Provo • The night before BYU’s season-opener, junior cornerback Jakob Robinson went through the film one last time. He wanted to brush up after a week of preparation.
As he flipped through the clips, he landed on a red zone sequence Sam Houston liked to run in years past. It was a rub route near the end zone. Head coach KC Keeler’s staff called it often, and Robinson filed it away for future use.
So when Robinson went in during the third quarter, BYU pinned inside its own five, Robinson immediately saw what was coming next. He shouted it out to his running mate Eddie Heckard before the snap. Sam Houston quarterback Keegan Shoemaker was looking for wide receiver Ife Adeyi in the end zone. As he rubbed off of Al’vonte Woodard, Adeyi was about to be wide open to tie the game.
But Robinson made a break for the ball before it was thrown; eventually skying to come up with an interception at the goal line.
“Same formation [as the film],” Robinson said. “And just jumped it.”
It saved a 7-0 BYU lead.
Later on, Robinson had a similar call back. BYU was in cover three, but Robinson recognized Shoemaker eying wide receiver Shane Johnson. Robinson had seen the route before, so he ditched his assignment to make a play on the ball. Instincts based on film.
“I just bailed when I saw the quarterback look at him. So I just jumped it again,” Robinson said.
Robinson’s two interceptions were the difference in BYU’s 14-0 win over Sam Houston. Even as the offense struggled, the defense pitched its first shutout since 2014. It was the first FBS shutout since 2012.
But the performance spelled something more: BYU’s defense was prepared.
New defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s debut was a masterclass in everything he preached. The defense was aggressive, it tackled well, it blitzed at the right times. It had an answer for everything that came its way.
And for the first time, Hill breathed life into the notion that this really is a new era. Now his players can start to believe.
“This is the most prepared we have ever been,” Robinson said. “Formations-wise, we just knew what was coming. Could call it out before it happened.”
Added linebacker Ben Bywater: “Hat tip to the defensive staff. They put us in position to make big-time plays. Look at [Robinson] he has two picks. That doesn’t really happen.”
Sam Houston made it past midfield just twice all night, and one of them was after a fake punt gone wrong. BYU held the Bearkats to two-of-14 on third down. It created three turnovers and three tackles for a loss.
But the more promising sign was BYU improved on everything it struggled with last year. It had a tackling grade of 83.4, according to Pro Football Focus. That was good for ninth-best in the country this week. The run defense was top 20 too, allowing just 38 yards.
In sum, 11 players graded out better than a 70 overall, per PFF (led by Robinson who earned a 90.4). The last time BYU graded this high overall was against Baylor last year. And before that, you’d have to go all the way back to Utah State in 2021.
“I feel like we gained a lot of trust in [Hill],”Bywater said. “Obviously we trusted him before. But going out and doing what we said we are going to do. I have a lot more faith in and trust in him and our coaches.”
BYU’s defense will face better offenses than Sam Houston. But a season-opening shutout isn’t nothing. After all, there have been worse offenses to come into Provo and put up points.
Utah Tech totaled 420 yards last year. Idaho State neared 250 yards in 2021. Georgia Southern put up 268 the same year. Sam Houston only mustered 185 yards.
The last time BYU held a team under 200 yards was in 2020 against Troy.
“Jay has them trained,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “They responded to negative plays. Proud of the way they responded all night. Felt like they were in control of the game.... TFL’s, stopping the ball at the line of scrimmage for us was a big goal. Obviously played better on third downs and got turnovers.”
Hill started telling his team earlier this week in practice that something like this could happen. It was a quiet confidence of calling his shot.
But before Saturday, it was all talk and hypotheticals. Bywater admitted as much. But now it will be hard not to believe.
“He was calling shots earlier in the week,” Bywater said. “... Obviously this offseason there were a lot of question marks and a lot of hype with the new staff. A lot of X,Y and Z. You name it.
“But for us to go out there and be aggressive and play the way our coaches wanted us to play [is big]. Obviously we are going to go watch the film and go fix our mistakes. But I think we are in a great spot right now going forward defensively.”
