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PROVO — With three straight losses by a total of seven points, it might be easy to expect BYU football players to get down on themselves with a tough schedule that has gotten the best of them — at least in the win-loss column.
Arguing, finger-pointing, and even little things like holding resentment and grudges can cause a first-year head coach like Kalani Sitake to lose control of a locker room.
But that is far from the case, the former BYU fullback insists.
“If anything, being 1-3 right now has brought out team closer,” Sitake said during his Monday media briefing. “This is one of the closest teams I’ve been a part of. Nothing is going to divide this group. We lost some close ones, and we have the power to make a change. We decide how we are going to play this weekend, and our guys are preparing hard to make sure we play our best game.”
Regardless of talent or skill, leadership is the key factor in pulling together a squad in trying times. And the 2016 BYU football team has plenty of it. Leadership starts at the top, with 19 seniors, including fifth-year starting quarterback Taysom Hill and fifth-year running back Jamaal Williams, and familiar leaders like Mitchell Juergens, Nick Kurtz, Harvey Langi and Kai Nacua.
“Our leadership is standing up to take charge of this team,” defensive tackle Logan Taele said. “I think the coaches are there, and they are helping to prod us and motivate us, to push us. The captains and impact players are pushing to take more of a leadership role and keep the team up.”
Players aren’t likely to air their grievances in the public arena, but Hill insists that behind closed doors, this team is as united as they could be — even more so for a team with just one win in its first four games.
“It’s actually pretty good, given the circumstances,” Hill said when asked about team morale. “I think we all realize we are one or two plays in each of these games away from being 4-0, or easily 3-1. We all love each other, and we trust and respect one another. We still have a lot to play for, and we want to go out and be successful for one another as a team. That’s definitely the vibe from everybody.”
BYU used two late drives to go 2-0 a year ago, even without Hill and Williams at the helm of a young squad in what turned out to be the final season of former coach Bronco Mendenhall.
One or two bounces that year — like a missed Hail Mary in the season opener against Nebraska — could’ve dramatically altered the course of the Cougars’ season.
The same can be said about their 1-3 start in 2016.
“It’s football. Stuff happens, and we’ve gotten unlucky,” Hill said. “I expect our breaks to come soon. But it happens sometimes.”
BYU is as much of a social institution as an academic environment, and the same could be said of the BYU football team. The spirit of camaraderie often goes beyond the gridiron, linebacker Francis Bernard said.
“If you were with us on an everyday basis, on and off the field, we are always communicating with each other about football or not,” he added. “We’re as tight as we can be.”
Nobody likes to lose, least of all competitive Division I athletes, and the Cougars are no different. But the coaches preach patience even as they admit they lose patience at times, and the players insist they are learning from their mistakes.
For one example: an offense that scored a total of 51 points in its first three games piled up 32 points on more than 521 yards of offense against uptempo West Virginia.
Those moral victories don’t take away the sting of defeat, but they don’t divide a team asunder either.
The next chance at a turnaround comes quickly — at 8:15 p.m. MT Friday night against unbeaten Toledo (3-0) that has three blowout victories in 2016.
“It’s always hard when you lose by close margins,” Taele said. “We took it hard against Utah, but we’ve got to keep going and not give up. Personally, I’ve felt like I need to step up and be more of a cheerleader. I’m just trying to keep everyone up, and we came back. Hopefully that last drive changes, and we’ve got to make it count.”
