This article was first published in the Cougar Insiders newsletter Tuesday. Sign up to receive the newsletter in your inbox each week.
BYU gets its first road trip of the season this weekend in Fort Collins against Colorado State, and former NFL coach Jim Mora has the Cougar staff’s respect.
The Rams are 2-0, and if you were paying attention to the favorite in CSU’s league, Boise State, you’d see that Oregon probably should have lost to the Broncos from CSU’s conference in the season opener. Expect a tough, hard-fought game where BYU’s depth eventually makes the difference.
No. 11 BYU will be the highest-ranked team to ever play in the new Canvas Stadium, and the prospect has Mora and his players fired up. He vows that his team will “fight” hard in this game and lay everything on the line.
Mora told reporters this week that the word “tough” comes to mind when he thinks of BYU under head coach Kalani Sitake.
“Toughness. I have a ton of regard for Kalani. I’ve known him for a long time and you know his team is going to be tough. They’re going to play on the edge,” said Mora.
“They’re going to play with discipline. They’re not going to do things to hurt themselves. They’re going to be sound defensively. They’re going to be physical and run the ball offensively. I’ve watched their film. They’re about as complete a team as you’ll find in the country.
“They’re as good as anyone in the country. You know, they’re a College Football Playoff contender. They’re ranked No. 11 for a reason and they’ve earned it. Like I said, it’s going to be a great challenge and it’s going to be one that we look forward to. Like I said, we will fight like crazy.”
BYU enters the game on a two-game win streak, but if you go back to the Pop-Tarts Bowl win over Georgia Tech, that makes it three.
Mora retained Tyson Summers as defensive coordinator, who likes to create havoc and turnovers using blitzes, twists, slants and mixed coverages and fronts. Mora’s background in the NFL is defense.
Mora puts an NFL emphasis on details, work ethic, standards, resilience and teaching players in a professional manner. Early results under Mora (e.g., forcing multiple turnovers and limiting scoring in the 2026 opener) have reflected these traits, with the defense showing resilience even if early run defense needed settling.
Cougar Insider predictions
Question of the week: While this is BYU’s third game of the season, it might also be one of those games where a team makes its greatest improvements because the opener blowout against Utah Tech didn’t reveal much for improvement. Where do you think BYU will get better this week against the Rams? Give your game score prediction.
Jay Drew: For the first time this season, BYU will play in front of a hostile crowd. While there will be plenty of Cougar fans in attendance in Fort Collins — there always are when BYU plays in Colorado — it will be a much more difficult environment for BYU than in the first two games.
This is a fairly mature and experienced team, that won some big games on the road last year, so I don’t expect it to fall flat at the foot of the Flatirons. There should be some marked improvement, in my opinion.
Dissecting the Arizona game, BYU did not tackle well in the first half. That needs to be corrected. Colorado State has some decent ball-carriers and an above-average quarterback who doesn’t go down easily.
Also, BYU has to cut down on the penalties — particularly those committed by offensive players that tend to stall drives. There were also a few dropped passes against Utah Tech and Arizona that could prove costly on the road.
It would be nice if BYU got off to a lead early and didn’t have to mount a comeback.
Prediction: BYU 38, Colorado State 21
Dick Harmon: I loved going to Fort Collins back in the WAC and MWC days and fondly remember coach Sonny Lubick, a class act. On this trip, I expect BYU to have learned a lot about itself and infuse adjustments to correct mistakes that surfaced against Arizona.
Primarily, I expect the defense to be more assignment-sound. I know that is a Bronco-ism, but it is an absolute necessity in football. When players aren’t aligned right, take on responsibilities and angles they are not supposed to, you get a team like Arizona running 42 plays in one half. I’d expect those mistakes to be ironed out against the Rams.
On offense, look for more effective run blocking early and LJ Martin to do some damage early. I think some dropped passes may be ironed out. Fesi Sitake is very good at getting his receivers to be accountable. Also, holding penalties killed at least two potential scoring drives in the Arizona game. This helped contribute to UA running 42 plays to BYU’s 23 in the first half. Not acceptable.
This will be an interesting game against a fired-up Group of Six opponent with a long tradition with BYU. It will be a good road test to see how a mature team handles playing after a hotel stay and short flight.
Prediction: BYU 37, Colorado State 14
Cougar tales
BYU’s No. 25-ranked women’s volleyball team defeated UCLA in a five-set thriller. In men’s basketball, Kevin Young added a former NBA champion assistant coach in Patrick Mutombo.
The Cougars also added Serbian 7-foot-1 center Jakub Urbaniak to the program. The Cougars and Arizona will meet again on ESPN’s Big Monday.
Here is our coverage of BYU’s win over Arizona in the Big 12 opener:
- BYU uses physicality in wearing down Arizona (Jay Drew)
- Cougars use familiar big second half to win (Dick Harmon)
- Three big plays stood out in BYU win (Dave McCann)
- What UA coach Brennan said post game (Jackson Payne)
- How social media reacted to BYU’s win (Jackson Payne)
- Analysis: Adjustments led to Cougar win (Jay Drew)
- Cougar defense to play without Esera at CSU (Jay Drew)
From the archives
From X-verse
Extra points
- Here’s how BYU, Utah fared in AP Poll (Deseret News)
- BYU honored 1976 football team (Deseret News)
- Cannon DeVries, don’t sleep on him (Deseret News)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
“Might be glad he dodged that ship. Oregon is the mockery of college ball now. Casper is catching TDs while his old team getting made fun of. Good transfer!” — RR
“No one seems willing to credit AZ for being a pretty good team that came to Provo with a chip on their shoulder from last year and were looking forward to playing well in an upset for months. All that emotion lasted one half. But good teams play tough and just because the game is in Provo, it’s not a guaranteed conference game win. But after making adjustments at halftime, the Wildcats were shut out. I told my wife during the second quarter, ‘Whoever scores last is going to win this game.’ That proved to be true for BYU as well as Texas, Oklahoma State and Michigan. Their opponents all lost. That’s why you play the game and the most important stat, Mr. Drew, is the number of points on the board when the clock hits 0:00 at the end of the end of the fourth quarter. No need for such negative statements when the Y is 2-0 after this game. Ohio State, Oregon and Oklahoma cannot say that after today, can they? Give credit for a good, quality win over a tough conference opponent that was motivated.” — Holy-Schamoly-What Baloney
Up next
- Sept. 17 | 6 p.m. | women’s volleyball | Weber State
- Sept. 18 | 5 p.m. | swimming | Blue vs. White
- Sept. 18 | 8 p.m. | women’s soccer | @ Arizona
- Sept. 19 | TBA | men’s tennis | ITA, Tulsa
- Sept. 19 | 7:05 a.m. | men’s golf | John McNichols Invitational
- Sept. 19 |1 p.m. | women’s volleyball | Utah State
- Sept. 19 | 5:30 p.m. | football | @ Colorado State