On Saturday night, Kalani Sitake and the BYU football program improved to 10-2 with a win over Houston. With the win, BYU secured a tie for first place in the Big 12 standings. Due to Big 12 tiebreaker rules, BYU will not play in the Big 12 Championship Game. Instead, Arizona State and Iowa State will face off in Arlington.

When the game began, BYU’s Big 12 title hopes were still alive. BYU needed Kansas State to beat Iowa State to find a path to the Big 12 championship game. Unfortunately for BYU, the Cyclones eked out a fourth-quarter win, eliminating BYU from Big 12 competition.

The win over Houston wasn’t pretty, but the Cougars took care of business on a cold evening at Lavell Edwards Stadium. BYU had a chance to score three points in the third quarter before a botched snap inside the Houston 10-yard line gave Houston life. . The final score was 30-18, but it wasn’t that close. The Cougars controlled this game throughout.

BYU defeated Houston 356 to 250. It was the rushing attack that made the difference for BYU on Saturday night. The Cougars rushed for 189 yards, led by running back LJ Martin, who rushed for 87 yards on 22 carries. BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff had 57 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The BYU defense had two more interceptions in the game – one by Tyler Batty and one by Jack Kelly. The BYU defense recorded at least one interception in every game this season.

With the win, BYU will wait to see what happens next. The two most likely destinations are the Alamo Bowl and the Pop Tarts Bowl.