retzlaff said. “There are many calls in a game that you get, and some you don’t get. At the end of the day, we went down the field with no timeouts, which isn’t an easy feat.”
The end result is that BYU is 9-0 for the second time under Sitake (2020) and fifth time in school history. One of those times was in 1984 when the Cougars won the national championship.
Defensively, BYU is tied for second nationally with James Madison with 16 interceptions. Cornerback Jakob Robinson had his third of the season and 11th of his career against Utah.
Kansas (3-6, 2-4) has won two of its past three games after posting a 45-36 victory over then-No. 17 Iowa State in Kansas City last weekend.
Star running back Devin Neal rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns and became the school’s all-time leader in career rushing yards (3,951), rushing touchdowns (43) and 100-yard outings (18). He broke records held by June Henley (3,841 yards, 41 TDs from 1993-96) and Tony Sands (17 100-yard outings from 1988-91).
Neal grew up as a die-hard Kansas fan who witnessed many uncompetitive seasons. He is a native of Lawrence, the city where the university is located.
“I never, honestly, never would have thought I would get in this position,” Neal said. “So many things kind of just led to this moment. At the time, I just had no idea what it was leading to. That’s what’s most special about it. Doing it with the guys who grew with me in this program as well.
“It’s easy for anyone to quit and leave and go to a different program when things are hard. But they stuck through it. Not everyone can say that they brought literally the worst organizational program out from the mud. That’s something we’re going to live on forever.”
Neal has rushed for 874 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Quarterback Jalon Daniels has passed for 1,816 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
Kansas has two top-notch cornerbacks in Cobee Bryant (13 career interceptions) and Mello Dotson (11). Dotson had a 25-yard pick-six interception against Iowa State to extend his school record to four interception returns for touchdowns.
Daniel threw three touchdown passes when Kansas recorded a 38-27 home win over BYU last season.
