For those of you who are first-time readers, welcome! Here is a link explaining my process of how I recap BYU games while paying respect to the rich historical tradition of the BYU Cougars I love.
Resume Watch:
BYU is now out of the running for a New Years’ bowl game. It was a long shot after last week anyhow. Now though they have to win six straight to save their last two remaining goals of the year; double-digit wins and a bowl victory. If this team plays to its full potential that is a very doable feat.
The Good: Kody Epps, Jaren Hall, and Puka Nacua.
Kody Epps, Jaren Hall, and Puka Nacua were the bright spots on an otherwise dark afternoon (despite the sunshine). Hall and Nacua had their share of troubles each turning the ball over once. but overall they played well. Hall was 26 of 41 for 337 yards and three touchdowns. Nacua had eight catches for 141 yards and a touchdown receiving and also had six carries for 20 yards and two touchdowns rushing. Epps had another great game with nine catches for 125 yards and a touchdown. On the season he has 34 catches for 423 yards and six touchdowns.
The Bad: Third down defense.
BYU was awful on third down. Arkansas converted 12 of the 15 third downs they faced. That’s a staggering 80 percent. The BYU defense was just worn out the entire game and having that many third downs converted were demoralized and defeated soundly.
The Ugly: Eight straight scoring drives by Arkansas
BYU gave up eight straight scoring drives to Arkansas. EIGHT. Seven of them were touchdown drives. It can’t be stated enough just how hard the BYU defense tried and how unsuccessful they were in that effort.
-Rise and Shout Again: Next week BYU at Liberty.
Next up is a scrappy independent, religious school (We’ve seen them before), playing a bigger named religious school at home (which we’ve also seen). The Liberty Flames are 6-1 on the season. The last time the two teams met was in 2019 in LaVell Edwards Stadium. The Cougars won the game 31-24 behind a solid game from the since-retired Baylor Romney. Both teams are in their last seasons as independents with BYU joining the Big 12 and Liberty Conference USA in 2023. It should be another challenge against another quality team for the Cougars.
-Heart of a Lion: Kody Epps
Kody Epps is playing so freaking well I’m worried he’s gonna be poached. Like Jordan Addison going from Pitt to USC and Jahmyr Gibbs from Georgia Tech to Alabama, I think Kody Epps is so good and playing so well that he could play and start at a top-10 program. This is scary for multiple reasons for BYU. Not only would it hurt to lose Epps but it could become a pattern for them if they don’t make the changes they need to. If BYU doesn’t find a way to be a top-25 team every year, quality players like Epps may move on to bigger and better things.
Crisis on Defense.
This team is in trouble. While the offense didn’t start slow like they did against Oregon and Notre Dame but that was about the only improvement the team made. The defense is awful this season and the three losses can be squarely laid at their feet. They wouldn’t stop Bo Nix from running the football in Eugene, Oregon. They wouldn’t cover Michael Mayer in Las Vegas against the Irish. Today it was K.J. Jefferson, Raheim Sanders, and Matt Landers. They combined for over 644 yards of total offense against BYU and ended a 20-game winning streak Coach Sitake had. He was 20-0 in his time at BYU when the Cougars scored 30 or more points.
Stopping the Run.
BYU’s national rankings against the run over the past seven years.
2022 – 107th averaging 189.6 rushing yards allowed per game
2021 – 75th averaging 163.5 rushing yards allowed per game
2020 – 23rd averaging 126.5 rushing yards allowed per game
2019 – 71st averaging 168.4 rushing yards allowed per game
2018 – 30th averaging 135.3 rushing yards allowed per game
2017 – 45th averaging 152.8 rushing yards allowed per game
2016 – 14th averaging 120.5 rushing yards allowed per game
The Cougars are giving up roughly 150 yards on the ground every game in the Kalani Sitake Era.
Total Defense
BYU national rankings in yards allowed per game over the past seven seasons.
2022 – 80th 404.9 yards per game
2021 – 73rd 400.8 yards per game
2020 – 8th 314.2 yards per game
2019 – 70th 403.8 yards per game
2018 – 18th 333.8 yards per game
2017 – 54th 385.6 yards per game
2016 – 41st 381.7 yards per game
BYU is giving up around 375 yards of total offense per game since Coach Sitake took the helm.
Defending against the pass
BYU national rankings in yards allowed per game over the past seven seasons.
2022 – 41st 215.3 yards allowed per game
2021 – 77th 237.3 yards allowed per game
2020 – 14th 187.7 yards allowed per game
2019 – 71st 235.3 yards allowed per game
2018 – 28th 198.6 yards allowed per game
2017 – 67th 232.8 yards allowed per game
2016 – 104th 261.8 yards allowed per game
BYU is roughly allowing 224 yards passing per game since the beginning of 2016.
Rushing the passer.
BYU’s defense has been terrible at rushing the passer and consistently so for the past seven seasons. This is the worst defensive stat for the Cougars in the past seven seasons because an opposing quarterback knows he doesn’t have to worry too much about pressure from the Cougars.
BYU’s National sack rankings for the past seven seasons.
2022 – 115th averaging 1.3 sacks a game
2021 – 109th averaging 1.5 sacks a game
2020 – 68th averaging 2.1 sacks a game
2019 – 108th averaging 1.4 sacks a game
2018 – 64th averaging 2.1 sacks a game
2017 – 116th averaging 1.2 sacks a game
2016 – 59th averaging 2.1 sacks a game
The Cougs are only averaging 1.6 sacks a game in the past seven seasons.
The defensive coaches.
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Many love to lay these defensive woes at the doorstep of seventh-year defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki. Certainly, Coach Tuiaki has his share of the blame for a defense that has been giving up over 400 yards of offense per game in three of the past four seasons (the only exception being the crazy 2020 season that was so impacted by Covid-19).
However, the buck ultimately stops with Kalani Sitake. Coach Sitake was a defensive assistant before becoming the head coach at BYU, and has had Coach Tuiaki with him this whole time for a reason. That reason has to be that he is ok with the job that’s being done. When the Sitake Era started, BYU legend Ty Detmer was the offensive coordinator. The Cougars had a good first season in 2016 but after a less-than-stellar 2017, Detmer was let go. I thought that was too soon but gave Coach Sitake credit for letting go of a beloved name at BYU because the job wasn’t being done the way Coach Sitake wanted it to be. His answer was to get Jeff Grimes back at BYU and have current offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick also become a great part of the offense.
Aside from Coach Grimes leaving for Baylor, that was the last major staff change for the Cougars under Coach Sitake. Part of the problem could be just how much of a nice guy Coach Sitake is and how much of a family BYU is (which I’d rather have than have them all hate each other). But when you’re like family, you let things slide that you maybe shouldn’t or wouldn’t with other folks. It’s hard to see that in reality, you’re doing no one any favors if you keep someone around who isn’t getting the job done because you care about them. You need them to do better, sure. But they need to do better for themselves too. It also could be that BYU is not Alabama or Ohio State and can’t afford to get a new coordinator after every rough season.
Coach Tuiaki is the easy name to point fingers at here because of the defensive woes, because of the stats I listed above, and because it’s easy to want a background guy you don’t know as well as the head guy who is front and center, gone. Coach Sitake’s popularity also makes critics and writers look elsewhere to blame. The biggest reason I tend to look at coaches when any team faces a problem is that it’s more decent to look to grown men who make thousands of dollars for answers than to finger-point at kids who until very recently could only do it for the love of the game. I hope that a major change in coaching or players’ time on the field isn’t the answer! I hope that these guys have an epiphany this week and figure out what’s up and right the ship to the tune of six straight wins and a 10-3 finish to the year! One thing is for sure, however, and that is that the team, especially the defense, can’t go on the remainder of this season the way they have against Oregon, Notre Dame, and Arkansas.
Thanks for reading! Give me a follow on Twitter and Facebook!
Read about all the BYU games so far this season!
- BYU at South Florida (W)
- BYU vs Baylor (W)
- BYU at Oregon (L)
- BYU vs Wyoming (W)
- BYU vs Utah State (W)
- BYU vs. Notre Dame (L)
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