Week 12 of the college football season is here. There are just a few weeks left of the regular season, and conference title races are heating up. Some teams can afford to not win their conference as they can get an at-large bid into the College Football Playoff. Others cannot, and they need that automatic bid. One team that is in a good position to make both their conference title game and the College Football Playoff is BYU. The Cougars are led by quarterback Jake Retzlaff, and they will be hosting a sneaky tough Kansas team this weekend.
The BYU football team is currently undefeated and if they win out and win the Big 12 they will obviously be in the College Football Playoff with an auto bid. However, the Big 12 isn't a very strong conference and they might be a one-bid league. If the Cougars don't win the conference title, they might not make the playoff.
Kansas was expected to be in the thick of this Big 12 race, but this has been a disappointing season filled with heartbreaking losses. Now, the Jayhawks have to win out if they want to make a bowl game.
Before we talk more about Jake Retzlaff and predictions for his performance, let's take a deeper look at both of these teams.
Kansas is much better than their 3-6 record indicates
The Kansas football team is having a rough year, but they are a talented team that could easily be undefeated. That is not a joke. They did lose one game by 11 points, but Kansas had a lead in the second half of that game and they were down by just one point in the fourth quarter. It was a very winnable game.
Outside of that, the Jayhawks have lost by six, three, four, four and two. This is not a typical 3-6 team that is getting blown out every week. Kansas is competitive, and they just knocked off #17 Iowa State last week.
Kansas has three games left this season as they have this road battle against BYU, then they will host Colorado before ending the regular season at Baylor. If the Jayhawks win all three, they will be bowl eligible.
Can BYU go 12-0?
The BYU football team is currently 9-0 and they are ranked #6 in the country with just three games left in the season. If they win out, they don't have to worry about anything stopping them from getting into the Big 12 title game. They control their own destiny.
After this weekend's matchup against Kansas, the Cougars will play at Arizona State for another tricky contest, and then they will end the year at home against Houston.
Going 12-0 is never easy, and BYU has some tough matchups down the stretch here. Right now, however, they are only concerned about Kansas. If they are going to beat the Jayhawks, they will need quarterback Jake Retzlaff to play a good game. Here are three predictions for his performance:
Jake Retzlaff will have between 200-225 passing yards
Jake Retzlaff doesn't have a ton of games where he is putting up eye-popping stats, but he has been getting the job done this year. That will be the case this weekend as well. He is going to do what he needs to do, and most importantly, he is going to take care of the football. The Cougars can't have turnovers.
Jake Retzlaff will not turn the football over
This might be the most important aspect of this weekend's game. Last weekend, the BYU football team won the turnover battle against Utah 3-0. They still needed a heroic final drive that ended in a last second field goal to win the game. They have to take care of the football, and Jake Retzlaff will do that.
Jake Retzlaff and BYU will win a close one
People that haven't paid attention to Kansas this year probably think that BYU is going to get an easy win this weekend because of the Jayhawks' 3-6 record. We talked about how competitive this Kansas team is, and they will once again be right in this game until the end. However, Retzlaff will make enough plays to get his team a 23-20 win.
Kansas and BYU will kick off at 8:15 MT on Saturday night from LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah. The game will be airing on ESPN, and the Cougars are currently favored by 2.5 points.
Week 12 college football preview
There are a lot of important games to pay attention to this weekend that will shape conference title and College Football Playoff races. This Kansas-BYU game is one of them, and here are some other good matchups to watch during week 12.
ESPN’s College GameDay will be heading to Athens this weekend for a huge matchup in the SEC. Georgia is hosting Tennessee, and whoever loses this one is probably going to be in for a very nerve-wracking selection show.
In the ACC, there is really one big game to pay attention to. # 20 Clemson will be hitting the road to take on 7-2 Pitt. The Tigers are currently in second place in the ACC and they need a win if they want to stay on pace to make the ACC title game.
The Big 12 has a few big ones this weekend as their conference title race is shaping up to have an exciting finish. Colorado currently controls their own destiny and they will look to improve to 8-2 this weekend against Utah. Both Arizona State and Kansas State are sitting at 7-2 right now, and they will play in Manhattan this weekend. Lastly, BYU looks to stay perfect at home against Kansas in this matchup that we have already discussed.
Moving over to the Big Ten, it’s a very quiet week. The biggest matchup will take place under the lights in Madison as #1 Oregon will look to stay perfect against a Wisconsin team hungry for an upset.
Lastly, the SEC has a couple big ones this weekend. We have already talked about Tennessee-Georgia, but Missouri and South Carolina will also square off in a top-25 matchup that should provide a lot of excitement.
This is a crucial week of college football, and things could start getting crazy. Buckle up and enjoy the ride.
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