Kansas State at No. 12 Utah
Coming into their game a 17.5 point favorite against a Kansas State team who was one of the media’s picks to win the Big-12 this year Utah had allowed an average of less than 16 points a game and 327 yards of total offense. By the end of this one the Wildcats had amassed 574 yards of total offense and 47 points—but it wasn’t enough as they still lost! Kansas State took a 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game, never trailed, and were still leading 47-44 with just over two minutes left in the game when Utah would score a TD and take a 51-47 lead on the back of their Junior QB Devon Dampier’s 59 yard rush and 1 yard run into the end zone with less than a minute left to play. Two plays into their desperate attempt to take back the lead the Wildcat’s Junior QB Avery Johnson would have his pass picked off by the Utes’ Senior LB Lander Barton—his only interception of the game—to seal a victory that could keep Utah’s chances of making the college football playoff very much alive in what may be Kyle Whittingham’s final year. With Utah’s last regular season game on the road this Friday at Kansas, this win may be his last game ever coaching in Rice-Eccles stadium—a game in which Whittingham said afterwards was “one for the ages that you can’t dream up.” If it is—what a memory!
This game was something else. I mean it started out all normal and everything with a 7-7 tie at the end of the first quarter. But then—wow—38 points scored in the second quarter alone then 21 in the third and 25 in the fourth. Against Whittingham’s focus to always be in control of the line of scrimmage, the Wildcats’ Sophomore RB Joe Jackson set a school record with 293 yards rushing and 3 TD’s with their 472 total yards rushing also a program record. Kansas State’s head coach Chris Klieman said that it was “one of the greatest efforts I’ve been a part of as a coach and it’s hard to say this because we lost the game.”
For Utah, Junior QB Devon Dampier was 18-of-33 for 259 yards, 2 TD’s—1 to Senior TE Dallen Bentley and the other to Junior WR Larry Simmons—with no interceptions while also rushing 14 times for 94 yards and 2 TD’s. On the ground, Sophomore RB Wayshawn Parker, along with Dampier and Utah’s Freshman QB Byrd Ficklin combined for 248 of the team’s 292 yard total and 5 rushing TD’s—the two by Dampier and three more by Ficklin. For Kansas State, Junior QB Avery Johnson completed 12-of-23 for 102 yards, 1 TD to Junior TE Garrett Oakley, and 1 interception while also rushing 12 times for 72 yards and another score. On the ground it was Jackson’s 293 yards and 3 TD’s, along with Johnson’s contribution, and Junior RB Antonio Martin Jr. who added another 72 yards and a TD that combined for all but 18 yards of that 472 yard and 5 TD total.
With a combined 1,125 total yards of offense in this game I was wondering if that was some sort of record. But in October of 2016, also in what was called at the time the defense optional Big-12, Oklahoma beat Texas Tech 66-59. The two teams combined for 1,708 total yards of offense with Patrick Mahomes for Texas Tech and Baker Mayfield for Oklahoma also combining to set the FBS record for most combined offense by two players, with 1,383 yards. In this one Utah led in first downs, 32-to-21; trailed by just 23 in total yards; were successful on third down about 45% of the time with both teams converting all of their fourth down attempts; Utah had less than half the penalty yards with both defenses recording 3 sacks and 6 tackles for loss.
No. 25 Arizona State at Colorado
After this past Saturday’s 42-17 beat down by the Sun Devils—Colorado’s fourth home loss on Folsom Field in what is now an overall 3-8 and 1-7 Big-12 season record—it’s probably just as well that their last regular season game is out of town. But before we move on and just in case you were wondering, Folsom Field opened in 1924 and is not named after the prison—located in California—or the Johnny Cash album Live at Folsom, but rather after the legendary University of Colorado Head Coach Frederick Folsom who was also a lawyer and taught at the University of Colorado Law School from 1905 to 1943.
Now that that’s out of the way the underwhelming first quarter for both teams consisted of six three-and-outs, a fumble, a turn-over on downs, a field goal by Arizona State on their second possession to go out in front 3-0 and a TD at the end of the quarter by Colorado to take a 7-3 lead. That’s all the excitement Colorado could muster for the first half as they were shut-out completely in the second quarter while the Sun Devils were able to take a 13-7 lead with a 33 yard TD pass by their Senior QB Jeff Sims to Junior RB Raleek Brown on their second possession and a field goal before the break—a 39 yarder from their Senior Place Kicker Jesus Gomez.
Colorado had the ball to start the second half and found the end zone just six plays and less than three minutes in on the back of a 42 yard run by their Junior RB Dallan Hayden and a 22 yard TD pass from Freshman QB Julian Lewis to Junior WR Omarion Miller to take a 14-13 lead. But a three play drive ending with a 68 yard TD pass from the Sun Devils’ Senior QB Jeff Sims to Sophomore WR Derek Eusebio would make that lead short-lived as Arizona State was back on top 21-14 after a successful two-point conversion. After a fumble on the first play of the Sun Devils’ next possession Colorado would cut into the lead with a 28 yard field goal by their Senior Place Kicker Alejandro Mata to make it a 21-17 game. Arizona State would fumble again at the end of the third quarter but Colorado couldn’t take advantage of that one and fumbled it right back to start a fourth quarter which resembled the second in which they were completely shut out. The Sun Devils finally stopped tripping over their own feet and put together back-to-back-to-back TD’s in the final quarter to put a cap on their eighth overall win and sixth in the Big-12.
For Arizona State, Senior QB Jeff Simms was 11-of-24 for 206 yards, 2 TD’s—one to Sophomore WR Derek Eusebio and the other to Junior RB Raleek Brown—and 1 interception. Brown also led the team in the ground game, rushing 22 times for 255 yards—third most in program history—and a TD. Junior RB Kanye Udoh and Freshman Jason Brown Jr. also picked up a rushing TD each with a combined effort of 79 yard on 12 carries. All toll, the Sun Devils rushed 45 times for 355 yards and 3 TD’s. For Colorado, Freshman QB Julian Lewis connected on 19-of-38 for 161 yards, 1 TD to Junior WR Omarion Miller, and no interceptions. On the ground, Junior RB Dallan Hayden and Sophomore Micah Welch combined for 116 of the team’s 135 yard rushing total on 15 carries with Hayden picking up the only TD. The Sun Devil defense recorded 4 sacks, 11 tackles for loss and 6 pass disruptions compared to 1, 4, and 3 for the Buffaloes. Arizona State led in first downs, 23-12; total yards of offense, 580-300; were successful 75% of the time on the fourth down conversions they attempted; averaged twice as many yards-per-pass as Colorado and about 3.5 yards more per rush as well as having possession of the ball six more minutes. Colorado’s next game will be on the road at Kansas State while the Sun Devils will be host to their in-state rival Arizona Wildcats to compete in what is known as the Duel in the Desert for the Territorial Cup, college football’s oldest rivalry trophy. Both teams are bowl bound with overall records of 8-3, 6-2 in conference for the Sun Devils and 5-3 for the Wildcats.
Baylor at Arizona
Arizona came within one point of matching the score of their in-state rival Sun Devils as they beat Baylor at home 41-17, held them scoreless in the second half and piled on 20 points in the fourth quarter to run away with it. The Bears took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter on back-to-back TD’s on either side of the Wildcats 10 play 75 yard drive and 2 yard run into the end zone by Junior RB Jordan Reescano—his first of three on the day. The Wildcats had the ball to start the second quarter and tied it up at 14-14 on a 13 play, 82 yard, six plus minute drive and 2 yard TD pass from Junior QB Noah Fafita to Senior WR Kris Hutson. The Bears had a chance to take the lead on their next possession but would miss their 48 yard field goal attempt. After intercepting the Wildcats eight plays into their drive Baylor’s Freshman Place Kicker would make one two yards longer to take a 17-14 lead into the half.
Arizona got the ball to start the 3rd Qtr and would take a 21-17 lead with the help of two Baylor penalties and back-to-back 16 and 28 yard pass completions by Fafita before Reescano ran it into the end zone for his second TD of the day. The remainder of the third quarter consisted of back-to-back three-and-outs by both teams. Arizona would intercept Baylor 11 plays into their drive to start the 4th Qtr but would miss a chance to increase their lead as the 38 yard field goal attempt by Sophomore Michael Salgado-Medina would hit the crossbar. But that turned out alright as Baylor Sophomore RB Bryson Washington fumbled the ball on their first play from scrimmage with the Wildcats recovering the ball just outside the Bears’ red zone. One play later Senior RB Ismail Mahdi would take the ball 28 yards into the end zone for a 28-17 lead. With nine minutes left in the game the wheels starting coming off as Baylor’s head coach made the decision to try and convert a 4th and 3 at their own 32 yard line four plays into their next possession. Maybe there’s one more coach yet to be fired before the end of the season. Needless to say, they didn’t make it and Arizona was back in the end zone again just four plays later on Reescano’s third rushing TD of the game—this one for 19 yards and giving the Wildcats a 35-17 lead. Baylor would get the ball back long enough to throw an interception for TD on the very next play of the game to make it 41-17 Arizona. There was still six minutes left but Baylor had to turn the ball over on downs six plays into their next possession followed by a three-and-out by Arizona. The Bears spent the last three minutes moving the ball 34 yards in 9 plays with time running out as they ran out of time just outside of the Wildcats’ red zone.
For Arizona, Junior QB Noah Fafita was 14-of-25 for 183 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR Kris Hutson who hauled in 133 of those yards on 9 receptions, and 1 pick while also rushing 8 times for 33 yards. On the ground, Senior RB Ismail Mahdi and Junior Kedrick Reescano combined for 139 of the team’s 172 yard total and all four of the TD’s, Reescano’s three and one for Mahdi. For Baylor, Senior QB Sawyer Robertson connected on 22-of-33 for 162 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR Josh Cameron, and 2 interceptions while also rushing 9 times for their only TD on the ground. Arizona led 22-20 in first downs, 355-343 in total yards of offense, were perfect on their 4th down conversion attempts compared to 50% for Baylor, and had fewer turnovers. Up next for Arizona is the Duel in the Desert, a two hour bus ride from the Tucson campus of the Wildcats to the Sun Devil’s Mountain America Stadium in Tempe. The first game of this rivalry was played in 1899 with the teams competing against each other almost every year since 1925. Arizona leads in the series 51-to-45 with one tie back in 1987.