Utah, BYU Football Both In AP Poll For First Time This Season

SALT LAKE CITY — For the first time this season, both Utah and BYU football find themselves in the AP Top 25 college football poll.

It’s fitting that this would happen right before the week eight rivalry matchup in LaVell Edwards Stadium.

 

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The Utes returned to Rice-Eccles after a bye week to host the No. 21 Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday.

ASU didn’t have its starting quarterback, but Sam Leavitt wouldn’t have had much of an impact on the 279 rushing yards that Utah posted. They averaged seven yards per rush, and all six of their touchdowns came on the ground.

Quarterback Devon Dampier, after having two total touchdowns through five weeks, had three against the Sun Devils. It was his first three-score game as a Ute, and the fifth of his career.

That performance allowed Utah to re-enter the AP Poll at No. 23.

 

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BYU’s path to a week seven win wasn’t as smooth, but they still got it done with a 33-27 double-overtime victory over the Arizona Wildcats.

Trailing 24-14 in the fourth quarter, a field goal and a late Bear Bachmeier touchdown sent the game into OT.

After matching field goals in the first, the game went into a second overtime. It was there that Bachmeier would do it again, and the Cougars kept the undefeated season alive.

With the win, BYU jumped up three spots to No. 15.

 

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The Rest of The Big 12 Rankings

Once again, four Big 12 teams cracked the AP Poll. However, this week there are a couple of new faces.

Texas Tech still leads the pack. After putting the smack down on the Kansas Jayhawks, the Red Raiders jumped up to No. 7.

BYU is the second-highest-ranked team in the conference at No. 15. The following two are Utah at No. 23 and Cincinnati at No. 24.

Also of note, for the first time this season, no unranked Big 12 team received any votes.

Week Eight AP Poll Top 25

1. Ohio State
2. Miami
3. Indiana
4. Texas A&M
5. Ole Miss
6. Alabama
7. Texas Tech
8. Oregon
9. Georgia
10. LSU
11. Tennessee
12. Georgia Tech
13. Notre Dame
14. Oklahoma
15. BYU
16. Missouri
17. Vanderbilt
18. Virginia
19. South Florida
20. USC
21. Texas
22. Memphis
23. Utah
24. Cincinnati
25. Nebraska

Chandler Holt is a co-host of the Jazz Notes podcast, a Locals In The NFL Insider, and Digital Sports Producer for sports.ksl.com. Follow Chandler on X for Utah Jazz and Locals In The NFL updates.

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