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PROVO — The BYU football team isn’t surging going into its bye week after four games of the 2017 season.
Quite the contrary.
The Cougars are banged up, with lower body injuries to starting quarterback Tanner Mangum and tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau, among others. And the offense is also beat up, with a total production that ranks 127th in the country.
Sure, the Cougars have played three-straight Top 25 teams. Wisconsin ranks 16th nationally in total offense, Utah is 39th, and Louisiana State ranks 74th — even after the formerly 12th-ranked Tigers’ 37-7 loss at Mississippi State.
“What better time than the bye week to improve, and to get better in preparation for Utah State,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said after calling his team “overwhelmed” by the No. 10 Badgers in Provo.
But even the Cougars’ in-state rivalry game in Logan next Friday night might not be a guarantee. Though the Aggies are just 1-2 with a lone win over FCS foe Idaho State, they average 389 yards per game, 5.38 yards per play, and have scored seven touchdowns for an overall rating of 82nd nationally.
BYU averages 221 yards per game and has just four offensive touchdowns in four games. The team immediately behind the Cougars in the national ranks, UTEP, fired its offensive coordinator Sunday.
There’s a lot of work to do with no game to plan in Provo.
“You can’t have a week off, ever,” Sitake said. “Everyone has to compete and everyone has to get better. We will definitely take advantage of this (bye) week.”
More specifically, the Cougars’ passing game is a mess. Through four games with two starters (Mangum and Beau Hoge), the Cougars are completing just 55 percent of their passes for two touchdowns and six interceptions. BYU’s leading receiver is tight end Matt Bushman, a freshman with 158 yards on 14 catches.
“There are glimpses of doing great things, but then there are other times where we aren’t good at all,” Bushman said after the loss to the Badgers. “We need to find a balance, to put defenses on their heels, and then make plays.”
The run game isn’t much better. Squally Canada has the experience, and while starting the first two games of the year, he’s piled up 119 yards on the ground. But he’s also scored just once, a 1-yard TD plunge against FCS Portland State, and underclassmen Ula Toluta’u and Kavika Fonua have appeared to lap him in spot starts with 86 and 87 yards, respectively.
Yes, the Cougars have yet to find an identity under second-year offensive coordinator Ty Detmer. The former Heisman Trophy winner arrived in Provo with dreams of reviving the pass-first, pro-style offense.
But dreams have hit reality, and the personnel haven't caught up to the vision.
“It’s hard whenever you have a day like today with only 20 minutes of possession time. It’s tough to get things going,” wide receiver Micah Simon said. “We had a few long drives, which was good. But I think we’re still just working things out.”
Even a BYU defense — the cornerstone of a team that held its first three opponents below 30 points — took a step back against the Badgers.
Related:
Detmer taking deserved heat for BYU's bad offense
Ty Detmer always knew this might happen, that his reputation as a BYU legend could take a hit as the football team’s offensive coordinator. <br> Everybody, from the fans to the players and administration, wants immediate and lasting success. Detmer’s boss, coach Kalani Sitake, even admitted patience is not his strong point.The Cougars rank 82nd nationally in total defense, mixed among a group of contenders that include South Alabama, Georgia Southern, Colorado State and a depleted Stanford that is 1-2 and has yet to win a game in the Western Hemisphere.
“We allow them to beat us,” linebacker Butch Pau’u said. “It’s a matter of us playing every down perfectly.
“If we can do that, we’ll be the defense that we expect to be.”
The Cougars have allowed 10 touchdowns and are allowing 405 yards per game. A year after forcing 31 turnovers that included 21 interceptions, the Cougars have just one interception and three total turnovers — and four sacks in pass rushing.
Abnormal, to say the least, for the BYU defense.
“I feel like we still don’t have an identity,” Pau’u said. “We’ve allowed three good teams to score a lot of points on us, but we feel like we shouldn’t have allowed that many points.
“These kind of games happen. But as a defense, I feel like we don’t have an identity. We’ve allowed too many yards, and we have to figure it out.”
