Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO — A lot of BYU fans want to blame different players and coaches for giving up 53 points and nearly 700 yards of offense in a 55-53 win over the Rockets last week.
Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki, a long-time BYU fan who graduated from nearby Timpview High, understands those fans — and he has a suggestion.
“It’s all my fault,” Tuiaki said. “We went in with a game plan, and (Toledo) did a really good job — credit them for their schemes. We got caught a couple of times, and pretty much abandoned what we planned for. I think we got out-schemed a little bit.”
The first-year defensive coordinator is still learning on the job, and he wasn’t afraid to take full responsibility for what many consider to be lacking against a Toledo offense that averaged more than 40 points per game entering its first loss of the season at BYU.
But he’ll get better, he added.
“These kids deserve better, and we want to do better for them,” Tuiaki said. “They are awesome kids, and they take it on themselves to be better at our base defense.”
Of course, where one side of the ball let down on a few players, the same challenge was presented to an offense that struggled to top the 20-point mark through three games of the season.
That offense passed its biggest test of the year in keeping up with the high-octane Rockets, offensive coordinator Ty Detmer said.
“It was kind of like an old WAC battle for a little bit — San Diego State all over again,” the native Texan said after practice Wednesday. “It kind of felt that way. Both offenses were going, and putting a lot of pressure on both defenses.”
The defense made enough plays to win, of course; the difference of the final margin likely came down to two interceptions forced by BYU defensive backs Kai Nacua and Dayan Lake.
Every drive in the second half yielded points for both teams, except one — the one that ended in Nacua’s pick with 4:29 left to play in the fourth quarter. BYU (2-3) turned that possession into a fifth touchdown run by Jamaal Williams, who piled up a career-high 286 yards on 30 carries in leading a 338-yard rushing attack.
“Those were the easy (calls to make),” Detmer said of Williams’ effort. “When you are running the ball, it makes playcalling a lot easier. The hard part is dialing up the pass plays. It was fun for me to turn him loose.”
After struggling for three consecutive weeks and starting the season 1-2 against the Pac-12 South, Detmer’s offense has now scored a combined 87 points in splitting games with similarly dressed West Virginia and Toledo.
Detmer rode into Provo for his first collegiate coaching job with plans of returning the Cougars to the prolific attack and pro-style offense that included his days in a BYU uniform in the early 90s. Those promises seemed fleeting — until the past two weeks.
“That was a good indication, but it’s still not clean enough,” Detmer said of the outburst against Toledo. “There is still room for improvement, and we have to be a lot tighter. When we play a good defense like Michigan State, we will definitely have to be a lot tighter. We felt good about the progress of things, but there is definitely enough to clean up.”
BYU hasn’t quite gone back to the WAC in its fifth season of football independence. But the offense is finding its rhythm — and that isn’t a bad thing as it turns its attention toward the Big Ten, Michigan State and a nationally televised 1:30 p.m. MT kickoff on ABC.
“It was a fun game to be part of,” quarterback Taysom Hill said. “Hopefully it doesn’t always come down to a last-second field goal.”
