BYU’s bye week will have a different feel to it this time around.

After the Baylor game last month, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake sent most of his staff out to recruit during the Cougars' first off week of the season.

BYU is off again this week. But with the final stretch of the season looming, most of BYU’s top decision makers will stick around Provo for hands-on teaching.

“We’ve used a good number of our recruiting days,” Sitake said. “We won’t have as many. We will probably still have some opportunities to go to games more on the weekend. But during the week, I think we will be all hands on deck to work.”

BYU will be favored in its final four games in November. But a date with in-state rival Utah awaits. And no matter how much the Utes are reeling, this will require BYU’s attention.

“We purposefully tried to get out on the recruiting trail early with the first bye week. So we can use this one,” Sitake said. “We can [recruit] but I think [high school] teams in-state are in the playoffs. What’s more important is we did all that before so we can be in a position now to focus on the game”

The Big Thing

In the early part of BYU‘s season, it looked like Jack Kelly and Jakob Robinson were the Cougars’ two best players on defense.

Maybe we were wrong.

Isaiah Glasker is making his case to be not only BYU’s best defender, but also one of the better linebackers in the country.

He had five tackles and an interception against UCF last week. He is BYU’s highest-graded player with at least 200 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. Right behind him are Robinson, Harrison Taggart and Crew Wakley.

More importantly, though, Glasker is exactly the type of linebacker Jay Hill and Justin Ena bet on when they came to Provo two years ago.

They wanted a long, fast linebacker who could drop back in coverage or get after the quarterback. Glasker was younger when they came in, and much lighter. But the coaching staff waited for him to put on weight, and now it is paying off.

So much of Hill’s original vision has come to fruition this year. BYU is getting pressure on the quarterback and generating turnovers at a rapid clip. Eleven different players have interceptions.

But nobody embodies that more than his All-American candidate.

Glasker has 37 tackles, nine tackles for a loss and two interceptions this year.

In a linebacker room that is stacked with talent — Taggart, Kelly — it is Glasker who has the potential to be BYU’s best player.

Question of the week

How much does Utah’s offensive coordinator change affect how you feel about BYU’s prospects of winning?

Fourth down

1. Hinckley Ropati moment

Ropati deserves plenty of praise this week after rushing for over 80 yards. He dealt with injuries for much of this year, but the UCF game was arguably his best in a BYU uniform. BYU needs Ropati to keep LJ Martin fresh. He’s delivered the last two weeks.

2. Satuala sighting

Faletau Satuala recorded his first interception against UCF. With the young wave of players coming in, Satuala is one of the brightest spots for Jay Hill. He is showing some flashes of what this defense could be in a few years.

3. Retzlaff finding the mix

Jake Retzlaff has taken care of the football in Big 12 play. He had one fumble against UCF but was mostly in control the whole game. BYU needed him to strike the perfect balance between risk and reward. He’s done that and now the Cougars are blowing teams out.

4. Middle eight strength

The two-minute drill continues to be Retzlaff’s strong suit. He had another 75-yard drive in under a minute against UCF. This time he hit Chase Roberts for a 62-yard touchdown that gave BYU breathing room. BYU’s ability to win the middle eight minutes can’t be understated. It is the difference in many of these Big 12 games and BYU is winning it this year.

That’s it from me.

Talk to you next week.

— Kevin