Provo • Kalani Sitake was caught between two worlds.
An hour after his team wrapped up a 10-win regular season, BYU’s head coach walked out of the locker room on a bitterly cold night to discuss the bittersweet achievement. He oscillated between laughter and sorrow. He smiled in one sentence and grimaced in pain after another.
“We’re sitting here at 10-2,” Sitake said. “But my mind keeps going to what could have been, you know?”
It was hard for Sitake to digest what had just taken place. Because in the middle of BYU polishing off a 30-18 win over Houston, it was also eliminated from Big 12 title contention. Over 1,000 miles away in Ames, Iowa State knocked off Kansas State and extinguished the Cougars’ hunt for the title game in Arlington.
Just a few weeks ago, it looked like BYU was destined for that game. It was 9-0, ranked No. 6 in the country, and exceeding every preseason prognostication. But then two losses by a total of nine points put BYU’s season on life support. And on Saturday night, even after getting a 10th win, it was eliminated due to tiebreakers.
BYU went from the possibility of having one of the best seasons in program history to being done in just 20 days. A team that felt like it could make noise in the College Football Playoff — and had the resume to back it up — will now end its season playing in some lesser game named after some tax software or perhaps a breakfast pastry.
The Cougars' disappointment was all at once understandable and completely unexpected.
“Nobody thought we were going to get these [10] wins,” Sitake said. “The problem was, we thought we were going to get two more. And because we didn’t take care of business that way, we had to rely on the tiebreaker system.”
And that is what BYU will have to deal with now — not just on Saturday night, but for the rest of the long offseason ahead. There will be a bowl game and those who shower Sitake in praise. A 10-win season is rare in college football — even rarer in Power Four football. And for a team that was predicted to finish 13th in the Big 12, that is an accomplishment.
“In a Power conference that’s a huge thing. It is never very likely to come,” linebacker Jack Kelly said.
But then again, there was also the feeling that BYU missed a prime opportunity this season. Because who knows when the next time the Cougars will have the inside track at the Big 12 title game or a College Football Playoff spot. In a conference like the Big 12, continued dominance doesn’t just happen.
Houston quarterback Zeon Chriss (2) runs the ball as BYU defensive end Tyler Batty (92) defends, during the first half of a NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Provo. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
No team has made it to back-to-back Big 12 title games since 2020. Even the teams you thought would dominate and make it to Arlington every year find it hard to stay relevant. Texas won the league just once in 14 years. The lesson there: when you have a chance to make a deep run and get to the postseason, you have to take it in the Big 12.
Even if BYU is in its infancy in the league, even though it exceeded expectations, there is a feeling it missed its shot. It faltered in November by going 2-2, when it could have been 4-0.
“We’ve got to find a way to get better in the offseason, so that we have a more successful November,” Sitake said. “But it’s hard to do that when you look at the conference and the parity and the difficult matchups. It’s not an easy task. But you don’t really win [those games] week to week. You win them in the offseason.”
What makes this even tougher for Sitake is the way BYU lost in the final month of the season. When it had multiple chances to clinch a spot in the title game, it faltered to Kansas in a game where a punt hit off of a BYU defender’s head. Even BYU’s coaches wondered aloud, how many times could that happen again?
And then at Arizona State, the Cougars dug themselves a hole, down 21-3 — only to storm back and be a Hail Mary short of winning in Tempe. Sitake thought BYU should have won both games, and now it will linger in his mind as he watches the Big 12 championship from home rather than play in Arlington next week.
“If we just do our job and play like we know we can [we win those games],” Sitake said. “Minimize the mistakes, and I think we’ll be in a really good spot.”
But they aren’t. And instead, BYU spent halftime of the Houston game finding out it was eliminated from contention.
They came out of the break and turned the ball over twice and barely escaped from a four-win Houston team.
“There was just kind of a shift in their focus,” Sitake said. “I would have to say that probably the result of the Iowa State game.”
It was understandable. Its dream season was officially over.
After the game wide receiver Chase Roberts was signing a ball for a kid who screamed, “Two yards short.”
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, bottom, slides into the end zone on a quarterback keeper, as Houston linebacker Jamal Morris, top, defends during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Provo. (AP Photo/Rick Egan)
He was referring to the Hail Mary at ASU that landed at the 2-yard line. If Roberts got in, BYU would have been going to Arlington.
Roberts at first said, “Yeah” and looked disappointed. Then he smiled. It was fitting for the night. Torn between two worlds.
BYU should be proud of a 10-win season. But what could have been will linger inside the program much longer.
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