Down 35-31 to Oklahoma State with 1:21 left to play, Brigham Younger had simply sufficient magic left on Friday evening to not solely pull out a victory, but additionally preserve its hopes for a Huge 12 title and School Soccer Playoff berth very a lot alive.
Undefeated and ranked thirteenth within the newest Related Press faculty soccer ballot, BYU stormed 75 yards in eight performs to cap the last-minute comeback, with Jake Retzlaff’s 35-yard move to Darius Lassiter placing the Cougars within the lead for good with simply 10 seconds left on its method to a 38-35 win.
The profitable drive not solely put an finish to a wild Friday evening in Provo (OSU and BYU traded scores on the ultimate 5 possessions of the sport) but additionally saved the Cougars undefeated in convention play, becoming a member of Iowa State and Texas Tech as the one Huge 12 groups with out a blemish in convention play heading into Saturday’s matchups.
In keeping with odds at BetMGM on Oct. 19, BYU is now at +325 to win the Huge 12, with solely Iowa State (+150) extra of a favourite. Iowa State and BYU will not be scheduled to fulfill within the common season, that means the 2 may solely sq. off within the 2024 Dr. Pepper Huge 12 Soccer Championship Sport on Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas.
Iowa State and Texas Tech (now at +1000 to win the Huge 12), in the meantime, will meet in Ames on Nov. 2 in what will probably be a pivotal matchup for the standings.
As a reminder, the CFP is about up for the 4 highest-ranked energy convention champions to be seeded one by way of 4 and obtain a bye within the CFP’s first spherical, so profitable the Huge 12 will probably be a giant profit for whichever workforce comes out on high.
Wanting forward at BYU’s schedule, the Cougars have three street convention video games left (at Central Florida, Utah and Arizona State), plus two dwelling matchups towards Kansas and Houston. Of these 5 groups, solely Arizona State entered Saturday’s motion with a profitable report in convention play.
BYU has proven it might probably win in an offensive shootout because it did on Friday evening or when its protection and particular groups take over (as they did in a 38-9 blistering of then-No. 13 Kansas State). That is excellent news for a workforce that has improved enormously on either side of the ball since final season’s 2-7 exhibiting in Huge 12 play because it missed out on a bowl sport.
Picked to complete thirteenth within the convention within the preseason ballot, Friday’s victory confirmed one thing particular is brewing this season in Provo.
