What should we make of BYU’s 3-0 start ahead of Big 12 play?

For BYU’s formerly independent college football team, it still stands as a “Welcome to the Big 12″ moment for the Cougars.
On BYU’s second play from scrimmage in its first-ever Big 12 game last year, then redshirt-freshman receiver Parker Kingston was blown up by Kansas defensive back Cobee Bryant on a jet sweep and lost the football. Bryant turned it into a 22-yard scoop-and-score en route to a 38-27 win, and the Cougars’ dreams of making a splash in their new Power Five league were dashed.
What did Kingston and the Cougars, who would go on to a 2-7 record in the Big 12, learn that day, and season?
“I would say that nobody is going to be soft in the Big 12,” Kingston said Monday as the 3-0 Cougars wrapped up nonconference play and turned their attention to No. 13 Kansas State’s visit on Saturday (8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN).
Humbled by five consecutive Big 12 losses to end the 2023 season, but encouraged and emboldened by close losses to two of the better programs in the conference, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, in late November, BYU embarks on nine straight Big 12 games in 2024 this week with one major question hovering over the program.
Have the Cougars improved enough to win more league games this season?
“I would say we are miles ahead of where we were last year. We didn’t know what to expect going into last year. Now we have a feel. We know what to expect,” Kingston said. “There are no rollover games in the Big 12. Every game is tough. Every game is going to be close. We just need to lock in every week.”
There’s also this sobering thought to consider: BYU may be better, but its final record might not reflect that because the schedule is tougher, beginning Saturday against the 3-0 Wildcats. Remember, last year’s Big 12 home opener came against fellow newcomer Cincinnati and resulted in a 35-27 win.
Kansas State is much more formidable than Cincinnati, obviously.
“We just have to go be the most physical offense out there, the most physical team out there, and we will do what we need to do in the Big 12 this year,” Kingston said.
Several of the questions that Kalani Sitake fielded Monday revolved around the improvement question, and the nine-year head coach did some uncharacteristic firing back, showing a little bit of the strain he’s feeling to right the ship in Year 2 of Big 12 play.
“Well, we will find out. I feel good about the team. If you guys think we haven’t made any progress from last year until now, then that is your opinion,” Sitake said. “But I think we will show it. I think people can realize we are a different team from last year’s team, and we will keep working on it.
“We are sitting at 3-0, and there are some really good things that we are doing. I think a lot of people want to focus on the negative,” Sitake said. “We will get better. We know how to fix those things and we will make it work. I like the things we have done already as a team.”
Sure, but BYU was also 3-0 at this juncture last year, and 4-1, before a 44-11 loss at TCU after a bye week exposed all kinds of weaknesses and signaled a rocky road ahead.
What’s different about this squad?
“I think the camaraderie that we have as a team. I think other players would say the same thing. Last year when we were in tight situations, we were trying to do more than we (could),” said receiver Chase Roberts, who has emerged as the go-to guy in BYU’s offense.
“Just trust each other, trust the guy next to you. Grab hold and play hard. I think last year we lacked a little bit of that. This year we love each other. We are going to play for each other,” Roberts continued after catching six passes for 129 yards in the 34-14 win over woeful Wyoming. “… So I think it is just the trust we have in each other and how much we love each other.”
Quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who has produced both hope and skepticism with his uneven play in the three wins, echoed Roberts’ sentiments.
“I just think this team’s love for each other is second to none. I know you have heard Kalani say that, and maybe it sounds corny or something to guys who don’t know this team, or don’t know a football locker room.
“But the love between this team is different, on both sides of the ball,” Retzlaff said in Laramie after arguably his best game in a BYU uniform.
“We are playing for each other better than I have ever seen us play. So I am excited to get into conference play and show that on the field,” Retzlaff continued.
After bouncing back from an early interception with a 291-yard passing game, Retlzaff was asked by an out-of-state reporter if the 3-0 start sent a message to the Big 12 and the state of Utah that this season is going to be different.
“You know, our message is on the field. I don’t think I can sit here and put into words and say anything we would actually want to say to Utah, to the rest of the world,” Retzlaff said. “We are just going to keep getting better every week, and I think we have shown that. We are just going to keep going week by week and keep showing up and putting everything on the field and making a statement by our play.”
Quarterback is by far the most important position in college football, and especially at BYU; rarely have the Cougars been good when their quarterback isn’t. Retzlaff has clearly improved from the four games in which he started in 2023. But is that enough?
Retzlaff has completed 60.6% of his passes for 841 yards and seven touchdowns, with three interceptions. His quarterback rating is 154.
Through three games last year against a similar schedule in terms of talent (Sam Houston, Southern Utah, Arkansas) Kedon Slovis was completing 61.1% of his passes for 660 yards and six touchdowns, with one interception. His QB rating was 142.5.
Those numbers suggest Retzlaff is off to a better start, and it should be noted that only one of Slovis’ nonconference games was on the road (Arkansas). Then again, BYU’s run game is better this season, which Retzlaff has contributed to, and which has yet to face an above-average defense.
“You can see these guys (Retzlaff and backup Gerry Bohanon) are well equipped to handle the offense,” Sitake said. “If they can settle down and not have to do it all by themselves we can be really good as a team.”
For the second-straight year, injuries to running backs have threatened to hamper BYU’s offense. The Cougars are handling it better this year, a testament to Sitake’s plan to increase depth at every position. Not bringing in an experienced RB from the transfer portal in 2024 hasn’t hurt BYU yet, but the defenses it will see from here on out could change our thinking on that.
BYU is once again averaging 31.0 points through three games. The Cougars are passing for 289.3 yards per game (up from 232.3) and rushing for 151.0 yards per game (up from 78.3). They haven’t been as good on third down, but have made up for that with an 80% conversion rate on fourth down.
“I feel like we have had plays out there that we can make and we just didn’t make,” Kingston said of BYU’s 4-of-24 performance on third down. “Obviously I had one last game that I should have made. But I think it is just about making the plays when we need to. We can convert them. We just need to make the plays.”
BYU opted for continuity over wholesale personnel changes from the transfer portal this offseason, and the strategy has worked out, for now.
Defensively, the additions of Weber State’s Jack Kelly (linebacker) and Marque Collins (cornerback) have already paid dividends. Kelly is getting some NFL hype from ESPN’s Mel Kiper. He’s been that good.
In Year 2 of Jay Hill’s system, defensive players have been in the right places more often than not. That they understand the scheme better is quite apparent.
“I think the scheme has been really good. Everyone has a year under their belt with the scheme (which Kelly was familiar with from his time with Hill at Weber State). So everyone is trusting it knowing that everyone is going to be in the right position on certain blitzes and that sort of thing,” Kelly said. ”Ultimately our strength coaches have done a good job getting us bigger faster and stronger in the offseason. So I think that plays a part, and then all of our pass rush guys we have here, coach Chad (Kauha’aha’a) has done a great job with all of us working on moves and counter moves, all that sort of stuff.”
Defensive end Tyler Batty said the unit is “significantly ahead” of where it was last year entering Big 12 play.
“We learned a lot from last season. We put a lot of that into our preparation in the offseason and getting ready for this fall,” Batty said. “So yeah, I think we are ready for it.”
BYU is among the NCAA leaders in several defensive categories, but suggestions that this defense is elite — until it is tested against Big 12 offenses that ground and pound with the best of them — are premature.
“I think we have been playing at a high level,” Batty said. “I think we have been playing good competition in years past. I think the biggest thing is week in, week out, having the depth and just bringing the right mindset every week.”
BYU is allowing six more rushing yards per game this year than last at this juncture, but is giving up only 130.7 passing yards, compared to 218.7 last year against Sam Houston, SUU and Arkansas.
BYU’s much-desired improvement in the trenches on both sides of the ball appears to have been satisfied, but only time will tell. Certainly, it will be tested Saturday night under the lights and in chilly weather at LES.
“That is going to be a difficult task in every conference game. You guys saw it last year. We definitely knew that we needed to get better from what we had last year, and this is going to be tough,” Sitake acknowledged. “Kansas State has got great personnel on both O line and D line. We are looking forward to it.
“Very athletic O-line, very tough and stout D-line. Well-coached. These guys are tough kids. Man, they show it on film. What a great matchup. I am looking forward to our guys getting out there and competing with them.
“We will find out, man,” Sitake continued. ”That is the fun part about this game. We will find out how good we are and how physical we can be against a good team like Kansas State.”