BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill has some new hardware in the arteries surrounding his heart, but the same duties he had before going into cardiac arrest last Thursday night.
Hill officially returned to work on Monday (although he did attend Saturday’s 41-13 win over Southern Illinois and occasionally chimed in over a headset he donned in the press box) and got right back where he left off four days ago.
Head coach Kalani Sitake said during his weekly press briefing at noon on Monday that Hill “is doing great and is off and working and getting ready for SMU.”
The rest of the coaches and the players are also doing well, Sitake reported, noting that there were no significant, or season-ending, injuries in the physical game against the Salukis.
“We have some guys that are banged up. It was a tough game. It was physical,” Sitake said. “Right now, everybody looks like they are on target to play this game this weekend.”
Having hardly broken a sweat in downing Houston Christian 59-7 on Saturday, SMU (2-0) will host BYU (1-0) on Friday at 5 p.m. MDT at Gerald Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas. The Mustangs, a recent addition to the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Power Four ranks, are 11.5-point favorites in the rematch of the 2022 New Mexico Bowl.
BYU won that game 24-23 in Albuquerque when Cougars cornerback Jakob Robinson stopped a two-point conversion attempt near the goal line at the end of regulation.
“I know they are a really explosive team, and are favored in this game,” Sitake said, while also noting that he is “good friends” with SMU coach Rhett Lashlee. “This is an opportunity for our guys to get in there and figure out ways to get better, and improve, and then take on a very impressive SMU team. Looking forward to the matchup. I have a lot of respect for their program and their staff.”
Because SMU has played twice (it beat Nevada 29-24 in Week Zero) and BYU has played once, the Mustangs have twice as much game experience under their belts. Then again, BYU has twice as much film on SMU. Sitake said that is pretty much a wash because the Mustangs were so dominant against Houston Christian that they didn’t have to show much.
As far as having to travel on a short week, Sitake isn’t complaining about that, either. The Cougars will fly into Dallas on Thursday.
“We knew the schedule ahead of time. We have applied all the science to it. We have adjusted our schedules. We will be fine. The guys looked good on Saturday,” Sitake said. “The guys had the Sabbath to go worship and spend time with their families, and now we are back to work. We will be ready to roll by the time we get to Friday.”
Returning to the conversation on Hill, Sitake said it has not been determined yet whether the former Weber State head coach will call defensive plays from the press box, or the sidelines, which is where he performed his in-game duties all of last season.
“I mean, I have heard coaches start liking the posh life in the box a little bit too much, and maybe he is liking it up there. I don’t know (where he will be),” Sitake said, half-joking. “It was a different perspective for him (Saturday), and it was nice … to hear his voice on the headphones and that we could talk back and forth. It was a good setup. The defense performed well.”
If there was a bone to pick with the defense that Sitake called Saturday — with input from linebackers coach Justin Ena, cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford, defensive line coach Sione Po’uha and former BYU safety Gavin Fowler, a graduate assistant who helps Hill with the safeties — it was that SIU quarterback DJ Williams broke contain a lot and ran for more than 100 yards, and two touchdowns.
“There are a lot of variables that go into it, but we are addressing them right now because we are going to see it this week,” Sitake said. “We need to have an answer for it.”
SMU’s top two quarterbacks are redshirt junior Preston Stone and redshirt sophomore Kevin Jennings, and both can run well and pass well, Sitake said.
“I think you have to be prepared for all of it. So that’s just kind of how the game of football works. They have to prepare for it, and we have to prepare for it,” he said. “And from what I saw this last week, they have a bunch of quarterbacks that can play, and that can run, and that can run that offense effectively.”
Cougars on the air
BYU (1-0, 0-0) at SMU (2-0,0-0)
Friday, 5 p.m. MDT
At Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dallas, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM