BYU leaps to No. 15 in national polls

PROVO, Utah — BYU football moved up seven spots to No. 15 in both The Associated Press Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll released Sunday. The Cougars are coming off a 45-14 victory over previously unbeaten Louisiana Tech on Saturday to improve to 3-0 on the season.

The No. 15 ranking is the highest the Cougars have been ranked under head coach Kalani Sitake and the program's best ranking since 2009 when the Cougars achieved a No. 7 ranking by AP and No. 9 coaches' rating.

The Cougars have been ranked in each of the four regular season polls released this year. The last time BYU was ranked in four consecutive weeks was in 2014 when the Cougars were ranked as high as No. 18 in week six after starting the year 4-0. 

Prior to 2020, the last time BYU was ranked in the top 25 was during the 2018 season when the Cougars were ranked as high as No. 20 after starting the season 3-1 with a victories over Arizona on the road and No. 6 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. 

BYU has also been dominant in several statistics through three games, including ranking No. 1 nationally in total offense and No. 1 in total defense. The Cougars have racked up 585.7 yards per game and allowed just 214.3 yards to opponents each contest.

The offense also ranks No. 1 in yards per play (8.10), first downs per game (28.7), pass efficiency (214.86), yards per passing attempt (13.1), completion percentage (82.9) and in passing plays of 20 yards or more (19). The Cougars are No. 2 in scoring offense at 49.3 points per game and rank in the top 10 of more than 30 offensive categories. 

Defensively, the No. 1 defense in yards per game also ranks No. 2 in first downs allowed per game (11.0), No. 3 in third-down conversion percentage (23.08), No. 3 in pass defense (143.7), No. 4 in scoring defense (8.0) and No. 5 in rushing defense (70.67). 

BYU (3-0) will host UTSA (3-1) of Conference USA this Saturday, Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m. MDT in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.