BOISE, Idaho — During their current four-game losing streak, and even before that when they were blown out at Oregon and slogged unimpressively through wins over Wyoming and Utah State, the BYU Cougars have searched for answers, made coaching assignment changes and generally exhausted every avenue in an attempt to recover from their stunning collapse.
That is obviously not the position coach Kalani Sitake wants to be in as his beleaguered, 4-5 team approaches Saturday’s final rivalry game (5 p.m. MDT, FS2) with 6-2 Boise State on the blue turf of Albertsons Stadium. But Sitake, his staff and team leaders such as quarterback Jaren Hall, linebacker Keenan Pili and offensive lineman Clark Barrington somehow believe that the bowl-bound and Mountain West-leading Broncos, who have won four straight, might just be the remedy for what ails them.
“They seem to bring out the best in us in crucial times. I think this is one of those moments again.” — BYU football coach Kalani Sitake
“They seem to bring out the best in us in crucial times,” Sitake said. “I think this is one of those moments again.”
On paper, however, the 13th meeting — Boise State leads the series 8-4 — of these recent rivals appears to be a major mismatch. The Broncos are healthier, have one of the best defenses in the country, and recently unveiled a 6-foot-6, 220-pound redshirt freshman quarterback, Taylen Green, who many observers say will play in the NFL some day.
“They don’t have a lot of weaknesses,” BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said.
Meanwhile, BYU has a lot of issues and shortcomings, particularly on defense where the Cougars appear to be approaching an alley fight with a plastic butter knife. They’ve started 23 different players on defense, and several are walk-ons or were third-stringers when the season began.
Not exactly a recipe for success on The Blue, where Boise State is 5-1 against the Cougars all-time. Speaking of which, the blue turf could be wet turf, perhaps even lightly blanketed in snow, if weather prognostications are accurate.
“Both teams have to play in it,” Roderick said. “Bad weather isn’t something that is new to us. The game against Boise last year (a 26-17 Broncos win as a 6-point underdog) we had some bad weather. We are just preparing for the worst, weather-wise, and then if it is better than that, then that will be great.”
If nothing else, the Cougars will have the revenge factor on their side as they try to get payback for an upset loss in 2021 that ruined their perfect season and caused their No. 10 national ranking to plummet. Then again, Zach Wilson-led BYU walloped Boise State 51-17 at empty Albertsons Stadium (due to COVID-19 restrictions) two years ago and some Broncos haven’t forgotten that.
“Yeah, they bring their best every year and just like Kalani was talking about, they are great team,” Barrington said. “We gotta bring our ‘A’ game and we are expecting for it to be a fist-fight, right? It is going to be a physical game, so we gotta bring it.”
Pili said the Cougars haven’t played their best game yet, especially on defense, and there is no time like the present.
“We feel like we haven’t been able to show all the work we have put in. We haven’t been able to execute the way we want to, and I just hope this week can be that week and (we) come into it with positivity,” Pili said.
Backup defensive back Jacob Boren was ejected for targeting in the second half of the 27-24 loss to ECU and will miss the first half. Starting linebackers Max Tooley, Chaz Ah You and Payton Wilgar are not expected to play, which could be a big issue considering BSU’s George Holani is averaging 5.1 yards per carry and 93.9 rushing yards per game.
Green, a dual-threat QB, has rushed for 258 yards and passed for 862 since taking over QB duties full-time when Hank Bachmeier hit the transfer portal after a puzzling 27-10 loss at UTEP on Sept. 23.
“He is a great athlete,” BYU reserve linebacker Morgan Pyper said of Green. “He is a good, accurate thrower. We gotta be mindful of that, and then they run the ball pretty well, too. We gotta be ready for all the ins and outs of this game and make sure that we are respecting (Green) the way he needs to be respected.”
A pass rush of some sort would help, considering the Cougars didn’t register a sack the entire month of October and haven’t had once since the 38-26 win over Utah State on Sept. 29.
“We need to stop the run first before we start talking about rushing the passer on third down,” said BYU defensive line coach Ilaisa Tuiaki, who handed the reins to the entire defense over to Sitake after the 52-35 loss to Arkansas. “… There are a lot of dangerous components to their offense. We gotta stop their run or nothing else is going to work.”
BYU ranks No. 121 out of 131 teams nationally against the run, giving up 205.7 yards per game. Worse, the Cougars gave up 227 to East Carolina, 300 to Liberty and 277 to Arkansas the last three games.
“These guys are tough,” said BYU safeties coach Ed Lamb. “They could beat anybody in the country right now, the way they are playing on defense, and the big-play ability they have on offense. They are a really challenge.”
Yet the Cougars, who will be without leading receiver Kody Epps and leading rusher Chris Brooks on offense, cling to some hope that they can come up with a Baylor-like performance and jumpstart a season on life-support.
“There is no choice,” Sitake said. “… We are in a position of fight or flight. And we have a bunch of fighters and that keeps me feeling really good about our program, and where we are at.
“Obviously the direction we want to be in is getting more wins. But we have great young men in this program…. We have got some great camaraderie on this team, and I am excited to see it play out even on the field.”
Cougars on the air
BYU (4-5)
at Boise State (6-2)
Saturday, 5 p.m.
Albertsons Stadium, Boise, Idaho
TV: Fox Sports 2
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM