Perhaps it is because former BYU cornerback great Eddie Heckard is helping coach the secondary this season, but there’s been some considerable debate within the halls of the Student Athlete Building regarding where the current group of Cougar defensive backs rank among the best in school history.
Defensive passing game coordinator and cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford says it is “too early to tell” with this group. He acknowledges, however, that the upside and talent is there for greatness.
“The sky is the limit for these guys,” Gilford said. “They are definitely striving for it. It is always a competition every day in our (cornerbacks) room. So that’s a great thing.”
The primary safeties have been senior Tanner Wall, sophomore Faletau Satuala, who was the hero of the 41-27 win over Iowa State, and junior Raider Damuni, who returned from a rib injury to make some big plays in the 29-7 loss to Texas Tech.
The primary cornerbacks have been junior Evan Johnson, a big catalyst in the 34-13 win over East Carolina, senior Mory Bamba and sophomore Therrian “Tre” Alexander III. Sophomore Jonathan Kabeya and junior Tayvion Beasley have been the primary nickel backs as sophomore Tommy Prassas has been out with a foot injury and will seek a medical redshirt.
Kabeya recently returned to the lineup after sustaining an injury in fall camp that required surgery, and played in the 24-21 win over Utah and the Texas Tech game. He said Wednesday that he will only play in two of the next three regular-season games in order to preserve this as a redshirt year.
“There’s some cockiness in our room, for sure,” Alexander said last week. “We are definitely gonna say we are better than Eddie Heckard’s group (in 2023). … We definitely feel like we’re up there amongst the best, but we have to keep doing our jobs, keep stacking days, because we’ve got a long way to go. We just have to be the best version of us.”
“The quarterback (Hoover) is one of the best we’ve played in the last three years. He throws it well. He ripped us two years ago down there and played one of the best games in his career.”
— BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill
Through nine games, that version has been outstanding, as the Cougars are 8-1, No. 31 in total defense (323.8 yards per game), No. 33 in fewest passing yards allowed (192.2) and tied for seventh in the country in interceptions, with 12.
That prowess will be tested mightily Saturday night, as TCU (6-2, 3-3) brings one of the best offenses in the country to LaVell Edwards Stadium for a 8:15 p.m. MST showdown with the No. 12 Cougars (8-1, 5-1). Leading the Horned Frogs’ attack is 6-foot-2, 200-pound junior quarterback Josh Hoover, the same guy who absolutely thrashed the Cougars’ defense two years ago in Fort Worth.
Making his first career start, Hoover completed 37 of 58 passes for 439 yards and four touchdowns to lead TCU to the 44-11 win at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The Frogs put up 584 yards of offense and held BYU to 243.
“The quarterback (Hoover) is one of the best we’ve played in the last three years,” said BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill. “He throws it well. He ripped us two years ago down there and played one of the best games in his career.
“It’s a typical TCU offense. They have speed. They have talent on the outside. The running backs have been productive. So there are a lot of things that we’re going to have to gear up to stop, obviously.”
Hoover is No. 6 in the country in passing yards per game, 298.89. He’s not a huge running threat (No. 16 in total offense, 300.6 yards per game) like the Cougars will see next week at Cincinnati in QB Brendan Sorsby, but he is extremely efficient. The Frogs are No. 14 in third-down conversion percentage, converting 50.4% of the time.
“We have got to play really precise in our coverage. We got to get some pressure in his face, hopefully do some things to disguise our coverages to where he’s not just standing back in the pocket knowing exactly what we’re doing,” Hill said. “We need to try to confuse him as much as possible.”
TCU’s offense will be without leading rusher Kevorian Barnes, who has been in and out of the lineup after suffering a leg injury in the second game against Abilene Christian. He rushed for just 25 yards against Iowa State last week, but still has 443 this season, with three touchdowns.
“Their quarterback is a great ball player,” said Satuala, who combined with running mate Wall to make 14 tackles last week in Lubbock. “We expect them to come out and throw the ball a lot. Coach Hill has really put in some good schemes for this weekend, and I think that we will play them really well. They got some good receivers and a simple run game. We have to stop the run game. Obviously, that’s the first (priority) in every game.”
BYU’s defense played reasonably well last week against one of the better QBs in the Big 12, Tech’s Behren Morton. The Cougars sacked Morton four times in the first half and held the junior to 219 passing yards. But Hill was not satisfied.
“We have to play better. There were a couple opportunities to make interceptions that we didn’t get,” Hill said. “There were a couple opportunities to get out of some third downs where we just weren’t quite clean enough. Bottom line, give Texas Tech tons of credit. I thought they played very well. We needed to step up to the occasion a little better.”
