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SALT LAKE CITY — In the waning seconds of a hotly-contested rivalry game, and BYU facing a 2-point deficit, place-kicker Will Ferrin calmly drilled a 44-yard field goal to defeat rival Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
It sounded so easy, but a win in Salt Lake City hasn't come often over the years. The last BYU team to beat Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium came in 2006 when the Cougars won 33-31 — an end to an 18-year streak to a team that featured John Beck as the Cougars' starting quarterback.
And yet, despite the late-game adversity, BYU maintained its composure and went the length of the field to secure victory and to maintain an undefeated streak that has the Cougars as one of only a few remaining teams without a loss.
On Sunday, the Cougars saw a bump in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings, which has BYU up to No. 7, a two-spot jump from its previous spot of No. 9 a week before. The Cougars benefitted largely from Georgia and Miami losing over the weekend.
BYU will await its standing in the official College Football Playoff rankings, which will be released Tuesday night.
The last few weeks, the Cougars have pulled away as the top team in the Big 12 that features three teams ranked this week.
Behind BYU in the rankings — with a big gap — is No. 18 Colorado, who beat Texas Tech 41-27 over the weekend, and No. 20 Kansas State, who was on a bye week. Iowa State dropped out of the rankings after suffering back-to-back losses.
The Cyclones are still receiving votes in the poll and are just outside at unofficially No. 26, with Arizona State also receiving votes this week.
Oregon, which secured a 39-18 victory over Maryland to improve to 10-0 on the season, maintained its spot as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country. The Ducks are followed by No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State and No. 5 Indiana.
Miami, which was previously ranked No. 4, dropped to No. 12 with its first loss of the season; and Georgia, which was previously ranked No. 2, dropped to No. 11 after suffering its second loss of the season. The only other ranked team with a big drop was LSU, who fell seven spots to No. 21 after a loss against Alabama.
To see the full rankings see below, or click here.
