As Kalani Sitake left the field after a 45-13 loss to Iowa State on Saturday, he questioned whether his players believed in the defensive scheme they were running anymore.
But as he sat on that assessment on Sunday, he decided to take a longer view of what happened to his 5-5 BYU team. And he reflected on BYU’s struggles acclimating to a Power Five league.
“We are going against a different beast here,” Sitake said. “These are teams that have been at a Power Five level way longer than we have. I’m not making excuses. I’m just telling you, they are really good players.
“You look at these teams like Oklahoma. They were 6-6 last year and they are in a really good spot. They were in playoff contention before a couple of weeks ago. There is a lot of parity in this league.”
The Cougars have been outscored 117-26 in the last three weeks. They are now 2-5 in their first Big 12 season and will finish out the year with Oklahoma and Oklahoma State — two ranked teams in the running for a Big 12 title.
Still, Sitake was adamant the culture of the program was not an issue.
“If I had players out there quitting, I’d be really, really worried about what is going on,” he said. “That’s why I’m excited to see what we can get done this week.
“We can keep things in perspective. ... We are looking at the most difficult schedule in BYU history. And we are sitting at 5-5 with a chance to win a game and go to a bowl game. So we are still playing for a lot of things.”
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff (12) puts in yards before being pushed out by Iowa State Cyclones defensive back Beau Freyler (17) during an NCAA college football game on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023, in Provo, Utah.
In his assessment of what has gone wrong, he partially blamed BYU’s own errors. Last week, the Cougars had a fumble, interception and a fumble on their first three plays with the ball. Iowa State was up 10-0 three minutes into the game.
“You can’t just keep spotting teams points,” he said.
Sitake also placed blame on the offense. He went back three weeks ago to when BYU lost to Texas 35-6. The defense held the Longhorns to under 30 points for most of the night. But the offense never moved the ball consistently to get into the end zone.
“We were down two scores, 15 points with 10 minutes left, and we had the ball,” Sitake said. “So when one phase [the defense] is working hard and playing hard, minimizing mistakes, the other two phases didn’t do their part.”
He admitted it was complete failure the last two weeks as BYU lost 37-7 to West Virginia and was blown out by ISU.
“People say, ‘Oh you can’t do anything right,’” Sitake said. “Well, it takes one guy to lose the edge in a run. One guy not covering the right person. One guy to miss a tackle. The guys aren’t quitting. Watching the film, I love the energy that they have and the fight they have. We just need to channel it to playing smarter football.”
Still, Sitake believed there are some issues that go beyond the players or the scheme. He alluded to the talent deficit BYU has in the first year in the Power Five. That included his own assessment where he thought BYU was struggling to match the physicality of opponents at times — in particular, his offensive and defensive lines.
“When I say we weren’t physical enough, it is about being stout. Getting overwhelmed by a really good front on both sides of the ball,” he said. “... Our team is a physical team. You talk to anybody who coaches against us, our team is a physical team. What makes it look not very physical is when we are missing tackles. If we are missing blocks.
“These are big, strong O-linemen we are going against and we need to be stout at the line of scrimmage. And you usually judge that by how many yards they run for and how many yards we can run for. ... I wouldn’t say we were just overwhelmed. But there were moments where that did happen. And it happens sometimes.”
BYU will see Oklahoma this week. OU is 8-2 and ranked No. 14 in the country. Sitake understands the margin of error will be small with BYU’s current roster.
“We are going against difficult opponents,” he said. “You can’t make those mistakes and come back to win. You get blown out by really good, physical teams that are on a P5 level. That is what happens.”
But he is defending his team’s culture amid a difficult stretch.
“I believe the culture is still thriving,” Sitake finished. “Guys aren’t pointing fingers. Guys are still unified with a lot of outside noise. Guys are still connected and love their roles. You can tell guys are doing well in life when even when they have adversity, they still have appreciation and gratitude in their lives. Our players do have that.”