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PROVO — BYU’s roller coaster opening month of the 2018 college football season ended on a low rather than a high with Saturday night’s 35-7 loss to No. 11 Washington in the brisk Seattle air.
The next challenge will likely define BYU’s season.
September was always going to be a tough stretch for BYU, but the team that finished 4-9 a year ago navigated road games at Arizona, Wisconsin and Washington alongside a home matchup with Cal, and managed to eke out a 3-2 record from first month of the season. They even sneaked into the AP Top 25 for two weeks, rising as high as No. 20 before falling out Sunday following the loss to the Huskies.
The Cougars were underdogs through most of September, a product of an early-season scheduling crunch as an FBS independent. As such, they caught several teams by surprise — most notably, a 24-21 win at then-No. 6 Wisconsin that still ranks No. 15.
No other team on their schedule will catch them by surprise, though — and that starts with Friday night’s matchup with in-state rival Utah State (ESPN2, KSL Newsradio). After the Aggies, BYU will face fellow Group of Five candidates Hawaii, Northern Illinois, Boise State, UMass and New Mexico State before ending the season Nov. 24 at archrival Utah.
So what did they learn after one month, including the loss to the Huskies?
On defense, the lesson is simple: do your job, and that goes for every single player, defensive end Corbin Kaufusi said.
“When you think you have to do more than you should, that’s when you start to miss assignments,” he added. “Guys were trying to do more than their assignments. You want to make plays, but at the same time, you’ve got to trust your teammates that they can do their job.
“For us, we have to learn to stick to our job, no matter what is happening.”
BYU was one of just four teams to open the season with three-straight Power 5 opponents, and doing so with two of them on the road can be a challenge for any program. Regardless, the Cougars put together their best start to a season since going 4-0 in 2014.
Just like in 2014, early injuries had an impact on BYU’s first month. Running back Squally Canada (ankle), linebacker Butch Pau’u (hand), linebacker Zayne Anderson and safety Dayan Ghanwoloku have all struggled with various ailments, and the bug certainly took its toll.
Pau’u returned against Washington, but was effectively limited in his role, while Anderson and Ghanwoloku both stayed in Provo, according to BYU coach Kalani Sitake. Canada had just 13 yards on seven carries before being helped off on his bum ankle over the weekend.
The Cougars also lost tight end Moroni Laulu-Pututau to a potentially serious left leg injury in the first quarter of the game in Seattle.
Anderson could make his return against Utah State, and Sitake won’t rule out Ghanwoloku’s return, either.
“We were more hopeful for next week rather than this week,” Sitake said. “Dayan didn’t practice much, but we could’ve forced (him to play). My job as a coach is to protect our guys, even from themselves when they want to play. I think that’s when more injuries happen, or something more serious occurs.”
It’s not an excuse for the Cougars. But it is a reality, and one they have had to deal with and will continue to have to deal with as they host the annual pre-general conference football fest at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
After an opening night 38-31 road loss to Michigan State, Utah State has blitzed the rest of its early schedule with scarce challenges. The Aggies, who rank seventh nationally with 51.5 points per game, blitzed New Mexico State 60-13, cruised by FCS Tennessee Tech 73-12 and held off Air Force 42-32 in their Mountain West opener before settling in for a bye week while BYU went to the Pacific Northwest.
“We don’t have time to sulk,” Sitake said after Saturday’s loss. “We have to play a game in less time on Friday. We don’t have time to think about it.
“Utah State is coming off a bye, and so I’m sure they will be ready for us. We’ll be ready for them, too. We need to bounce back from this loss; we can’t let this loss affect next week’s game.”
