PROVO — With its bye week in the books, BYU faces a crucial game this weekend at Utah State.
The Cougars travel to Maverick Stadium to take on the Aggies Friday (6 p.m., MDT, CBSSN).
BYU (1-3) has lost three consecutive games while USU (2-2) throttled San Jose State 61-10 Saturday.
The Aggies built a 38-0 halftime advantage and cruised to an easy victory against the Spartans.
Quarterback Kent Myers passed for 181 yards and two touchdowns and ran 15 times for 84 yards and two more TDs. As a team, USU rushed for 318 yards and rolled up 589 yards of total offense. The Aggies had the ball for nearly 40 minutes and limited SJSU to 162 yards of total offense.
USU opened the season with a 59-10 loss at Wisconsin, followed by a 51-13 victory over Idaho State and a 46-10 setback at Wake Forest.
BYU, which has scored only 39 points all season, is looking to avoid falling to 1-4.
The last time the Cougars started a campaign 1-4 came in 2010. The fourth loss that year came at the hands of Utah State in Logan, where the Aggies beat BYU 31-16, cementing the Cougars’ first 1-4 start since 1973.
The following day, then-BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall fired defensive coordinator and secondary coach Jaime Hill.
As for this season, the Cougar offense has been anemic, scoring just four touchdowns. BYU averages just 9.8 points and 221.8 yards of total offense per game.
Following the Cougars’ 40-6 loss at home to Wisconsin on Sept. 16, coach Kalani Sitake said his team would be working hard during the bye week to fix its problems.
“We’ve got to get into the end zone,” Sitake said. “We’ve got to go to work. We have a free week and we have to take advantage of that time. More than anything, we’re not playing as good as I think we should be.”
Against the Badgers, sophomore quarterback Beau Hoge got his first career start in place of an injured Tanner Mangum. Hoge completed 11 of 20 passes for 111 yards and two interceptions. Hoge will likely get the start against the Aggies.
Before the loss to Wisconsin, BYU offensive coordinator Ty Detmer was asked about his players’ attitude amid the struggles.
“It’s been good. We’ve got a good group of young men. We were 1-3 last year. Similar situation. We didn’t play well against UCLA and didn’t score many points. The defense played pretty well. We’ve been there,” Detmer said. “We’ve got some veteran players that have. It’s the young guys you worry about that they start getting down and start doubting themselves. The attitude’s been good. It’s been real positive. The energy level’s been good at practice. Everybody knows they have to do a little bit more. Focus a little more and work a little more.”
Has the work BYU put in during the bye week been enough to jumpstart the offense, beat Utah State and avoid a 1-4 start?