Fans filed out of BYU’s LaVell Edwards Stadium last Friday night appreciative of the 38-24 win over West Virginia, but leery of the Cougars’ injury situation after star linebackers Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly and backup running back Enoch Nawahine sustained injuries in the first half.
Any hopes that concrete answers would come Monday were dashed, however, as coach Kalani Sitake was purposefully vague in his weekly press briefing ahead of Saturday’s Big 12 showdown with surprising Arizona.
Sitake’s response was that everyone will have to wait until Wednesday, when the Big 12-mandated injury report is released for both the Wildcats and Cougars.
“We’ll see what happens with some guys that are banged up. Hopefully they get back and are ready to roll for us, but that’s part of the game,” Sitake said. “We have our depth there for a reason, and we spent a lot of time (working on that) the past few years.”
Later in his opening remarks, after lamenting how backup players gave up a late touchdown to West Virginia, Sitake said some of those same players “are one play away from being on the field,” perhaps hinting that the Cougars will be without some key players — Kelly, most notably — in the 6 p.m. MDT clash at Arizona Stadium against the 4-1 Wildcats.
“So we will see what teams show up with this weekend, but I’m excited that some of the guys, I mean, (from) what we’re hearing, we will find out more as we evaluate their health today, but I feel good about where we’re going as a program and where we’re going to be when we show up in Tucson,” Sitake said.
While Kelly watched the second half from the sidelines with a sling on his left arm, Glasker asked to be put back into the game, and did take the field late with the “hands team” when West Virginia attempted an onside kick. Asked specifically about Glasker’s health, and whether he would be “full go” for the UofA game, Sitake deferred.
“Well, I mean, he’s not going to be full go,” Sitake said. “Obviously he finished the game, but we evaluated (everyone) today. We evaluated (everyone) over the weekend. We’ll see where he’s at. I feel good about it. The guy is a competitor. He wanted to play, even in the game, so we have to be smart with him, smart with everybody that got banged up.”
Here are more takeaways from Monday’s press briefing:
Cougars sustained several other injuries Friday
Sitake then said BYU “will probably have more” players on the injury list released Wednesday.
Glasker and Kelly were still listed as starters at the Sam and Rover linebacker positions on BYU’s depth chart released Monday.
Nawahine dropped to RB3, as converted safety Preston Rex — who has not had a single touch this season — moved up to RB2. Freshman Jovesa Damuni, who lost a fumble in BYU territory Friday, is now RB4. Nawahine had one carry, for 4 yards, against the Mountaineers.
Sophomore Sione Moa remains out with an undisclosed injury, and probably won’t be back until November, at the soonest, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Sitake said Rex and Nawahine were injured in fall camp and Damuni took a lot of the scrimmage reps, and “did a great job.” Rex is back to full strength now, and is listed behind RB1 LJ Martin, the player the Cougars simply cannot afford to lose.
“Just because they’re listed at two or three or four (is not significant),” Sitake said. “There’s a good chance to see all those running backs, especially with Sione (Moa) dealing with his injury.
“It doesn’t really matter. It’s not like we sit there and say, ‘Well, you fumbled, so we’re going to bump you down.’ We expect all those guys to take care of the ball. Even if you’re the seventh-string running back, I expect you to take care of the football and do it better than I did.’”
Sitake played fullback for BYU in 1994 and from 1997 to 2000 under legendary coach LaVell Edwards.
Another player who got dinged up in the 24-21 win over Colorado, nickel Tommy Prassas, did not play against WVU but remains on the depth chart as the starting nickel.
Cougars used Saturday to heal up and rest
Aside from individual film study, BYU didn’t use Saturday as an extra day to prepare for Arizona — which drubbed Oklahoma State 41-13 on Saturday amidst 85 degree temperatures in Tucson. Nor were the Cougars in full pads on Monday.
Sitake said that Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales is one of the best in the business, is from the same “coaching lineage” as Rocky Long and Bronco Mendenhall, and will have some wrinkles for the Cougars.
“So we’re very familiar with defense, but the way he’s able to combine their base coverages with pressures, he calls a really good game, and they can make things really difficult for any offense,” Sitake said. “So we’re gonna have to be at our best, and offensively, we’re gonna have to protect our quarterback, and we’re gonna have to try to run the ball on these guys and we have to make some chunk plays, some big plays.
“So hopefully we can build off the momentum that we got this last game, and then taking care of the football is going to be key too, especially against this defense,” Sitake continued.
Offensive line has come cleaning up to do
Part of the reason why Sitake was not overjoyed by the two-touchdown win over West Virginia centered on the high number of penalties the Cougars committed — 10 for 67 yards. In particular, the offensive line was shaky, although two of the false starts were committed by receivers Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston.
According Greg Wrubell of the BYU Sports Radio Network, BYU committed eight offensive holding penalties last season, and has already committed nine this season.
The Cougars had two false starts in their first three games of 2025, then six in their last two games.
“It takes a little bit more focus and more discipline, and we’ll work on those,” Sitake said. “… It is uncharacteristic of our our offense and of our team. My job as a head coach to make sure that we’re way more disciplined than that and that we don’t make mistakes, and we made a lot of mistakes.”
Sitake said he planned to address those mistakes in team meetings Monday and outline expectations.
“We are trying to change things up so we’re not always sitting on the ball for so long. I mean, there’s a lot of things that we could do to help it. But I think the guys are just antsy trying to make plays,” Sitake said. “Some of the mistakes can kill drives. It makes things really hard when you go first-and-15. We just try to not shoot ourselves in the foot. I think those are the easy ones to fix.”
