BYU Football Defensive Star Hopes to Bring Stability to Defense After Missing 2023 Season

Last season, BYU Football’s defense was better overall than it was in 2022. However, according to the analytics, the team still struggled to stop opposing offenses, particularly when their own offense struggled to put points on the board.

Last year, it seemed like when it rained, it poured. The defense either gave up less than 20 points or more than 35. There was only one game where they gave up between 20 and 35 points, showing that what the team likely lacked more than anything was discipline. In other words, if things were working on defense, they were great; if anything went south, the defense became non-existent.

BYU Football is Heading Into Their Second Season Under Jay Hill

Jay Hill was one of the biggest hires that BYU Football has ever had for an assistant coach. Whether it’s been because of relatively low pay or just a lack of interested candidates, BYU has not had many current head coaches drawn to serve as coordinators.

While the defense struggled last year, there was some improvement. The defense was able to put much more pressure on opposing quarterbacks, and there weren’t as many long drives that haunted the Cougars back in 2023 and years prior. The biggest issue seemed to be giving up the big play, and part of that can be blamed on Hill not having the guys he needed to run his scheme. The other was that BYU’s secondary was so hurt.

Now in his second year, Hill has recruited more players that will fit the scheme, and BYU is getting back the injured secondary players.

One of those players never saw the field last year, and he is back and ready to go ahead in 2024.

Micah Harper is Ready to Go

Typically, safety has a good season if they can have 50 tackles. Micah Harper did that and more as a sophomore in 2022 when he totaled 62 tackles and two forced fumbles. For some context, Ethan Slade, another safety, was third on the team with 60 tackles last year.

If Harper can return to his 2022 self, he could be a huge addition to the secondary, which is looking to improve its performance from last year.

In an interview with KSL, Harper shared the following:

“My expectations for myself is just to pick up where I left off the last time I played in the New Mexico Bowl. I want to show everybody, my family and myself, and I want to prove to everybody that I’m healthy again. Or even just people who are going through injuries. You can go through a major injury and it’s not the end of the world. You can come back stronger than you did when you left the field.”

#BYU safety Micah Harper is ready for his return to action in 2024.#BYUFootball #GoCougs https://t.co/pYniPtc7hh

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 25, 2024

BYU Should Be Very Deep at Safety

Last year, BYU Football seemed cursed with injuries at the safety position. Along with Harper, who never saw the field, Talan Alfrey and Tanner Wall also suffered season-ending injuries. At points in the season, BYU was forced to play with only one safety due to a lack of capable players.

However, the odd thing about injuries is that sometimes it pays dividends later. Players like Crew Wakely, Raider Damuni, and Preston Rex were given reps that will give BYU much more depth this upcoming season. The Cougars are now solidly two players deep in every secondary position, which means health likely won’t be as much of a concern, and players can be used interchangeably depending on scheme and matchups.

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