BYU drops, Utah moves up in first AP Top 25 rankings of the season

SALT LAKE CITY — It was a good opening weekend of football for BYU and Utah, who saw a change in the Associated Press rankings that were released Tuesday afternoon as a result of blowout wins.

BYU Cougars

Legend Glasker put on a show in his freshman debut as BYU dominated FCS Utah Tech 63-7 Saturday night, giving fans some early excitement about what could be in store for the Cougars this season following a championship appearance last year.

Glasker led the way for BYU with three touchdowns — two receiving and one rushing — in an all-around offensive performance for the freshman receiver. Fellow Lehi teammate Devaughn Eka added 59 yards and one touchdown on the ground to lead the Cougars in the run game.

The dominant win won over several voters and helped the Cougars rise in the national rankings after an initial landing spot at No. 14 (tied with USC) in the preseason AP Top 25 poll. The 56-point win over Utah Tech, though, didn’t help BYU in the rankings, who dropped to No. 15 in the rankings going into Week 2.

BYU remains the second-highest team ranked from the Big 12, sitting just behind Texas Tech, who checked in at No. 13 — a one spot drop from the preseason — after a 33-10 win over FCS Abilene Christian. The Cougars have long been considered one of the favorites in the Big 12, and will continue to be in a tight battle with the Red Raiders.

The two teams do not play this season.

BYU now turns its attention to in-conference opponent Arizona, who remains just outside of the top 25 but continues to receive votes. The early conference game in LaVell Edwards Stadium (1:30 p.m. MT, FOX) will go a long way in helping establish an early pecking order in the Big 12.

Utah Utes

The debut of Morgan Scalley as new head coach couldn’t have gone any better for the Utah alum, as Utah quickly put distance on FCS Idaho Thursday night. Veteran running back Wayshawn Parker scored quickly to give the Utes their first touchdown of the night, and add a pair more in a strong showing for the junior back.

And though Parker stole the early attention, Utah displayed a versatile offense that was creative and dynamic, and got several players involved in a 66-14 win. The Utes offense put up 633 total yards of offense in the win, which was good enough for seventh best all-time at Utah.

The win also eased some early questions for the Utes and gave an early look into the changes that Kevin McGiven will bring to the Utah offense that has traditionally relied heavily on the ground game.

Utah moved up to No. 20 in the AP Top 25 rankings following the win, jumping up one spot from the team’s initial preseason ranking at No. 21. For the second straight week, Utah remains the third-highest ranked team from the Big 12, following Texas Tech and BYU.

The Utes welcome Arkansas to town Saturday night (8:15 p.m. MT, ESPN) in the first-ever meeting between the two schools, and another rare SEC appearance at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Big 12 rankings

In total, four teams remained ranked from the Big 12 after the first weekend of play, with Texas Tech leading the charge at No. 13. BYU and Utah form the middle of the rankings for the conference, with Houston moving up one spot to No. 22 after a win over Oregon State.

Arizona and Arizona State remain the only two teams from the conference receiving votes this week.