No. 18 BYU goes for back-to back 6-0 starts, Arizona already matched win total of Big 12 debut
Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:
Game of the week
No. 18 BYU (5-0, 2-0) at Arizona (4-1, 1-1), Saturday, 8 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
The Cougars are 5-0 for the second year in a row, and fourth time in six seasons under coach Kalani Sitake. BYU’s 9-0 start last year included a 41-19 win over Arizona. BYU freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier has seven TDs and only one interception while completing 79 of 115 passes (68.7%). He threw for 351 yards and ran for 43 last week against West Virginia.
Arizona is the nation’s only team that hasn’t allowed a passing touchdown and tops the Big 12 allowing 736 yards passing, one yard fewer than BYU. Noah Fifita has 13 TDs and three interceptions. The Wildcats have already matched their overall win total from last year’s disappointing Big 12 debut of 4-8.
The undercard
No. 21 Arizona State (4-1, 2-0) at Utah (4-1, 1-1), Saturday, 10:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Both teams are coming off an open date. The defending Big 12 champion Sun Devils have won both of their conference games 27-24. Jesus Gomez is the first Big 12 kicker since 2015 with game-winning field goals in consecutive games: a 43-yarder on the final play at Baylor, and a 23-yarder with 1:14 left at home against TCU.
None of the Utes’ games have been close. Their wins have been by an average margin of 36 1/2 points, including 48-14 at West Virginia in their last game to rebound from a 34-10 home loss to Texas Tech.
Impact players
— TCU QB Josh Hoover has 57 touchdown passes in 24 career starts after throwing four more in a 35-21 win over Colorado, when he ran for the other score. He has 1,517 yards and 15 TDs passing this season for the Horned Frogs (4-1, 1-1 Big 12), who play at Kansas State (2-4, 1-2).
— Brendan Sorsby has multiple TD passes in four consecutive games for Cincinnati (4-1, 2-0), which hosts UCF (3-2, 0-2). Sorsby has been sacked only once while passing for 1,257 yards and 12 TDs with one interception.
Inside the numbers
Jordyn Tyson has a TD catch in all five games, the longest streak by an Arizona State player to begin a season since Keith Poole’s six in a row in 1996. The last Big 12 player with a longer streak was CeeDee Lamb’s six for Oklahoma in 2009. … Oklahoma State (1-4, 0-2) has lost its last 12 games against Big 12 opponents, a streak that began with a 49-21 loss to Texas in the 2023 Big 12 championship game. The Cowboys have allowed at least 38 points in each of their last 10 conference games. They host Houston (4-1, 0-1). … No. 22 Iowa State (5-1, 2-1) has won nine of its last 12 true road games in the Big 12. The Cyclones play at Colorado (2-4, 0-3), which already has more conference losses than last year.
Good on offense and defense
Ninth-ranked Texas Tech (5-0, 2-0) plays its first game as an AP top 10 team since 2013 when hosting Kansas (4-2, 2-1). The Red Raiders rank second among FBS teams averaging 48.6 points a game, and fourth defensively giving up only 11.2 points per game. The last Big 12 team to start 5-0 with an average winning margin of at least 37 points was Baylor (42 points in 2015). BYU and Utah are also top 25 among FBS teams in both scoring offense and defense.
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