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Good enough? Assessing where BYU stands with three-fourths of the regular season in the books

| Erin Hooley, Deseret News With three games remaining on their regular season schedule, the BYU Cougars have clearly established themselves as a good college football team in 2026, with flashes of brilliance.

✦ Extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting•From 1 source•2 min read•Updated November 10, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC
Key points
  • That’s probably why ESPN’s FPI gives BYU a 42% chance of winning its next three games and only a 35% chance of making the College Football Playoffs.
  • Entering the home stretch, the final one-fourth of the season, beginning Saturday against extremely dangerous Baylor (4-2, 6-3) at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the Cougars will show whether they can rediscover that greatness or fall back into also-ran status in the Big 12 for the first time since 2023.
  • The deal with this BYU team is that it has shown the capability of beating any team on its schedule, having stunned Notre Dame in Provo and gone toe-to-toe with Utah on its home field, out-gaining the Utes 391-330 and recording 11 tackles for loss to Utah’s none.

Should BYU’s 7-2 start be viewed as a disappointment, given the high hopes that accompanied a program that won 23 of 27 games heading into the most-anticipated season in recent memory?

| Isaac Hale, Deseret News How should fans view the first three-fourths of the season?

Additional details
  • “I think what carries us through over the next three games is we just got to bond together and attack and give our best, regardless of whatever the outside noise might be,” Dunn concluded.
  • “That means we need to improve in all three phases.” Generally, BYU’s defense has carried the team.
  • I want the team to move on and reach its potential.” A sobering thought is that Sitake’s recent teams have not been as good in November as they’ve been in other months.
  • Senior kicker Matthias Dunn, who is quietly having an outstanding season, said the Cougars’ culture will pull them through after an emotionally draining loss to Utah.
  • “We feel really good about all three phases, but we want to be great,” Sitake said.

How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →

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Yahoo SportsNovember 10, 2026, 9:15 PM UTC →

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