We’ve written plenty about the incredible drive that saved a 7-0 season.

It will go down with the greatest moments of BYU’s modern history. Right up there with the Nebraska Hail Mary in 2015 and the game-winner against Utah in 2006.

But there is one detail we haven’t keyed in on during the 35-yard touchdown from Jake Retzlaff to Darius Lassiter with 10 seconds left.

Retzlaff was originally looking for redshirt freshman JoJo Phillips on that play. The fact that Phillips was even on the field in that moment, much less the intended target, says plenty about his growth in this offense.

“Luckily we have more than one [receiver] to go to,” head coach Kalani Sitake. “We know that teams may try to do things to take away Chase [Roberts] or Darius [Lassiter] or whatever it is.”

Phillips is emerging as the tertiary target behind those players on the outside — which bodes well for BYU’s future.

Lassiter is playing his final season and Roberts is in his third year. Eventually, the Cougars need a succession plan. Phillips is now the most likely option to fill Lassiter’s role in 2025.

As for this year, Phillips may or may not have his moment. He only has eight targets and is fifth on the team in receiving. But with young guys like him, you look for moments of trust, too.

Friday night was a sign of that.

Plus, look at Phillip’s snap counts. He had 10 snaps against OSU and 20 against Arizona. That puts him above Parker Kingston in the receiver’s room.

BYU’s staff feels comfortable with him on the field. You’ll see a lot more of him there in the future.

The Big Thing

It was overshadowed by the win, but BYU’s defense had its worst week in almost a year against OSU.

Much like 2023 when the Pokes ran all over the Cougars to end their season in Stillwater, this time OSU put up 269 yards on the ground.

Running back Ollie Gordon accounted for three touchdowns and the quarterbacks had 96 rushing yards alone. If Gordon didn’t get hurt, he might have eclipsed the five touchdown mark he had against the Cougars last year.

It was the most rushing yards allowed by Jay Hill’s unit since Nov. 4, 2023, when the West Virginia Mountaineers went for 336.

In short, it was a glaring problem.

So what happened?

Sitake thought part of the issue was guys playing outside their own assignments. The other part, he believed, was that BYU didn’t prepare for the quarterback run game.

“They did some things we didn’t see a lot on film. The things they were committed to doing, just running the quarterback, we weren’t expecting that,” Sitake said. “We tried to make some adjustments. They had a bye week so they had time to do that. We had a short week.”

There were some missed tackles, too. BYU missed nine tackles in the run game, according to Pro Football Focus. That isn’t awful, but it is the most since K-State.

“When you are going up against a great back like Ollie Gordon, that happens sometimes. That’s when you need more than one body in the area to make the play,” Sitake said. “But minimizing the big play is something we’ve been really good at.”

BYU wasn’t on Friday. There were eight runs over 10 yards or more.

“We gave up two big runs that cost us maybe 50 yards each. … But for the most part, I thought we kind of handled it pretty well,” Sitake said.

It needs to improve against UCF — a team that has the leading rusher in the Big 12 in RJ Harvey and multiple running options at quarterback.

“It wasn’t our best week for the defense. But we know how to fix it,” Sitake concluded.

Question of the Week

BYU will be favored in four of its last five games of the season. Do you think the Cougars will play in the Big 12 title game?

Fourth down

1. Welcome back LJ Martin

Martin played possibly his best game at BYU on Friday. He went for 120 yards on 20 carries. He played 45 snaps. It is clear now: This offense changes with him on the field.

We wrote about it after Arizona, but it’s worth mentioning again. The run-pass balance he gives to coordinator Aaron Roderick is something no running back has been able to give this offense in three years. I know there were last second heroics from Retzlaff, but BYU won again with him throwing for just 218 yards. That is real balance. It makes this team dangerous.

2. Bruce Mitchell, again

We talked with Mitchell taking over the center duties last week. He had barely snapped a day of his life, yet he was outstanding against Arizona.

And he was good again on Friday. He was the second-highest rated offensive lineman and BYU survived another week without Connor Pay or Sonny Makasini.

3. Tanner Wall

The defense was poor, but Tanner Wall came up with another interception. He was the topic of this newsletter after Arizona. His opportunistic defense is becoming one of Jay Hill’s best weapons.

4. Two time zones

BYU is going to Florida, which means it’s a Thursday travel day for the Cougars. BYU always takes two days on the road if they are traveling multiple time zones away. It gives them the extra day to adjust to their body clock and the jet lag.

It is a 3:30 p.m. local time kick — much earlier than those 8:30 p.m. MT marathons. BYU’s played well in the afternoon this year. But in years past, it’s a trap game time for the Cougars.

Thanks for reading! Talk to you after Orlando.

- Kevin