BYU / Utah State Preview

More intriguing than the game against Utah State tonight is what will happen in the polls if BYU wins convincingly. Not that a win over Utah State will be that impressive – more so – it’s what the teams in front of the Cougars are doing this weekend. Here’s the run down:

#15 LSU plays #5 Auburn

#14 Stanford plays #9 Notre Dame

#12 Mississippi plays #6 Texas A&M

#11 Ole Miss plays #3 Alabama

Should any of these teams ranked 11-15 lose by a wide margin against these highly ranked teams, they could fall behind BYU at #18. If Bama, A&M or Auburn lose (as long as they aren’t blown out) they will not drop behind BYU. Also keep in mind that if #19 Nebraska beats #10 Michigan State, they will leap frog BYU. This could be a week where you see the Cougs maybe jump up to #15 or so. This will be the story for the rest of the year as long as BYU keeps winning – that is: is unbeaten BYU really better than a 1 or 2 loss SEC or Pac-12 school. That will become the narrative.

As for tonight:

BYU is a 21 point favorite over Utah State. Kick-off is 8:15 at Lavell Edwards Stadium. Broadcast on ESPN.

BYU should certainly handle Utah State. I would expect them to pile up a ton of rushing yards. The Aggies are not what they’ve been in the past 3 years. It also became official this week that Utah State starting QB, Chuckie Keeton is done for the year. BYU will also get Bronson Kaufusi back on the defensive side of the ball.

Couple side notes:

BYU will retire Jim McMahon’s number tonight

There may not be a ton of students at the ball game tonight. Local band, Neon Trees, announced they are playing a free show in downtown Provo tonight. We’ll see if there are more rockers or jocks in Provo tonight.