by Mike Miller
At least BYU has soccer and volleyball, right? After a dream year for BYU Athletics, the castle began to fall on Saturday as their #10 ranked football team embarrassed themselves in the daytime ABC slot with their first loss coming at the hands of Boise State at home. The loss left the Cougars looking forward to Big 12 play when they will still have meaningful games left on the schedule even when they are not undefeated.
Despite the football team’s disappointing weekend, other sports are still going strong, with women’s soccer and volleyball leading the way.
Women’s Soccer
The Cougars played two games this week and improved to 3-0 in conference play with wins over Saint Mary’s and San Diego in Provo. In the two matches, BYU scored a combined 13 goals and kept clean sheets in both. The high-powered offense has been the key to a #20 national ranking that will hopefully go up this week. While the Cougars are remembered for their offense, having the defense keep zeroes on the board will be the real lynchpin for long-term success this season.
Next Up: Just one game is on the slate this week as Pacific comes to South Field on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. MST . The match will be streamed live on BYUtv.org and the BYUtv app.
Women’s Volleyball
Soccer’s dominance on the field was matched by volleyball’s dominance on the court. The #9 ranked Cougars will likely continue to move up the rankings after a pair of conference sweeps over Portland and Gonzaga. BYU is in line for another WCC title as they are 16-1 on the season and 6-0 in conference play. The match against Portland on Thursday was 25-16, 25-15, 25-10 while the game against Gonzaga on Saturday was 25-7, 25-20, 25-14. Not only are the Cougars winning, they are winning big and have all the momentum they need with a month and a half before the NCAA tournament.
Next Up: The Cougars have another California road trip this week. On Thursday, they play Loyola Marymount at 8:00 p.m. MST, followed by Pepperdine at 1:00 p.m. MST on Saturday.
Football
Not too many teams win football games with three fumbles and an interception, and BYU is no exception. Turnovers were the name of the game as the Cougars shot themselves in the foot drive after drive. While the team is still ranked, this loss will sting for a while.
Next Up: BYU football is back in another daytime national TV slot as they visit Baylor on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Featured image courtesy Shafkat Anowar, Deseret News