2024 BYU Football - Year 2 in the Big 12

[Uncle Ted]

42% isn't bad... That is like Trump's odds of winning Minnesota.

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Some early projections show BYU playing Texas in Austin in the first round... that would be a nice road trip.

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[Goatnapper'96]

Another great win and a finish that has the chance to forever be etched in BYU football lore. I never thought I would see another season like 1996 with Army going 10-2 and BYU going 14-1 but here I am-proud fan of two undefeated teams! To quote Old Milwaukie commercials: "it doesn't get any better than this!"

On a really big scale-something is happening at BYU that is different. Under Shane Reese it appears to me that the institution wants to see BYU compete at the highest levels it can. As a long time fan-back to the late 70's, I believe BYU is changing its approach. For years BYU had great football but that was more the result of coincidence. I think BYU admin was invested in BYU being regionally dominant-but I think the institutional commitment ended there. From what is happening in basketball to the investment in game day environment and the media that BYU churns out-I think BYU institutional decision makers have decided that they are not going to stand in the way. External factors have finally bent in BYU's favor with Big 12 inclusion and BYU has a chance to brand itself as a place good athletes with conservative social values can come to for both a great education, the focusses on the entire person, and a chance to compete in sports at the highest levels and do it in an atmosphere that won't bombard them with the craziness of our modern world and how that is amplified on most University campuses. BYU has the resources and capacity to genuinely be unique in this space and even hold its own with the top programs on the fields of friendly strife. Perhaps I am high on the fumes of this season's success but I really believe there is a different and new commitment to athletic excellence at the highest levels that I had not before felt was present. Hoops recruiting is buying their players. I don't know how football will approach recruiting-but my instinct is if the money is there for hoops it will be there for football however Kalani chooses to prioritize recruits or spend the money in a more egalitarian way. I am just becoming convinced that the institution is all in on whatever approach the coach chooses to take and wants the coach to be as successful as the money will allow. The reality is BYU has turned itself into a compelling and fun option for folks not put off by the conservative social values atmosphere. Clearly, the Big 12 isn't the Big 10 or SEC but it plays quality football and has access to the playoffs. BYU provides a great education that focusses on the whole person and post sports career opportunities. The game day atmosphere and all the ancillary aspects of the program are organized, professional and fun. Kalani Sitake might be staring right at a golden goose of opportunity. I will be interested in how this impacts recruiting over the next few years. I believe starting next season BYU has a full portion of Big 12 revenues.

I don't know what success it will bring but I don't think the blame will be on the institutional limitations. This is truly a brave new world and my guess is it will take a few years to ramp things up since this is new territory for all of us-but the potential ceilings seem to be lifting IMO. Just a lot of good things going on that I believe can be leveraged strategically by an aggressive and ambitious staff-hope we have that.

[Uncle Ted]

I watched the condensed ISU-UCF game, and I share your concern. Their QB looks a lot like Ollie Gordon, but faster. Look at the holes they had on their long runs. They were gargantuan. Hopefully they don't get that much space against us.

UCF also benefitted from two pick sixes. Not that we should discount it, but hopefully we can take better care of the ball than that.

Yeah, the thing that BYU needs to work on this week is its run defense. They rushed for 354 yards vs. Iowa State (9.1 YPC) and are 4th in the nation in rushing yards on offense. Other than that I'm not too worried.

[Green Monstah]

BYU going to have its hands full next week at UCF. Team speed has always be an Achilles heel for the Cougars.

I watched the condensed ISU-UCF game, and I share your concern. Their QB looks a lot like Ollie Gordon, but faster. Look at the holes they had on their long runs. They were gargantuan. Hopefully they don't get that much space against us.

UCF also benefitted from two pick sixes. Not that we should discount it, but hopefully we can take better care of the ball than that.

[Omaha 680]

BYU going to have its hands full next week at UCF. Team speed has always be an Achilles heel for the Cougars.

Yeah I have been thinking about this. I'm not too worried about their speed on defense. They are not stellar in the mid 70s for total defense, an above average run defense at #30 and poor PED also in the mid 70s. Assuming the offense shows up and Jake takes care of the ball we should move it well and score points. But there is a world where this ends up being a high scoring game with us not being able to contain their rushing attack. I don't THINK their top RB is the quality of Ollie Gordon but we are over halfway through the season and he is still averaging nearly 7 yards per carry with 900 yards total rushing. Kalani implied in post game comments that there was some "freelancing" on defense last Friday with guys trying to make the big play that left them out of position and led to big gains in the OSU rushing attack. Hopefully that is true and they clean it up and we weren't just exposed because UCF will surely have taken note.

Bottom line I still think we have the upper hand and a better than 50% chance of getting out of there with a win. But this game and the Utah game are the remaining ones I see the most potential for a stumble. Take the rivalry factor out and just on paper the UCF game easily has the highest loss potential.

[Pelado]

The game against Oklahoma State was the first this season in which BYU did not cover the spread. For the next game, ESPN's FPI predicts UCF will win but Vegas expects BYU to pull off a narrow victory on the road:

The Cougars are slightly favored over the Knights. BYU opened as a 1.5-point favorite

https://www.si.com/college/byu/footb...orite-over-ucf

[Omaha 680]

AP #11. Alabama dropped below us and we leapt over ND. Iowa State drops 1 spot to #10.

[BigFatMeanie]

BYU going to have its hands full next week at UCF. Team speed has always be an Achilles heel for the Cougars.

[USUC]

I was 5 years old in 1984. My dad apparently didn't include me in the celebrations.

He made it for it by taking me to a ton of Jazz games before I was 10.

One of my earliest BYU related memories is walking out of Sizzler (I think. It was on State Street in Sandy) and seeing teenager in a BYU jacket and another wearing a BYU hat who were smoking. My dad laughed and said that's the power of a championship. This would have been spring on 1985.

[falafel]

No, I think I pegged the range easily enough.

I was 5 years old in 1984. My dad apparently didn't include me in the celebrations.

He made it for it by taking me to a ton of Jazz games before I was 10.

[Joe Public]

Uh...

I’m flattered.

[Bo Diddley]

Are you assuming my age??

No, I think I pegged the range easily enough.

[falafel]

Uh...

Are you assuming my age??

[Bo Diddley]

Really good stuff, thanks Cope.

Makes me wonder if all those games are available on BYUtv.

Uh...

[falafel]

I’ll put these here:

McKay Coppins piece in the Atlantic touching on Jake Retzlaff at BYU -
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...campaign=share

ESPN article mostly on 1984 BYU FB team but briefly connecting to the 2024 team -
https://www.espn.com/college-footbal...otball-playoff

Really good stuff, thanks Cope.

Makes me wonder if all those games are available on BYUtv.