After back-to-back losses essentially eliminated BYU from College Football Playoff contention, the Cougars must win their season finale against Houston on Saturday in Provo, Utah, and then hope for favorable scenarios to unfold to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game and keep its slim CFP hopes alive.
BYU (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) fell into a four-way tie atop the league with its 28-23 road loss to Arizona State and fell five spots in the CFP rankings to No. 19, three behind the Sun Devils and one below Iowa State, both 6-2 in the Big 12. No. 25 Colorado is also tied for first in the league. Arizona State and Iowa State are the most likely title-game participants based on projections.
“All I care about is focusing on the seniors and trying to control the things we can control, which is how we play this weekend and how we prepare, and then we’ll just see what happens afterward,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “The goal is to try and go 1-0 this week. That’s got to be our primary goal and then we’ll deal with the results of how that affects everything else from then on.”
BYU was undefeated before an upset home loss to Kansas on Nov. 16. The Cougars surrendered prime position with a second loss to Arizona State, forcing a reset of their goals.
“Obviously we would like the situation we’re in to be better but I don’t know how many thought we’d be sitting here at 9-2 at this time,” Sitake said. “But now we’re dealing with reality, which is we’re sitting here in this position and we can control what we can control, which is this week.”
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff passed for 346 yards last week, two off his season high. But he has thrown three picks to just two touchdowns in the Cougars’ pair of losses.
Houston (4-7, 3-5 Big 12) will conclude a disappointing first season under coach Willie Fritz, whose otherworldly success at Tulane did not immediately translate. Houston’s 20-10 loss to Baylor last Saturday marked its second consecutive defeat, which stifled the momentum generated by three wins in four games before a 24-point loss at Arizona on Nov. 15.
“This is our bowl game in my opinion,” Fritz said. “We want to do the best we possibly can in preparation and go out and play great on Saturday night, national TV, in front of a full house I imagine.”
Fritz on Tuesday announced the dismissal of offensive coordinator Kevin Barbay. Quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Shawn Bell was named interim offensive coordinator and will handle the play-calling duties against BYU.
Houston enters its season finale last among 134 FBS teams in scoring at 13.6 points per game and 129th in total offense with 291.5 yards per game. Current starting quarterback Zeon Chriss has amassed just 668 passing yards with four touchdowns and seven picks, though he’s added 376 yards and two scores on the ground.
Before relieving Barbay of his duties, Fritz outlined how the Cougars might cultivate more success on offense against BYU.
“There are some things we’re looking at this week but more importantly, we’ve got to do a great job with the execution,” Fritz said. “For that to be as good as you want it to be you’ve got to work on it all week.”
