It won’t count in the Big 12 standings, but it will provide No. 11 Utah top-20 momentum.
Utah hosts Baylor on Saturday in a critical showdown of Big 12 brothers. But because of previous scheduling, this game will not count as a league game. Both teams kind of get a learning mulligan against a conference foe.
In the meantime, 1-0 BYU travels to Dallas for a showdown with 2-0 SMU. The Mustangs are a double-digit favorite over the Cougars in Ford Stadium, a place SMU tends to get fired up in.
This game is a critical contest for BYU’s design to win six games and make it to bowl eligibility.
Baylor-Utah
In last year’s Utah-Baylor game, it was competitive and close, a 20-13 Utah win, but Utah did not have their star, Cam Rising, on the field due to serious knee injury rehabilitation.
The Utah-Baylor series is the end of a home-and-home series scheduled years ago and the Big 12 administration decided to not make it a league game, but let it roll as an out-of-league completion of that contract.
This year, Baylor is rebuilding and although the Bears opened up against Tarleton State and pulled off a 45-3 blowout, they don’t have the firepower to overcome the point-chase atmosphere Rising will create.
It will also be interesting to see how former Baylor (and BYU) basketball player Caleb Lohner performs against his former school. The Utes’ 6-foot-8 tight end will certainly be targeted.
Baylor also doesn’t have the kind of offense that scares Utah’s stout defense. While Dequan Finn, the transfer QB from Toledo, has put up impressive numbers, Morgan Scalley’s defense should be able to pressure and contain him.
Coming into Rice-Eccles Stadium will be too much for Baylor to overcome; Utah’s home-field advantage is an impressive 26-2 over the past five years.
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, who made a reputation for himself as a defensive coach at LSU during a national championship season, has taken over defensive coordinator duties for the Bears. It will be interesting to see what pressures and coverages he draws up for Rising.
BYU-SMU
Perhaps the biggest challenge for BYU in a 41-13 win over Southern Illinois was containing quarterback DJ Williams, who ran 15 times for 121 yards and two touchdowns for a whopping 8.1 yards per carry. Nobody else on SIU’s team gained more than five yards.
The Mustangs, now a member of the ACC, feature two QBs and both can scoot. The starter is Preston Stone, a native of Dallas, who has completed 23 of 39 passes for 332 yards, three touchdowns with one interception so far this year. His backup is Kevin Jennings.
Nose tackle Blake Mangelson said BYU is well aware of its underwhelming effort at stopping Williams last week in LaVell Edwards Stadium and is planning on making corrections.
“It’s a matter of being more aware and fronting them (QBs). He (Williams) was a very good athlete.”
Mangelson expects SMU to use a lot of RPO action with quick passes, which BYU’s front will have to try and stop and raising hands to block passing lanes is part of the technique.
SMU will try to protect a nine-game winning streak at home dating back to 2022. During that time SMU has been explosive at home, averaging 53.9 points a game. The Mustangs can move the ball well, both on the ground and in the air.
BYU has never lost to SMU in four meetings. If they keep the streak alive, it will come down to winning the turnover battle. Under Kalani Sitake, BYU is 30-4 when playing without a turnover.
What to watch in Baylor at Utah: Rising won’t have wide-open wheel-route completions like in the SUU game and will have tighter windows to find his targets.
What to watch in BYU at SMU: Jake Retzlaff will not have as much time to stand, survey and fire at his targets because the Mustangs will bring pressure with a far better front seven.
This week’s picks
- Utah 28, Baylor 17
- USC 37, Utah State 7
- Texas 31, Michigan 28
- Kansas State 24, Tulane 10
- Iowa 21, Iowa State 17
- Kansas 28, Illinois 21
- Oklahoma 42, Houston 9
- Oregon 24, Boise State 21
- Oklahoma State 34, Arkansas 28
- Pittsburgh 42, Cincinnati 14
- UCF 38, Sam Houston State 7
- Nebraska 17, Colorado 14
- Texas Tech 27, Washington State 21
- Mississippi State 45, Arizona State 24
- BYU 28, SMU 24
Last week: 17-1 (.944)