BYU's Wins Over Kansas State and SMU Have Aged Well

Casey Lundquist | Oct 27, 2024

BYU QB Jake Retzlaff drops back against Kansas State / BYU Photo

On Saturday, no. 11 BYU handled UCF to improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in Big 12 play. As the calendar turns to November, BYU is firmly in the hunt for a College Football Playoff bid. BYU can guarantee a spot in the playoff by winning the Big 12 championship. If the Cougars are not Big 12 champions, they could also earn a spot as an at-large team if their record and resume is good enough.

In terms of resumes, BYU has a really good one right now thanks to wins over ranked teams SMU and Kansas State. However, BYU's resume nearly took a few blows on Saturday night as SMU and Kansas State were moments away from losing. Instead, both SMU and Kansas State made enough plays to survive in games against Duke and Kansas. With those wins, SMU and Kansas State are both 7-1 overall and 14-0 in games against everyone besides BYU.

Those wins have aged really well, and they could be the difference between BYU earning an at-large bid down the road or not.

SMU blocked a Duke field goal at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime. In overtime, Duke went for the two-point conversion and the win but failed and the Mustangs held on to win 28-27. SMU was minus six in the turnover margin and still won. It's worth noting that Duke is a good team this year. The Blue Devils were 6-1 going into this game.

SMU has a legitimate chance to win out and play in the ACC Championship game. SMU hosts undefeated Pitt next. If the Mustangs beat Pitt, they will have very winnable games against Boston College, Virginia, and Cal remaining. A win over a championship-caliber ACC team would look really good on BYU's resume in November.

Kansas State forced a late Jalon Daniels fumble to get the ball back late in the fourth quarter. A few plays later, the Wildcats drilled a 52-yard field goal to take the lead. The Wildcats forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing possession to hold on for the win.

When the first College Football Playoff rankings come out on November 5th, it wouldn't be overly surprising to see BYU leapfrog a few teams thanks to their resume. Besides Oregon and Georgia, few teams have two quality wins as good as BYU's top two wins.