BYU moves up slightly in AP Top 25, as Utah remains just on the outside

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (KSL.com) — Facing a 14-0 deficit in hostile territory — maybe in more ways than one — BYU slowly chipped away at Colorado’s lead Saturday night.

But with a tornado of a play-call, the Cougars got the go-ahead score and held off a late Buffaloes push to earn the team’s first Big 12 win of the season. Not only was it a big step forward on the season for the Cougars, but it moved the team up in the national rankings — even if just by a little bit.

BYU moved up to No. 23 Sunday afternoon in the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings, up two spots from its previous standing at No. 25.

The Cougars include four teams from the Big 12 ranked this week, with Texas Tech leading the charge for another week at No. 11 off a bye. Behind the Red Raiders is No. 14 Iowa State, No. 23 BYU and No. 25 Arizona State, who is back after a few weeks outside of the ranking.

Utah remains on the outside of the rankings but is receiving votes again this week and would be unofficially ranked No. 27. The Utes bounced back from a home loss to Texas Tech a week ago to a dominant road performance in West Virginia with a 48-14 win over the Mountaineers.

Devon Dampier combined for five total touchdowns — four passing and one rushing — in one of his best collegiate performances, and was an efficient 21-of-26 for 237 yards.

The Utes showcased a more diverse playbook to help jumpstart an offense that previously struggled against the Red Raiders, leading to a score on all but one of the team’s nine drives Saturday.

TCU remains the only other team from the Big 12 still receiving votes after a loss to Arizona State on Friday.

On a road trip to Seattle against a good Washington team, Ohio State secured another win to stay on top of the rankings for another week. The Buckeyes topped the rankings with 46 first-place votes. But the remaining top five teams were shuffled after an entertaining weekend of college football.

Oregon moved up four spots to No. 2 in the rankings with a win over Penn State, followed by Miami, Ole Miss and Oklahoma. The Ducks received 16 first-place votes, while the Hurricanes secured the final four votes.

To see the full rankings see below, or click here.