BYU football: The good, the meh and the ugly
By Shaun Gordon
The Good
The season starts off in style. A blowout win against Portland State does its job, as BYU football heads into Houston as the more polished team. Shades of 2009 vs Oklahoma resurface as the Cougars shock the college football world by winning a close, low-scoring duel over LSU.
With sky-high confidence, BYU football finally breaks the Holy War curse, making the big plays down the stretch to take down the Utes in front of a raucous home crowd.
The crowd doesn’t have as much to cheer about the following week, as Wisconsin controls the line of scrimmage, controlling the game from start to finish and handing BYU its first loss of the year.
The loss doesn’t faze the Cougar psyche, as they handle their first true road game, pulling away from Utah State in the second half.
Boise State keeps things close, but two late touchdowns give BYU football the double-digit win.
Game seven brings BYU their last big test of the regular season, as they walk into SEC country and strut back out with a convincing win over Mississippi State.
The first seven games have allowed the Cougars to steadily climb the polls, and the win over the Bulldogs moves them up to No. 6.
The rest of the year keeps them in that area of the polls as they roll through the back half of the schedule, never dropping below No. 8 in the College Football Playoff rankings, finishing at No. 7 after their 12th win at Hawaii.
BYU football only has to wait a week before getting the big news, an invite to the Fiesta Bowl, finally cracking a New Year’s Six game.
2017 Regular Season Record: 12-1
Bowl Game Invite: Fiesta Bowl
Final Ranking: No. 7