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Big 12 Notes – Utah Week
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November 15th
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Utah may be down to its fourth-string quarterback
… Senior Luke Bottari has one career start … a 23-17 win over Colorado in the 2023 regular season finale …
From KSL.com … Former Utah head coach Ron McBride revealed in a radio interview with KSL in Salt Lake City that he believes Isaac Wilson will be unavailable for the Utes’ game against No. 18 Colorado on Saturday due to illness. If true, this would leave head coach Kyle Whittingham and Utah with just one healthy quarterback for the pivotal matchup.
Wilson, who was named the starter earlier in the week, had recently reclaimed the role following Brandon Rose’s season-ending surgery to repair a torn ligament in his foot. The Utes’ quarterback room has been plagued by injuries throughout the season, with Wilson potentially joining a growing list of sidelined players. Utah’s issues began with veteran Cam Rising, who faced multiple injuries before being shut down for the season. Rising’s absence was followed by Sam Huard’s departure, and then Rose’s injury, leaving Utah scrambling for options.
Wilson himself has been playing through adversity, reportedly dealing with a pre-existing injury while stepping in for Rising earlier in the season. His potential absence would thrust Luke Bottari, listed as the backup, into the starting role. Bottari started against Colorado last season in a game where the Buffaloes were without their star quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. This time, however, the Buffaloes will enter the game at full strength and as heavy favorites.
For Colorado, the matchup is another opportunity to solidify their standing as one of the most compelling teams in college football under head coach Deion Sanders. The Buffaloes are led by quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who has consistently delivered strong performances, supported by standout talents like Travis Hunter. With Utah potentially down to one quarterback, the Buffaloes’ defense will look to capitalize.
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November 11th
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“He’s a real-life ironman” – CBS Sports checks out Travis Hunter’s workload
From CBS Sports … As Colorado’s Travis Hunter left the field Saturday at Texas Tech, once again bruised, battered but still elite, one thought came to mind: Now it’s getting ridiculous.
Hunter’s exploits as a two-way, Heisman Trophy-chasing ironman who seldom leaves the field have reached historic and once-unimagined levels. On Saturday, Hunter participated in a school-record 161 plays.
While doing so, he led the Buffaloes in catches (nine) and receiving yards (99) while scoring a touchdown. On defense, he played 85 of 87 snaps, was targeted once in 46 passing plays and gave up one reception for 5 yards.
Never mind football players — how often do humans like this come along?
“Probably once in a lifetime,” said Eric McCarty, Colorado’s director of sports medicine.
CBS Sports set out to find what kind of physical, mental and psychological aspects make up a unicorn like Hunter. Other athletes have dabbled playing both ways, but Hunter has done it to point of exhaustion. Well, at least what would be exhaustion for mere mortals.
We reached out to former players, media, medical professionals and trainers to find out what makes Hunter unique.
“I think we all need some of what Travis Hunter has,” McCarty said.
But what is it?
“I can’t tell you what he has,” said Jordan Palmer, an NFL veteran and industry-leading quarterback trainer. “We think competing is like finishing a play or wanting to win, leaving it all on the field. That’s the more traditional way that we evaluate … It’s not that he’s playing every play that’s the most impressive piece to me. It’s clearly that he is trying to play every single play.”
… Continue reading story here …
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November 10th
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Colorado moves up to No. 18 in latest Associated Press poll
From ESPN … Oregon was the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll for the fourth straight week Sunday as Penn State and Indiana climbed into the top five, Georgia and Miami dropped out of the top 10, and losses by four other ranked teams shuffled the rankings with a month left in the regular season.
No team this season has held the top spot for more consecutive weeks than Oregon, which pulled away from Maryland to improve to 10-0 over the weekend and is a unanimous No. 1 for the second straight week.
Georgia and Miami plummeted. The Bulldogs lost 28-10 at Ole Miss and went from No. 2 to No. 11, marking the first time they have been out of the top 10 since late in the 2020 season. The Hurricanes’ 28-23 loss at Georgia Tech sent them from No. 4 to No. 12.
How those losses affect their bids for a College Football Playoff spot will be known when the selection committee releases its second rankings Tuesday night. Georgia is the fifth-highest-ranked SEC team in the AP poll, and Miami remains the highest-ranked ACC team.
No. 18 Colorado controls its own destiny in the playoff chase. The Buffaloes are alone in second place in the Big 12, one game behind unbeaten BYU, and are the conference’s second-highest-ranked team in the AP poll. They don’t meet in the regular season. If both run the table, they would play in the conference championship game.
Associated Press poll …
| 1. Oregon (62) | 10-0 |
| 2. Ohio State | 8-1 |
| 3. Texas | 8-1 |
| 4. Penn State | 8-1 |
| 5. Indiana | 10-0 |
| 6. Tennessee | 8-1 |
| 7. BYU | 9-0 |
| 8. Notre Dame | 8-1 |
| 9. Alabama | 7-2 |
| 10. Ole Miss | 8-2 |
| 11. Georgia | 7-2 |
| 12. Miami | 9-1 |
| 13. Boise State | 8-1 |
| 14. SMU | 8-1 |
| 15. Texas A&M | 7-2 |
| 16. Army | 9-0 |
| 17. Clemson | 7-2 |
| 18. Colorado | 7-2 |
| 19. Washington State | 8-1 |
| 20. Kansas State | 7-2 |
| 21. LSU | 6-3 |
| 22. Louisville | 6-3 |
| 23. South Carolina | 6-3 |
| 24. Missouri | 7-2 |
| 25. Tulane | 8-2 |
Others receiving votes: Iowa State 92, Arizona State 35, Pittsburgh 18, Louisiana 14, UNLV 10
Dropped from rankings: Iowa State 17, Pittsburgh 23, Vanderbilt 24
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Coaches poll …
- Oregon (55)
- Ohio State
- Texas
- Tennessee
- Penn Sate
- Indiana
- Notre Dame
- BYU
- Alabama
- Georgia
- Ole Miss
- Miami
- SMU
- Boise State
- Texas A&M
- Clemson
- Army
- Washington State
- Kansas State
- Colorado
- Missouri
- LSU
- South Carolina
- Louisville
- Iowa State
Others receiving votes: Tulane 85; Louisiana 42; Arizona State 30; Pittsburgh 28; UNLV 17; Memphis 11; Navy 3; James Madison 2; Illinois 2; Duke 1
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Utah Athletic Director on 22-21 loss to BYU: “This game was absolutely stolen from us”
From ESPN … Much of the BYU football team was still on the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium celebrating a miraculous 22-21 win against rival Utah late Saturday night when Utes athletic director Mark Harlan made a surprise appearance at the postgame news conference.
In a fiery address, Harlan disparaged the officiating crew and challenged the validity of his school’s loss.
“This game was absolutely stolen from us,” Harlan said. “We were excited about being in the Big 12, but tonight I am not. We won this game. Someone else stole it from us. Very disappointed.
“I will talk to the commissioner. This was not fair to our team. I’m disgusted by the professionalism of the officiating crew tonight.”
Harlan, who does not regularly address the media after games, did not take questions following his rebuke, nor did he elaborate further with any specifics.
It’s a safe assumption, however, that Harlan’s disdain was directed toward a holding call on cornerback Zemaiah Vaughn that negated Utah’s fourth-down sack of BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff at the Cougars’ 1-yard line with 1:29 left, which appeared to have ended the game.
“Whatever decision the refs make, I don’t think they’re trying to get it wrong, so that’s just part of the game,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “The refs are part of the game. We were able to capitalize on that.”
Utah’s would-be sack of Retzlaff was the second time the largest crowd in Rice-Eccles history (54,383) thought the game was effectively over. Prior to the fourth-down play, BYU snapped the ball and Retzlaff was flushed out of the end zone, but Sitake had called a timeout before the snap, likely saving the game in the process.
After the Cougars were given new life with the holding call, Retzlaff hit Chase Roberts for 30 yards and Darius Lassiter for 12 yards before Hinckley Ropati ran for 14 yards to get BYU in position for Will Ferrin’s game-winning 44-yard field goal.
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2 Replies to “Big 12 Notes”
Top 12 – 1 from the Big 12, 1 from the ACC, Notre Dame, 5 from the Southeastern Conference, and 4 from the Big Ten. Either Boise State or Army will “get in” as the outsider, but this “bias” seems to be the way the future will unfold. Likely final result, Boise State, Notre Dame, 1 from the Big 12, 1 from the ACC, 4 from the Big Ten, and 4 from the Southeastern Conference.
The “playoff’ will pretty much be the SEC/Big Ten “tournament.” I wish the playoff would be “expanded” to a greater number than 12 (16 or 32) so the “feel” of the basketball tournament could prevail (rather than the “rich get richer” feel of the football “playoff”). Bowls would then work like the N.I.T.
Guaranteed, if college football follows the NFL model of, in effect, two conferences (Southeast/Big 10 Conferences in college rather than American/National Conferences in professional) engaging in a playoff that leads to a college “Super Bowl,” long-term, college football will eventually “kill the goose that laid the golden egg,…”
We seem to be heading for that reality,… So sad,…
I don’t know, Prof. I’m way more optimistic than you. There’s a lot of mounting evidence that the portal and NIL have enhanced parity. And, with that, interest and eyeballs. TV money is watching. And doing the math.
I still think we’re in a temporary transition to an NFL/pro-sports model (with actual, real, revenue sharing) that’ll end up with about 70-85 teams, split into regional divisions, that’ll look a lot like the old conference structure. But, maybe that’s just overly wishful thinking? We’ll see. So far, Saturdays are still pretty fun. Especially for our Buffs!
Go Buffs