Saluki to have football back! Official BYU v SIU Thread

[YOhio]

FCS #11 ranked team coming into Provo. We don't know the QB and we don't have much of an idea how the offense will look, but we do have some weapons. It looks like LJ might get some time tomorrow, though if he's injured I'd rather him sit a week before SMU. I like our receiving corps with some good experience and young talent. The line *should* be improved over last year. Defense should be pretty stout. I think we'll be better than projected. SIU is a tough team but BYU will win going away.

Last year BYUTV started doing these really heartwarming stories on the opponent every week. Sure it's a bit of a 'pick me' vibe, but there are worse things than being nice. This one about SIU running back Kayleb Wagner is so good.

https://www.byutv.org/61df2a01-05e6-4b43-8529-18eb1567279a?utm_source=byub&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_2024&utm_content=episode

[Pelado]

FCS #11 ranked team coming into Provo. We don't know the QB and we don't have much of an idea how the offense will look, but we do have some weapons. It looks like LJ might get some time tomorrow, though if he's injured I'd rather him sit a week before SMU. I like our receiving corps with some good experience and young talent. The line *should* be improved over last year. Defense should be pretty stout. I think we'll be better than projected. SIU is a tough team but BYU will win going away.

Last year BYUTV started doing these really heartwarming stories on the opponent every week. Sure it's a bit of a 'pick me' vibe, but there are worse things than being nice. This one about SIU running back Kayleb Wagner is so good.

https://www.byutv.org/61df2a01-05e6-4b43-8529-18eb1567279a?utm_source=byub&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_2024&utm_content=episode

If I watch a heart-warming story about the upcoming opponent, then I might not desire their utter destruction on the football field as much, so it's a no from me, dawg.

Didn't realize SIU is ranked. They'll likely prove a more difficult test than I was expecting.

I'm cautiously optimistic that there will be improvement from last year. Especially hoping for strides from the offensive line and the QB spot.

That said, I like the thread title.

[myboynoah]

FCS #11 ranked team coming into Provo. We don't know the QB and we don't have much of an idea how the offense will look, but we do have some weapons. It looks like LJ might get some time tomorrow, though if he's injured I'd rather him sit a week before SMU. I like our receiving corps with some good experience and young talent. The line *should* be improved over last year. Defense should be pretty stout. I think we'll be better than projected. SIU is a tough team but BYU will win going away.

Last year BYUTV started doing these really heartwarming stories on the opponent every week. Sure it's a bit of a 'pick me' vibe, but there are worse things than being nice. This one about SIU running back Kayleb Wagner is so good.

https://www.byutv.org/61df2a01-05e6-4b43-8529-18eb1567279a?utm_source=byub&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=share_2024&utm_content=episode

Please please please make YO a prophet.

Last season's Sam Houston game was irritating.

[Sizzle]

I have three big questions for the upcoming season, and honestly, Saturday will be our first look on whether we're wondering which bowl game we're playing in or battling down the stretch for bowl eligibility.

Question 1: QB Play
Indications are that Jake Retzlaff is the guy. He wasn't good enough to end the year last year to have me excited about that decision if that's the case. Too many turnovers and too many missed opportunities. I don't know that Gerry Bohannon is an easy answer either behind him that I'd feel significantly more optimistic – especially hearing that neither QB pulled away from the other throughout Fall Camp. Having said that, players can improve, so let's maybe give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best here?

Question 2: OL Plan
BYU's OL has underperformed the last few years, hence the hire of TJ Woods. OL is a group that it would seem BYU has typically been able to attract high-level talent. Maximizing that talent goes a long ways to supporting both the run and pass game - and absolutely contributes to QB Play. I look back to when Coach Grimes came to BYU (both times) and how he made a positive impact on our OL, turning it from an underachieving unit to one of the strengths of the team... and ultimately those were times when BYU had more successful seasons. So no pressure TJ, but pressure is on!

Question 3: Jay Hill Year 2
How does the defense look in Year 2 under Jay Hill? I'm worried about our DL depth – I don't know that we have enough of "guys who are those guys" along the line. BYU was 99th out of 133 teams in opponents PPG last year – they need to be a lot better than that this year if they want to hit the six win threshold. We had good luck last year with the Weber State transfers, do we see that again with Jack Kelly? Hoping so – and hoping for a pretty big step up defensively this year... especially if our offense struggles a bit.

[Pelado]

I have three big questions for the upcoming season, and honestly, Saturday will be our first look on whether we're wondering which bowl game we're playing in or battling down the stretch for bowl eligibility.

Question 1: QB Play
Indications are that Jake Retzlaff is the guy. He wasn't good enough to end the year last year to have me excited about that decision if that's the case. Too many turnovers and too many missed opportunities. I don't know that Gerry Bohannon is an easy answer either behind him that I'd feel significantly more optimistic – especially hearing that neither QB pulled away from the other throughout Fall Camp. Having said that, players can improve, so let's maybe give him the benefit of the doubt and hope for the best here?

Question 2: OL Plan
BYU's OL has underperformed the last few years, hence the hire of TJ Woods. OL is a group that it would seem BYU has typically been able to attract high-level talent. Maximizing that talent goes a long ways to supporting both the run and pass game - and absolutely contributes to QB Play. I look back to when Coach Grimes came to BYU (both times) and how he made a positive impact on our OL, turning it from an underachieving unit to one of the strengths of the team... and ultimately those were times when BYU had more successful seasons. So no pressure TJ, but pressure is on!

Question 3: Jay Hill Year 2
How does the defense look in Year 2 under Jay Hill? I'm worried about our DL depth – I don't know that we have enough of "guys who are those guys" along the line. BYU was 99th out of 133 teams in opponents PPG last year – they need to be a lot better than that this year if they want to hit the six win threshold. We had good luck last year with the Weber State transfers, do we see that again with Jack Kelly? Hoping so – and hoping for a pretty big step up defensively this year... especially if our offense struggles a bit.

I concur.

And good to see you, Sizzle.

[byufan4ever]

https://www.deseret.com/sports/2024/08/28/byu-football-depth-chart-2024-season-two-deep-cougars-quarterback/

I really dislike deph charts with all of the "OR" in there. Even if multiple players at a single position will get plenty of playing time, only one gets the start. Yeah yeah, gamemanship. Do we really need to keep Southern Illinois from knowing who our starting left tackle will be? Anyway, Jay Drew at the Deseret News, took his crack at eliminating the ORs.

Offense


QB

• No. 12 — Jake Retzlaff — 6-1, 205 pounds, Jr.
• No. 3 — Gerry Bohanon — 6-3, 225 pounds, Sr.

RB

• No. 27 — LJ Martin — 6-2, 225 pounds, So.
• No. 7 — Hinckley Ropati — 5-9, 220 pounds, Sr.

WR

• No. 2 — Chase Roberts — 6-4, 210 pounds, Jr.
• No. 13 — JoJo Phillips — 6-5, 205 pounds, Fr.

WR

• No. 5 — Darius Lassiter — 6-2, 210 pounds, Sr.
• No. 17 — Keelan Marion — 6-0, 195 pounds, Jr.

WR

• No. 0 — Kody Epps — 5-11, 187 pounds, Jr.
• No. 11 — Parker Kingston — 5-11, 185 pounds, So.

TE

• No. 1 — Keanu Hill — 6-4, 240 pounds, Sr.
• No. 88 — Mata’ava Ta’ase — 6-3, 255 pounds, Sr.

LT

• No. 76 — Caleb Etienne — 6-8, 320 pounds, Sr.
• No. 50 — Isaiah Jatta — 6-6, 320 pounds, Sr.

LG

• No. 61 — Weylin Lapuaho — 6-4, 305 pounds, Sr.
• No. 63 — Bruce Mitchell — 6-4, 295 pounds, So.

C

• No. 70 — Connor Pay — 6-5, 315 pounds, Sr.
• No. 56 — Jake Eichorn — 6-5, 300 pounds, Jr.

RG

• No. 51 — Sonny Makasini — 6-4, 315 pounds, So.
• No. 55 — Austin Leausa — 6-5, 315 pounds, Jr.

RT

• No. 64 — Brayden Keim — 6-9, 315 pounds, Sr.
• No. 77 — Jake Griffin — 6-5, 291 pounds, Fr.

Defense


OE

• No. 59 — Logan Lutui — 6-2, 255 pounds, Sr.
• No. 13 — Isaiah Bagnah — 6-4, 245 pounds, Sr.

DE

• No. 92 — Tyler Batty — 6-5, 275 pounds, Sr.
• No. 48 — Bodie Schoonover — 6-3, 265 pounds, So.

NT

• No. 94 — John Nelson — 6-4, 290 pounds, Sr.
• No. 99 — Joshua Singh — 6-0, 285 pounds, Jr.

DT

• No. 93 — Blake Mangelson — 6-5, 275 pounds, Sr.
• No. 95 — Luke To’omolatai — 6-2, 315 pounds, Jr.

SAM LB

• No. 16 — Isaiah Glasker — 6-5, 235 pounds, So.
• No. 33 — Choe Bryant-Strother — 6-3, 235 pounds, Jr.

MACK LB

• No. 11 — Harrison Taggart — 61, 235 pounds, So.
• No. 54 — Siale Esera — 6-3, 250 pounds, So.

ROVER LB

• No. 17 — Jack Kelly — 6-2, 240 pounds, Jr.
• No. 18 — Ace Kaufusi — 6-4, 230 pounds, So.

SS

• No. 1 — Micah Harper, 5-10, 195 pounds, Jr.
• No. 25 — Talan Alfrey, 6-2, 205 pounds, Jr.

FS

• No. 28 — Tanner Wall — 6-1, 200 pounds, Jr.
• No. 22 — Tommy Prassas — 6-2, 190 pounds, Fr.
• *NICKEL
• No. 1 — Micah Harper, 5-10, 195 pounds, Jr.
• No. 23 — Jonathan Kabeya, 5-10, 173 pounds, Fr.

CB

• No. 0 — Jakob Robinson — 5-11, 170 pounds, Sr.
• No. 21 — Evan Johnson — 6-0, 180 pounds, So.

CB

• No. 4 — Mory Bamba — 6-3, 195 pounds, Jr.
• No. 2 — Marque Collins — 5-11, 175 pounds, Sr.

Special Teams


PK

• No. 44 — Will Ferrin, 6-3, 175 pounds, Jr.
• No. 97 — Matthias Dunn, 6-0, 205 pounds, Fr.

P

• No. 35 — Sam Vander Haar, 6-0, 219 pounds, So.
• No. 39 — Landon Rehkow, 6-1, 190 pounds, Fr.

PR

• No. 11 — Parker Kingston, 5-11, 185 pounds, So.
• No. 2 — Chase Roberts, 6-4, 210 pounds, Jr.

KR

• No. 17 — Keelan Marion, 6-0, 195 pounds, Jr.
• No. 11 — Parker Kingston, 5-11, 185 pounds, So.

• — When BYU uses its nickel package on defense, it generally uses only two linebackers

[byufan4ever]

Line is BYU by 14.5 from what I saw. I'm not real confident that we beat that line. I think we're up 10 late, driving the ball, but Sitake doesn't want to "run up the score" so we do a bunch of 2 yard runs and sit on the ball milking the clock...against an FCS team.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Man, there is so much pessimism surrounding the program this year. I hope all the Debbie Downers are wrong.

[Omaha 680]

Line is BYU by 14.5 from what I saw. I'm not real confident that we beat that line. I think we're up 10 late, driving the ball, but Sitake doesn't want to "run up the score" so we do a bunch of 2 yard runs and sit on the ball milking the clock...against an FCS team.

We will win by at least 4 touchdowns. I am concerned about the trip to SMU next week but those of us who are worried about this opener need to sack up a bit.

[LiveCoug]

ARod stated today that we have a clear cut starter at QB. A QB has separated himself from the pack. He just won't say who it is. But they have a QB

[BigPiney]

Man, there is so much pessimism surrounding the program this year. I hope all the Debbie Downers are wrong.

I hope they are too but the team sucked so bad at times last year, and the coaches are the same. I am encouraged to see year 2 of the Defense.

[myboynoah]

I hope they are too but the team sucked so bad at times last year, and the coaches are the same. I am encouraged to see year 2 of the Defense.

And hopefully JR improves.

[bluegoose]

We will win by at least 4 touchdowns. I am concerned about the trip to SMU next week but those of us who are worried about this opener need to sack up a bit.

SMU barely beat Nevada last week, who was quite possibly the worse Div 1 team in the country last year.

[Bo Diddley]

I'll admit I don't know what to expect this year. I haven't followed much of the preseason hype by the usual suspects. I'm also a bit shocked to find that football season has arrived. I'm going to a game day after tomorrow?! I'm going to enjoy the ride as much as possible. No doubt there are some pleasant surprises in store that will be fun to watch.

What kind of a mascot is a saluki? BP, amirite.

[Goatnapper'96]

I'll admit I don't know what to expect this year. I haven't followed much of the preseason hype by the usual suspects. I'm also a bit shocked to find that football season has arrived. I'm going to a game day after tomorrow?! I'm going to enjoy the ride as much as possible. No doubt there are some pleasant surprises in store that will be fun to watch.

What kind of a mascot is a saluki? BP, amirite.

Saluki is a dog. In 1986 me and my dear old Pops went to the Riverside Baseball Invitational (a preseason tourney BYU would play in every year back then) and I won me an "RBI" shirt by answering the following trivia question: "What 3 teams named after canines had played in the RBI?" I had seen BYU play Washington and Fresno State so I knew those two and the fellow sitting in front of me-I think a fan of Wisconsin, pipes up: "Has Southern Illinois ever played in it?- because they are the Salukis and that is actually a dog." With that tidbit, I was off to the press box for the win!