Provo • During halftime of BYU’s loss to Arizona State last week, senior Tyler Batty leveled with his teammates.
He stood up in front of the group and told them the next 30 minutes could be the last meaningful football of his career. If BYU lost, it would relinquish all control over its fate to get to the Big 12 title game. It might not get another shot at Arlington.
Turns out, he was right.
After BYU lost to ASU, it needed help on Saturday to have a chance. But the Cougars didn’t get it as both Arizona State and Iowa State won. So not long after BYU kicked things off at 8:15 p.m., its fate was already sealed — eliminated from Big 12 contention.
The only thing left to decide was whether Iowa State or Colorado would go to Arlington, Texas, to play ASU.
BYU’s 30-18 win over Houston ultimately knocked Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes out and ensured ISU would play ASU for a title.
For most of the night, BYU played like a team with little on the line. The Cougars had three sloppy turnovers, all fumbles. The opening drive ended with two BYU players colliding with each other and Houston returning a loose ball 57 yards inside the red zone.
Later on, when BYU had a chance to truly put the game away, the Cougars had two more miscues. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff fumbled a snap inside the 10-yard line and then Parker Kingston fumbled a punt that would have given BYU the ball at midfield.
Ultimately, BYU was able to overcome it against a four-win Houston team. It ran the ball for over 170 yards and Retzlaff did enough in the two-minute drill to give BYU points.
Retzlaff registered a few highlights. At the end of the first half, he hit wide receiver Chase Roberts for 52 yards and then finished the drive with a rushing touchdown. But overall, the BYU quarterback was pedestrian compared to the rest of his season, finishing with 167 passing yards and just a 42% completion rate.
BYU’s defense tightened up after the half, as has been the trend in recent weeks. After Houston averaged over seven yards per play on the first few series, BYU ended up holding the visitors to under 250 total yards.
The Cougars extended their streak of grabbing an interception in every game. Jack Kelly and Tyler Batty both came up with picks. Batty’s interception saved a Houston scoring chance inside the red zone.
Late in the fourth quarter, after Retzlaff’s second rushing touchdown of the night, a skirmish broke out. BYU receiver Darius Lassiter was ejected along with Houston’s AJ Haulcy for unsportsmanlike conduct.
After being picked to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 Conference, the Cougars wrapped up their regular season with 10 wins. They’ll now wait to see which bowl game will extend them an invitation.
