No. 15 Utah looks to continue push for shot at Big 12 title game, No. 12 BYU looks for rebound win

Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

No. 15 Utah (7-2, 4-2 Big 12, No. 13 CFP) at Baylor (5-4, 3-3), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

Utah’s four Big 12 wins are by an average margin of nearly 36 points, and its only losses are to No. 8 Texas Tech and at No. 12 BYU. The Utes need to keep winning and will need some help to get into the Big 12 championship game. With dual-threat quarterback Devon Dampier, Utah is second in the league averaging 477 total yards and 39.6 points per game. Standout pass rusher John Henry Daley (9 1/2 sacks) and the defense are second in the Big 12 allowing 301 yards and 14.2 points a game.

Kyle Whittingham is in his 21st season at Utah, making him the second longest-tenured active FBS coach – behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz in his 27th season. Sixth-year Baylor coach Dave Aranda needs another strong finish. A six-game winning streak at the end of the 2024 regular season took some heat off Aranda, but the Bears are 22-25 since winning a Big 12 title in 2021, the coach’s second season. They are coming off an open date after a 30-3 home win over UCF, but lost back-to-back games before that.

– TCU (6-3, 3-3) at No. 12 BYU (8-1, 5-1, No. 12 CFP), Saturday, 10:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

BYU looks to bounce back from its first loss to Texas Tech. After getting to 9-0 last year, the Cougars had consecutive losses that kept them out of the Big 12 title game after a four-team tiebreaker. TCU won three of its four games in October and was coming off an open date before last week’s home loss to Iowa State, which snapped a four-game losing streak.

– Arizona (6-3, 3-3) at No. 22 Cincinnati (7-2, 5-1), Saturday, noon ET (FS1)

The Bearcats had won seven games in a row before the 45-14 loss at Utah on Nov. 1 in their last game before an open date. They need to rebound without looking ahead to another home game next week against BYU.

– Texas Tech running back Cameron Dickey has a Big 12-high 11 rushing touchdowns and is second in the league with 86.7 yards per game for the Red Raiders (9-1, 6-1, No. 6 CFP), who host UCF. Dickey ran for 121 yards last week against BYU while league-leading rusher LJ Martin was held to 35 yards in that game.

– Baylor QB Sawyer Robertson is still the Big 12 leader at 309 yards passing per game, even while being held to 404 yards total the last two games. He threw five TDs in those games and shares the national lead at 26 with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.

West Virginia (4-6, 2-5), which has won its last two games and has to win out to be bowl eligible, plays Arizona State (6-3, 4-2) for the first time as Big 12 opponents. They last met in the 2015 Cactus Bowl that the Mountaineers won 43-42. … Kansas State has averaged 34.2 points over their past five games, but lost two of them. The Wildcats (4-5, 3-3) play at Oklahoma State (1-8, 0-6). … Arizona, Cincinnati, Houston, Texas Tech and Utah all have already exceeded their win totals from last season.