3. BYU Cougars
2020 FInal RankingS
AP 11, Coaches 11
Final Record: 11-1
What Made 2020 Special?
Oh was that fun.
From the opening drive on that Monday night 55-3 blowout over Navy – and it could’ve been much, much worse – right on through the dominant 49-23 Boca Raton Bowl win over UCF, BYU was a blast.
It ripped through teams at will, and right up until the phenomenal game at Coastal Carolina – which the program took on at the last possible moment and deserved all due credit for wanting to compete – in a 22-17 loss that came down to the final throw, it was a terrific 11-1 year.
However, while the team was fantastic, there was one key element to the 2020 season, and BYU had nothing to do with it …
More on the schedule in a moment.
Why 2020 Will Be A Bit Worse: Returning Talent
Start with not having the starting (insert mediocre NFL team, here, most likely the New York Jets) quarterback around.
Zach Wilson was brilliant, and now it’ll be a fight to replace him. BYU will be fine at the position, but it doesn’t have another Wilson.
Three starters are expected to be gone off the offensive line, seven of the top ten tacklers are done, and …
Why 2020 Will Be A Bit Worse: Schedule
– 2021 BYU Football Schedule Analysis
The schedule.
The 2020 Cougars were supposed to play Utah and Michigan State and Arizona State and Minnesota and Missouri and Stanford, and while they would’ve won their share of those, that was a killer compared to the slate they had to hustle together.
Again, it’s not like BYU didn’t try, but it didn’t face a Power Five program.
UTSA, Boise State, and UCF were the only teams among all of the Group of Fivers on the 12-game slate that finished with a winning record.
Again, BYU will win some of the bigger games, but this year it gets Arizona, Utah, Arizona State, Boise State (again), Baylor, Washington State, Virginia, Georgia Southern (watch out on the road), and USC.