No. 6 BYU upset by Kansas: What this means for Playoff, Big 12 race

BYU’s undefeated season has come to an end.

The No. 6 Cougars suffered a 17-13 home upset at the hands of Kansas on Saturday night, delivering a blow to their College Football Playoff and Big 12 title hopes.

After holding sole possession of first place in the conference, BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12) now drops into a tie for first place with No. 17 Colorado (8-2, 6-1). Next week, the Cougars travel to Arizona State, which improved to 8-2 with a road upset of Kansas State earlier on Saturday.

The game flipped early in the fourth quarter after a pooch punt by Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels.

Daniels’ punt bounced off the helmet of BYU cornerback Evan Johnson inside the BYU 10-yard line. BYU cornerback Jakob Robinson quickly tried to pounce on the ball but it squirted out from underneath him and was recovered by Kansas receiver Quentin Skinner. On the next play, Kansas running back Devin Neal scored on a 3-yard touchdown run to give Kansas the go-ahead score.

POOCH PUNT HELMET DOINK pic.twitter.com/3hJHO7c1yJ

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) November 17, 2024

BYU struggled to finish drives and establish a consistent offensive rhythm. The Cougars finished with just 354 total yards and were 3-of-10 on third-down conversion attempts.

Kansas cornerback Mello Dotson picked off BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff in the end zone with 39 seconds left in the first half, killing a potential BYU scoring drive and leaving the teams tied at 10.

The Cougars chewed up more than 10 minutes of clock to start the third quarter on a 17-play, 66-yard drive but settled for a field goal and a 13-10 lead.

BYU drove into Kansas’ red zone in the final minute, but a false start penalty forced BYU into a fourth-and-11 situation. Retzlaff found Chase Roberts, who was tackled 3 yards short of the first down marker, ending BYU’s final chance to retake the lead.

Kansas (4-6, 3-4) had an even tougher time offensively, netting just 242 yards and going 4-for-12 on third down. But the Jayhawks scored on their opening drive, a 10-play, 84-yard march capped by an 8-yard scoring run by Neal. The Jayhawks defense put forth a solid performance, keeping BYU’s run game in check, compiling five tackles for loss and sacking Retzlaff twice.

It’s the second straight win for the Jayhawks, who had a tough 2-6 start to the season. Last week, Kansas upset then-No. 17 Iowa State 45-36 in Arrowhead Stadium.

Saturday was Kansas’ sixth game of the season decided by single digits, but the first one in which the Jayhawks emerged victorious.

What BYU’s loss means for the Big 12 title race

Even with the loss to Kansas, BYU still controls its destiny in the Big 12 title race. If the Cougars win out, they reach the championship game. Same for Colorado.

But the odds of chaos just increased, and next week’s game between BYU and Arizona State is massive. If Arizona State wins at home against BYU, the Sun Devils would jump ahead of the Cougars and into no worse than second place in the Big 12 standings.

If Arizona State wins and Colorado loses to Kansas next weekend, Arizona State would be in first place and Iowa State would move into second place.

A number of tiebreaker scenarios remain in play for the Big 12 over the final two weeks of the regular season, with many dependent on a couple of high-stakes matchups next Saturday: BYU at Arizona State, and Colorado at Kansas.

What BYU’s loss means for the CFP race

The Cougars may still have a clear (albeit narrower) path to the Playoff, but the loss to Kansas really hurts the Big 12’s hopes of getting multiple schools in the 12-team field. The league’s best (only?) chance was a two-loss Colorado — or possibly Arizona State or Iowa State — knocking off an undefeated BYU in the conference championship, which would give the winner an auto bid and leave the door open for one-loss BYU to snag an at-large.

Now the best the Big 12 can hope for is a two-loss runner-up, which could certainly get squeezed out by, say, a potential horde of two-loss SEC teams, depending on how the final weeks shake out. There’s still a slim chance for the Big 12 dream of getting two teams in, but the odds took a major hit with BYU’s stumble.