Tuesday Tidbits

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

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If you peruse this week's point spreads, you'll note that no team is a heavier favorite than the BYU Cougars (-28) are to beat the Utah State Aggies in Logan Friday night. Even Baylor (+27) has a better shot of beating #1 Oklahoma than the underdog Aggies have of beating BYU--or so say the oddsmakers.

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I don't profess to know everything about how these things work, but on a night when only two major college games are scheduled, I'm mildly surprised that Friday's BYU-Utah State game didn't end up on one of the ESPN platforms. As the visiting team, BYU cannot dictate coverage plans (the WAC's TV partner makes the call), and while I'm sure the highlights will make their way to "Sportscenter," I would hope that a highly-ranked BYU team playing on a weeknight could be seen on the worldwide leader. The game will be seen nationally on BYUTV, as a kind reader was correct to note.

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This will be the 12th time BYU plays Utah State on a Friday night. BYU is 11-0 versus the Aggies on Fridays.

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BYU has gone 12 consecutive games with a 100-yard rusher or 100-yard receiver.

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Since losing to TCU 51-50 (OT) in 2005, BYU is 3-0 coming off of bye weeks.

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Only Ty Detmer (2.63/gm) averaged more touchdown passes per game than Max Hall is averaging through 17 games as BYU's starting QB (2.41/gm).

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BYU has not been ranked this high this early in the season since BYU was ranked 5th in the September 11th, 1990 AP poll, after beating previous #1 Miami.

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