BYU Football 2014 Opponent Tracker: Week 4

A one-stop article so you can check in and see how BYU 2014 opponents fared in last week’s action. Keep up-to-date to see exactly how strong BYU football’s 2014 strength of schedule is. 

UConn (1-3) – 14-17 Loss vs. USF

UConn battled back after falling into a quick 14-0 hole in the first quarter, but ultimately, they couldn’t get all the way back. The Huskies are just not a good football team. They will play Temple on Saturday and could find their first FBS win in that game, but I don’t think UConn finds their way to bowl eligibility this year. They are just missing too many pieces.

Texas (1-2) – Bye 

Texas will start Big 12 play on Saturday when they take on Kansas. They should pick up a W but their schedule gets difficult shortly after. Texas’ next three games are Kansas, #7 Baylor and #4 Oklahoma. Hope Tyrone Swoopes is ready.

Houston (2-2) – 47-14 Win vs. UNLV

Houston pounded a bad UNLV team at home to rebound from their loss against BYU. It wasn’t a strength of schedule booster for BYU, but it was a good win. Houston has a bye this upcoming week but will take on UCF at home a week from Thursday. That will be an interesting game for BYU fans. Hopefully both of those teams show well as the game is on ESPN.

Sep 20, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; A Virginia Cavaliers cheerleader cheers against the Brigham Young Cougars during the second half at Lavell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars won the game 41-33. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Virginia (2-2) – 33-41 Loss at BYU

Virginia is an improved football team. Throughout the match against BYU, the Hoos had many opportunities to fold up and quit, but they next did. The score wasn’t as attractive as many BYU fans would have liked to see, but it was still a quality win. Virginia is a good enough team to make some noise in the ACC. Virginia’s last six games of the season could really give BYU a boost if the Hoos show well.

Utah State (2-2) – 14-21 Loss at Arkansas State

It feels like the success that Gary Andersen had in Logan is long gone now. The Aggies lost in overtime to the Sun Belt school over the weekend. Darrell Garretson had moments, but without Chuckie Keeton this team will struggle to remain competitive. Utah State takes on BYU after the bye week.

UCF (1-2) – 41-7 Win vs. Bethune-Cookham

BYU desperately needs UCF to play well week in and week out. The Knights finally got their first win on the board in a dominating win over Bethune-Cookham. UCF takes on Houston in two weeks and then BYU after that. After that, I don’t think there are many losses on UCF’s schedule. They should start racking up the wins from here on out.

Nevada (2-1) – Bye

Nevada starts conference play this week when they take on San Jose State. If they can beat San Jose State and Boise State the next week then the game when they travel to Provo could end up on ESPN. This team looks to be better than many expected.

Boise State (3-1) –  34-9 Win  vs. LA Lafayette

Sep 20, 2014; Boise, ID, USA; The Bronco Elvi cheer on the Boise State Broncos during the second half against the UL Lafayette Ragin Cajuns at Albertsons Stadium. Boise State defeats UL Lafayette 34-9. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

Boise State beat up on the Ragin’ Cajuns the way that they should have. I still don’t know what to really think about the Broncos of Boise State. Their winning, but they aren’t overly impressive wins. Jay Ajayi is a handful and will provide problems for BYU in a few weeks, but beyond that, I haven’t seen much from Boise State that really concerns me. We’ll learn more about Boise State when they take on Air Force, Nevada and Fresno State in the next three weeks.

Middle Tennessee State (2-2) – 17-36 Loss at Memphis

Memphis is by no means a bad football team. They took UCLA to the brink a couple of weeks ago. Still, it was an opportunity for Middle Tennessee to keep winning. MTSU is the team that we think they are. BYU will win big, but MTSU should at least reach bowl eligibility.

UNLV (1-3) – 14-47 Loss at Houston

UNLV just isn’t good. I really don’t know if they will win a game this year against an FBS school. Sadly, the Rebels won’t be doing BYU any favors anytime soon.

Savannah State (0-3) – Bye

This is probably the best result that Savannah State will have on any given week. A bye isn’t a loss.

California (2-1) 45-49 Loss at Arizona

Cal lost in heartbreaking fashion at Arizona. The Golden Bears gave up a Jim McMahon-esque hail mary touchdown pass in the closing seconds of the game to give away a game that they dominated for 59 minutes. This is going to be a real test for BYU at the end of the year. Cal is a good team and I completely expect them to win some games in the PAC-12/

Overall opponent’s record: 19-24

Lots of byes and a handful of losses that shouldn’t have been this week. We’ll see what happens next week. BYU really needs their opponents to pick it up.