Coming into the season for BYU football, BYU was projected to win 4-5 games this year. And yet, here we are, on December 5th, BYU is 10-2, and we are somewhat disappointed.
When BYU was 9-0 and #6 in the CFP rankings, with 3 games left, the outlook on this BYU team in everyones eyes changed. We saw that a conference championship game and CFP berth was possible. Our outlook changed. We had high expectations for this team all of a sudden. BYU had to win 2 of their last 3 games was all and both of those things would happen. Well it didnt happen. And we crumbled, like typical BYU teams do. This team felt different, but it had the same end result.
So why are we somewhat disappointed this year? Because things changed heading into November. We had a great team on our hands! And dont get me wrong, they are just about 5 or 6 teams away from being in the at large conversation for the CFP. But ending 1-2 was not ideal for BYU. It knocked them out of the conference championship and at large berth for the CFP. I personally think BYU should be ranked higher. In the top 15 at least. There’s no way that multiple 3 loss SEC teams are better than a BYU team who beat a top 10 team on the road and has two losses by a combined 9 points. Its just not right.
The CFP committee is all about money. They know the SEC and Big Ten are the biggest drivers. So having one of those teams win, makes them more money and drives more ratings and views. Its just how it works. Maybe the old BCS system was better? Maybe a computer, that has no bias, should determine who are the best teams. College football is turning to everything being about money and ratings – recruiting, rankings, coaches, etc. and its not good and not healthy for the competition of the sport. Anyway, enough of my soapbox talk here and on to some BYU sports.
BYU Bowl Projection
BYU now has to stomach sitting back and watching ASU vs Iowa St on Saturday in the conference championship. This weekend will be fun. Conference championship weekend is always fun. But on Sunday, the 8th, BYU will learn where they are going for their bowl game. The projections have BYU going to either the Alamo Bowl or the Pop Tarts (Yes, this is a real bowl game name) Bowl. The Alamo Bowl has a Big 12 and Pac 12 tie in. All of the teams that left recently for the Big Ten or Big 12 from the Pac 12 still have the Pac 12 tie in for this year.
Alamo and Pop Tarts Bowl
The Alamo Bowl just released this team announcement today saying that its come down to 4 teams – #15 Arizona St, #16 Iowa St, #18 BYU, and #23 Colorado. It didnt say if they would have a rematch between BYU and Arizona St so the hunch is that if Iowa St wins the Big 12 championship, it would likely be BYU vs Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. If Arizona St wins the Big 12 championship game, BYU would most likely head to the Pop Tarts bowl against an ACC team like Clemson or Miami.
Bowl Payouts
The payouts for each bowl game are massive. The Alamo Bowl has a payout of around $9 million. The Pop Tarts bowl has a payout of $6 million. So while I would like to go to the Alamo Bowl to get a bigger payout, I want BYU to go to the Pop Tarts bowl. Heres why, I dont want BYU to play a fellow Big 12 member. Thats boring.
Possible Opponents
I want BYU to play Miami, who is ranked higher than BYU, or Clemson, who probably wont be ranked higher this time next week if they lose, but is a top notch college football program. BYU has also only played Miami twice, ever, and never played Clemson before. That adds some more excitement for sure. To play Miami or Clemson would so much better for BYU than to play fellow Big 12 members Colorado or ASU.
BYU Football Transfer News
Four players from the team have already declared they are transferring. Those guys are WR Kody Epps, TE Jackson Bowers, S Micah Harper, and RB Miles Davis. Now just looking at these names, youre probably thinking “thats like 2 or 3 starters from this year thats are transferring. We had a great season, whats going on?” Let me break down each of these for you.
WR Outlook
BYU has some good young talent at the WR position. Lameson Waller, a 4 star WR from California, Tei Nacua, Puka and Samson Nacuas younger brother, Cody Hagen, a former 4 star WR before his mission, and Dominique Mckenzie, a top 10 recruit in Utah and top 100 overall. Epps has been hampered by injuries the past couple of years and probably saw that other guys were stepping up and would get more playing time. Jojo Phillips, Parker Kingston, Keelon Marion, they all should get more playing time next year too. Thats about 7 guys that could contribute right away next year and Epps wasnt going to fit anymore.
TE Outlook
To me, the most shocking one is TE Jackson Bowers. He was a 4 star recruit and had a promising outlook. I am even more surprised about it because BYU will have 4 TEs graduate, 2 of which were starters. The other guy who got some playing time was Ryner Swanson and he is going on a mission. So it looked like Bowers was going to the be THE guy and THE starter. But, Aaron Roderick didnt really use the TEs a ton this year and first year TE coach Kevin Gilbride was not the guy who recruited Bowers. So I wonder if Gilbride and Roderick are trying to go a different direction with the TEs.
Safety Outlook
Micah Harper was a little shocking to me too. He was regarded as one of the best players on the whole BYU team this year. But he didnt really play that well this year and had some injury concerns as well. He only had 7 total tackles and 1 pass deflection the whole year. Harpers main positon is safety and BYU has loaded up with young talent at the safety position.
Sophomore Raider Damuni showed good flashes this year, Freshman Tommy Prassas started this year and was key in some games, and former 4 star and #2 recruit in Utah, Freshman Faletau Satuala, saw some action and picked up his first INT this year. All 3 of these guys saw action this year and it likely looked like Harper wasnt going to get much playing time with the younger guys playing well.
RB Outlook
The last one is RB Miles Davis. This one isnt too shocking to me. LJ Martin will be a Junior next year and will the bonafide starter. We also saw flashes of Sione Moa and Pokalaua Haunga and what they could do this year as potential backups for next year. I dont think Davis wanted to play that game of having to deal with 2 other guys for backup carries. I wouldnt be shocked to see BYU go out and get another RB though. Moa and Haunga will be young still and BYU may look for another backup option.
BYU Football Early Signing Period
The early signing period started yesterday for football. BYU announced 19 commitments. BYU had 1 4 star commitment from OT Alai Kalaniuvalu who they flipped after he committed to Oregon. Of the 19 guys, 13 are offensive players. BYU signed a lot of offensive line, running back, and tight end recruits.
I think that was a point of emphasis as they want to create a stronger offensive line with a new OL coach and redefine what they want at the TE position with a new TE coach there too. The 5 defensive guys are 4 edge guys are 1 LB. This is big for BYU. Similar to the offensive line, BYU wants to have depth and create a big defensive line that can rush the passer, BYU needs to do that with Hill’s defense in order to create chaos.
BYU is currently ranked 55th in the nation for their recruiting class. That puts them 12th out of 16 Big 12 teams. While thats not amazing, it is an improvement so far from last year. The recruiting class last year was ranked 62nd. BYU has until February to solidify their class. And they can still beef up this class through transfers. Recruiting classes are also just a part of how well you do. It more so matters what coaches you have, how they fit, how you develop them, etc. So I am not too worried about this for BYU. Just for reference, Utah has the 38th ranked class so far this year and had the 40th ranked class last year.
BYU Basketball Update
BYU played Providence on Tuesday night, at Providence, and got killed, losing by 19 points. I dont even know where to start with this game. They were bad. Demin, Hall, and Catchings, arguably the three best players on the team, shot 2-24 from the field. Demin didnt even make a single shot, he was 0-10 and 0-5 from 3. He had a couple of 3 point shots that were wide open in the first half and he missed all of them. It was a bad shooting game all around for everyone.
Offensive Recap
The whole team shot 33% from the field and 28% from 3. That cannot happen. The offense just looked stale and boring. There was no movement, no flow, no cutting, no screens, nothing. It was one on one ball the whole game. The chemistry will pick up as the season goes and the offensive system will get better as they play more together, but man, it looks bad right now.
Defensive Recap
The defense was equally as bad. Our guys cannot guard on the perimeter right now. Everyone blows right past them and then when help comes, the rotations to the next guys are so slow. They have to be quicker! Our guys just dont look quick enough on defense and dont rotate well when help comes. Something has to change with our defense.
I have said that since the season has started. Our defense is not good. we have good interior defense, thanks to Keita, but we do not get out to contest shots on the 3 and let guys blow right past us on the outside. If we continue like this, we will get creamed in the Big 12. This has to change soon. There needs to be more energy, aggressiveness, and physicality on defense.
BYU’s next game is on the 11th, in Provo, against Fresno St. That game will be at 7pm MT.
BYU Basketball Recruiting Update
AJ Dybantsa, the #1 recruit in the nation for the 2025 class, narrowed his choices down to 4 teams. Those teams are BYU, Alabama, North Carolina, and Kansas. People around him expect a decision to be made in December. Its crunch time with him now! Itll be interesting to see what he chooses.
I think there was some real momentum for BYU leading up to Thanksgiving. As if they were in the drivers seat. But I think that has cooled off a little with BYU not looking as good as they should under Kevin Young. BYU lost to #23 Ole Miss, in a bad offensive showing in OT, beat NC State in a good game, but then looked bad again against Providence.
I have no doubt that BYU can offer a lot of money to AJ. My question is if AJ is going to pick money and comfortability (BYU) or somewhere where he could win (all of the other teams). Of course, that could switch as we get into conference play if BYU starts to play well, but it looks like AJ will make a decision before then.
