Pokes Head Into Provo to Face Still Undefeated Cougs As They Roll Arizona 41-19

Mike Gundy takes his Pokes into a hostile environment next week against undefeated BYU as the Cougars rolled Arizona big, 41-19. 

It was an efficient win for the Cougars as they created 24 points off turnovers, including a 21-yard pick-six with just over a minute left in the game, had two less drives than the Wildcats and had an average starting field position at their own 40-yard line, compared to the 24-yard line for the Wildcats.

Other than rushing yards, with BYU having 147 yards to 114 by the Wildcats, it was a fairly even game between the two. BYU finished with 398 total yards to 389 on the other side by Arizona. The Cats had 275 passing yards to 251 by the Cougs, but as I mentioned above, it was an efficient game by the Cougars. They averaged two yards more per play than Arizona at 6.6 and nearly two more yards per carry at 5.4 compared to 3.6. They even had five less minutes of possession time than Arizona with 27:21 compared to 32:39. 

While those numbers aren’t incredibly impressive to traditional Big 12 standards, the offensive and defensive woes from Oklahoma State this season make this game an even bigger challenge. 

The Pokes are 390.2 yards per game, which includes 91.2 rushing yards and 299 passing yards per game. While the passing average is nice, it’s not indicative of the struggles as they threw for just 191 yards against West Virginia. 

On the other side of the field, the Cowboys are allowing just 258.5 passing yards per game, but 235 rushing yards per game, including a whopping 389 yards to WVU last week.

While I don’t expect wholesale changes following an open week for the Pokes, there will definitely be changes. Robert Allen reported all last week he expects Garret Rangel to start at quarterback against BYU over Alan Bowman, who has struggled quite a bit moving the ball down the field this season and avoiding turnovers, regardless of him entering this week as sixth in the FBS in passing yards. 

This will mark Rangel’s fifth collegiate start and while he’s played in ranked games, this will be his first start against a ranked opponent, with BYU inching closer to the top 10. The redshirt sophomore was inexplicably bad against Utah earlier this season going 3-of-11 passing for just 31 yards but was good in the short time against WVU as he went 4-of-5 for 75 yards and a 43-yard touchdown to De’Zhaun Stribling.

Provo has proven to be an incredibly tough place to play. Plus, the Cougars are 28-3 in true night games since 2019, so that certainly doesn’t make it easier. As Robert wrote about earlier this week, Mike Gundy and the Pokes are 16-9 following in-season open dates, which.

I’m not going to sit here on Saturday night and say the Pokes win this game next Friday, simply based on how they’ve struggled mightily since the Tulsa game. However, I do think we’ll see some improvements, hopefully enough to make it a fun and competitive game to watch.