Kalani Sitake has done it before.
When all has looked lost in Provo, the BYU football coach has somehow managed to get the season turned around, like last year when the Cougars rebounded from four straight losses in October to upset Boise State and become bowl eligible.
“I am responsible for all of this, and it is not working the way I want it to. If I need to jump in there and coach a position, I will do it. If I need to coach a player, talk to a player, I will do it. If I need to make a call, I will make it.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
Not a lot of people saw that coming after the Cougars were thrashed 41-14 at Liberty and upset 27-24 at home by middling East Carolina.
This year feels different, however, and not just because the schedule is 10 times harder.
The gauntlet continues Saturday as BYU (2-4, 5-4) plays host to Iowa State (4-2, 5-4) in a matchup of teams desperately trying to get bowl eligible. Kickoff at LaVell Edwards Stadium is at 8:15 p.m. MST.
Three-fourths of the way into the season, BYU’s issues are plentiful, but the most concerning one is the play of the offensive line. It is the biggest reason why the Cougars are 126th in the country in total offense (298.0 yards per game), 97th in scoring offense (22.9 points per game) and 129th in rushing offense (79.67 yards per game).
There are other problems, such as the lack of offensive weapons and inconsistent quarterback play. Puka Nacua and Jaren Hall aren’t walking through that door, obviously.
Of course, none of these deficiencies have escaped Sitake’s scrutiny, and the usually affable coach was testier than usual in his weekly press briefing Monday. Several times he used the word “embarrassing” to describe his team’s play the last few weeks in the 35-6 loss to No. 7 Texas and the 37-7 loss to West Virginia.
He saved his biggest criticism for the offensive line, after saying there were “too many whiffs” from those guys immediately after the loss to the Mountaineers. The Cougars played without guard Paul Maile, who is out with an undisclosed injury.
“They are not getting the job done, that’s for sure. So, we are not going to hide behind it. They need to do better. And that’s everyone on the line,” Sitake said. “I think you can see it for yourself on film. The performance was embarrassing for everybody. And the O line, it was embarrassing for them, too.”
Sitake did praise West Virginia, which was better in the trenches on both sides of the ball, as almost every opponent has been this season. BYU’s defensive line also got pushed around, couldn’t stop the run, and never got close to WVU quarterback Garrett Greene, let alone sack him.
“So hopefully we can learn from that embarrassment and not allow that to show up again. That just comes to a certain level of toughness and accountability,” Sitake said.
In fairness, BYU’s offensive line has been banged up a bit this season — but not that much more than in recent years. Utah State transfer Weylin Lapuaho missed the Cincinnati and Kansas games with an injury; left tackle Kingsley Suamataia has dealt with knee soreness and other bumps and bruises.
Naturally, message board warriors have targeted offensive line coach Darrell Funk and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick as the culprits, perhaps forgetting that BYU’s offenses and offensive lines the past two seasons have been above average.
Monday, after he was asked about the quarterback situation, and the defense’s inability to stop the run against WVU, Sitake fielded a question about whether his confidence in his offensive staff has been “rattled” by the recent struggles to move the ball and score points. He reminded reporters that this schedule is unlike anything the Cougars have experienced before, at least in his eight-year tenure.
“I take everything into consideration. But I have an obligation as a coach to make sure that our team is functioning at a high level. Are we doing that? No,” Sitake said. “That’s my responsibility. I will figure that out. On my end, I just need to see an identity form. I need to see players that have been here, I need to see them doing their old ways. Players that are new, I need to see them adapt to our expectations and our standard. That’s just how it works.”
Sitake said he is “highly involved” in all three phases — defense, offense and special teams — and is “in the trenches” in regards to game planning. He hasn’t taken over any play calling duties, like he did last year after the defense gave up 52 points to Arkansas.
“I am responsible for all of this, and it is not working the way I want it to. If I need to jump in there and coach a position, I will do it. If I need to coach a player, talk to a player, I will do it. If I need to make a call, I will make it,” he said.
One of the biggest disappointments, as far as the offense is concerned, is the utter lack of a rushing attack. Two years ago, Tyler Allgeier made up for some deficiencies. Last year, Cal transfer Chris Brooks was effective when he was healthy.
BYU just doesn’t have a bell cow at the running back spot, despite the coaching staff’s efforts to bring in Aidan Robbins from UNLV and Deion Smith from Colorado. Robbins and freshman LJ Martin have been banged up at various points in the season, and Hinckley Ropati, an unsung hero in 2022, was lost to an ACL injury in fall camp.
BYU is 126th in yards per carry, a meager 2.9 per rush.
“Running the ball is an 11-man deal. It could be blocked up perfectly, everything could be perfect from the running backs, but the safety comes and he fits faster than we expect him to. You know, different things,” Smith said before the WVU game. “I feel like everybody needs to buy in as a complete unit to be effective in the run game. I feel like that is what will help us. It starts up front. It starts with us running the ball and then ultimately it is up to our receivers on the perimeter as well.”
Receiver Parker Kingston agreed with Smith’s assessment when he spoke to reporters via Zoom on Monday.
“We are the ones who can turn a good play into a great play. We are the ones who can extend the play for the running backs so they don’t have to worry about the safeties, the corners. They can just run,” Kingston said. “So we just gotta be thick on the outside. They are big boy blocks, but we gotta do it so we can set the running backs up.”
Can Sitake get it fixed in time to get that all-important sixth win and become bowl eligible? If not, BYU faces the prospect of ending the season on a five-game losing skid. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, in Stillwater, will be heavy favorites in the games before and after Thanksgiving.
“Right now the focus is for us to play great whether we are on our home turf or on visiting turf,” Sitake said. “That’s the sense of urgency that I have. It is like, ‘Let’s go already. Come on, man.’ We are wasting some opportunities here, and I don’t plan on wasting one this weekend.”
