Brigham Young Cougars head coach Kalani Sitake and the rest of the BYU division begin to celebrate when they defeat Utah in an NCAA football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, September 11 of 2021. BYU won 26-17, ending a new losing streak game against the Utes. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
I TRY – The day started so promising for the Pac-12: Oregon did what the conference didn’t do in a long time.
The Ducks entered enemy territory against a top 5 program and won the victory as the best team against Ohio State. The impact of the game, however, did not make its way to the rest of the conference.
Washington forgot how to play football, USC dropped a conference game against a Stanford team that was hit by the state of Kansas last week, California lost in a game near TCU, Arizona was destroyed by a Mountain West conference team and Utah was overtaken by rival BYU.
The Pac-12 roller coaster ride continues, but it leaves fewer teams with a chance to qualify this week on my Associated Press Top 25 vote. I moved Oregon to No. 6 for its impressive win, but I left USC and Utah in the rankings completely.
- State of Ohio not bad at all. Offense is not necessarily the problem of the state of Ohio. CJ Stroud is a promising quarterback for the Buckeyes and will have a great future there, but he still has a long way to go. Sometimes he had a little too much zipper on the ball, which resulted in knocked down passes, including a late interception. But other times it was money. The Buckeyes’ problem is their defense. Oregon exploited the running game, especially off the edge, and Ohio State could do little about it. The Buckeyes still have talent, but it’s a matter of putting it all together.
- Iowa he claimed state supremacy, though it was no great surprise. Sure, the Hawkeyes were the lowest team, but they have a lot of talent that will be a force in the Big Ten. Iowa State was expected to be one of the best teams in the Big 12 – and still can be – but a state rival outscored them at home. Iowa could … I could – be good enough to fight Ohio State.
- Texas A&M it took a long time to get a touchdown against Colorado. Sure, the Buffaloes are better than many expected, but there’s no reason for Texas A&M to wait until the end of the game to get their first and only touchdown of the game. It was enough in the end, but not enough to keep his rank in the top 5, I think. The thing is, they will probably recover and have a solid display throughout the season. But for now, they go down a bit.
- Oklahoma State you can still qualify, but there are better teams. I’ve had the Cowboys ranked in my preseason and Week 2 polls, but I decided to change them this week. They remain undefeated, but they haven’t been too convincing and there are teams, in my opinion, that have proven more and deserve to be ranked. I still have them in the bubble, so I don’t lose everything.
Checking: LSU, Miami, Oklahoma State, Texas, USC, Utah
Moving to: Arkansas, Auburn, BYU, Coastal Carolina, Michigan, TCU
In consideration: Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, UCF
If you can’t see my ballot then click here.