Saturday’s somewhat ho-hum 41-16 win over game but overmatched Southern Utah showed that the BYU Cougars do indeed have a legitimate passing attack, as Kedon Slovis threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns against the much-improved Thunderbirds.
The offensive line proved it can pass-block adequately, at least against defenses of that quality and what Sam Houston had in BYU’s 14-0 season-opening win over the Bearkats.
“I don’t know all the answers right now for who carried what. I just want to see the ball carried with more intensity and get more yards. I have to watch the film. But we need somebody that can carry the ball and do it the right way.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
The entire offense should get another boost on Saturday (5:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN2) when 2-0 BYU travels to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take on 2-0 Arkansas of the SEC in a rematch of that 52-35 drubbing the Cougars sustained in Provo last October at the hands of the Hogs. That’s because star receiver Kody Epps should be available, coach Kalani Sitake noted after four different players caught TD passes against SUU.
The big questions facing the BYU offense, and its coaches, are whether this offensive line as now constituted can run-block at a higher level, and what is going on with running back Aidan Robbins, who hasn’t come close to delivering on what most fans expected from the former Louisville and UNLV star.
Granted, Robbins hasn’t received a lot of opportunities through two games — just 10 carries (seven in the opener and three on Saturday). He didn’t get a touch after the first quarter, as second-stringer Deion Smith and freshman third-stringer LJ Martin combined for 13 carries for 43 yards and a TD, a 3-yard plunge by Smith, the Colorado transfer.
After the game, Robbins was the last player out of the locker room when coaches called on the players to come out and circle the stadium to give high-fives with fans who are accustomed to the tradition. Hence, the Louisville product was the last one to complete the circuit, and he did it all with a smile on his face, but didn’t look hurt or encumbered physically in any way.
So what’s going on with the guy who was supposed to be the bell cow in the tradition of Tyler Allgeier and Chris Brooks?
Sitake admitted that he doesn’t quite know himself.
“I don’t know all the answers right now for who carried what,” he said in the postgame news conference. “I just want to see the ball carried with more intensity and get more yards. I have to watch the film. But we need somebody that can carry the ball and do it the right way. We need someone who can block for them and make sure we get more yards. What we got is not good enough.”
Fewer than 50 rushing yards probably won’t be good enough to beat Arkansas, and it almost assuredly won’t be enough to down any of the nine Big 12 teams on the Cougars’ remaining schedule.
“We gotta figure it out, whether it is Aidan running it, or Deion or LJ,” Sitake said. “We feel good about all three of those guys, but we are not giving them a chance right now. That’s our job as coaches to get the O line, tight ends, and receivers blocking better for those guys.”
For the second-straight week, Sitake was asked if Martin has leapfrogged Robbins and Smith on the depth chart.
“He had a play today that was nice, he broke tackles,” Sitake said. “… We feel like those guys are doing a great job. It is, ‘who is going to run away with it?’ And it helps (your cause) when you make big plays in the game. So we will evaluate it. … We just need to see more effective running and it doesn’t matter which one of the three is running the ball.”
Is the offensive line to blame? Sitake seemed to be leaning in that direction. Certainly, Oklahoma State transfer Caleb Etienne, Utah transfer Paul Maile and Utah State transfer Weylin Lapuaho have not been impressive. Etienne, in particular, has struggled on running plays. Projected NFL early round draft pick Kingsley Suamataia, the starting left tackle, sustained a mild knee injury late in fall camp, and hasn’t returned to his 2022 form.
Saturday, he battled an ankle sprain and was replaced at times by Brayden Keim, who performed well.
‘You don’t want to just put (the run-blocking issues) on one guy, or one position, but we expect to have an advantage up front. That’s what we expect and for whatever reason we are not getting it enough in the first two games to make me happy,” Sitake said. Aaron Roderick “and his staff know that. We will fix it. We have the players that can do it. If it means scheme or personnel, whatever it is. We are already done with two games. We are on our third one. We don’t have time to waste now.”
A quarterback’s best friend
The axiom that a quarterback’s best friend is a running game isn’t lost on Slovis, who knows that he can’t do it alone, even with a healthy Keanu Hill, Epps, Chase Roberts and Darius Lassiter (five catches, 73 yards, 1 TD), who was a pleasant surprise in Week 2 after struggling in Week 1.
“It is important. A lot of our stuff is set up off play-action pass.”
Slovis said SUU loaded the box Saturday and made it difficult to run the ball, “and that’s why we had a lot of opportunities on the outside. … There is some give and take there.”
It becomes a numbers game, Slovis said, while acknowledging that one-dimensional offenses historically struggle.
“I am sure there will be some games where teams drop a lot on us and we will have more of a run game and our guys will get going a little bit more,” he said.
Looking ahead to Arkansas
Arkansas drubbed Western Carolina 56-13 in its opener at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas, then downed Kent State 28-6 in front of 73,173 on Saturday at its home stadium in Fayetteville, 76,000-seat Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
The Hogs led just 14-6 at halftime, but blanked the Golden Flashes in the second half to secure the tougher-than-expected win.
KJ Jefferson, the quarterback who overpowered BYU last year in Provo with 367 passing yards and a career-high five touchdown passes, was just OK against Kent State. He completed 13 of 19 passes for 136 yards and two TDs, but was sacked twice.
A dual threat QB, Jefferson ran 13 times for 63 yards (not including the negative sack yards) and was part of the Hogs’ 172-yard rushing effort. AJ Green averaged 5.5 yards per carry on 15 totes.
Kent State was held to 200 yards on 53 plays.
Cougars on the air
BYU (2-0) at Arkansas (2-0)
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. MDT
Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium
Fayetteville, Arkansas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM