How No. 12 BYU figures to avoid 'poison' with road trip to No. 25 Ducks on deck

PROVO — There was less concern about the status of No. 12 BYU's top-two wide receivers when the Cougars met Monday morning following a 26-20 double-overtime win over Baylor to plan for a trip to No. 25 Oregon.

Of course, unleashing a weapon like redshirt freshman Chase Roberts, who had a career-high 122 yards and a touchdown, and also threw a 22-yard TD strike in the win, will help offset the injuries to Puka Nacua and Gunner Romney.

Both receivers will be back when they are ready, and head coach Kalani Sitake said he won't comment on injuries unless they become the season-ending variety. So far, neither Nacua's ankle nor Romney's undisclosed injury have been confirmed as such.

Instead, the Cougars faced a different concern when they started watching film Monday and turned their attention to a dangerous Ducks squad led by former Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning: poison.

Contentment is the mother of mediocrity, and BYU's latest win that pushed it inside the Associated Press' top 15 has the potential to leave the program's coaches and players infamously content. To borrow a phrase from Alabama's Nick Saban (and adopted by former BYU quarterback Steve Sarkisian after Texas' narrow loss to the Crimson Tide over the weekend), you've got to treat praise from the outside — by the fans, media or even family members — like "rat poison."

"Recognition is great, but the second something goes wrong, everyone is going to turn on you," BYU center Connor Pay said Monday. "So stay focused on who really matters, and that's the people in this building: the teammates, coaches, staff. Focus on our preparations for Oregon.

"People outside can say what they want to say, and it doesn't affect us. In reality, it's not the opinion that matters to us."

Prepare. Study. Practice. Walk through. Play. Celebrate. Then do it all again. The college football season has its own cadence and rhythm, even just two weeks into the regular season. The only difference now is the press is saying nice things about the Cougars.

Pay, who won a lot of games both at BYU and nearby Lone Peak High, said he usually takes 12-24 hours to celebrate a win or stew on a loss. Then before the end of Sunday, he'll "dive into who we are playing next week."

"Monday, we're hitting it hard," Pay added. "That game's over; it's great that we won, and it doesn't matter anymore. It's a new opponent and a new challenge for us. Obviously, we have a big one this week in Oregon."

That includes the first home win over a team ranked in the AP Top 10 since 1990. Even with the field-storming, the mosh pit and the emotions of surviving one of the best teams on a loaded schedule — the defending champions of the Big 12 Conference that BYU will join in most sports next July — you have to move on.

There's only one way to get over an emotional game — win or lose — and prepare for another potentially emotional game against a Top 25 opponent, BYU coach Kalani Sitake said.

"You get back on it," Sitake said. "We have a veteran group that is used to the weekly grind of football. You get over it, and you learn; today there are mistakes we need to learn from.

"For the most part, the guys improved on what we asked them to improve on. But the result of the game isn't going to get in the way of us learning and getting better. We're going through our Monday mechanics now, which is to learn and get better. That's the focus."

That includes the defense, which put in a defensive master class of holding the Bears to just 3.6 yards per play a year after being thrashed in the trenches in a 38-24 loss in Waco, Texas.

Now it's time to "tune out the outside the noise," BYU linebacker Ben Bywater said.

"You can't sit on your wins for too long," he added. "It's a day, enjoy it for 24 hours, and then get back to the drawing board by Monday morning. I know the coaches have something dialed up for us.

"You've got to enjoy it, but you can't sit on it for too long. It's just about Oregon this week, even if that (win over Baylor) will be a huge win and enjoyable for Cougar Nation for a long time."

Another night game

Saturday's game will kick off at 1:30 p.m. MDT at Autzen Stadium (FOX), and it might be the last day game for a while for BYU fans.

The Cougars, in conjunction with ESPN, announced the kick time for next Saturday's home game against Wyoming, when the two former WAC and Mountain West rivals will kick off Sept. 24 at 8:15 p.m. MDT.

The game, which will be broadcast on either ESPN or ESPN2, will be the first meeting between the two old regional rivals since 2016. BYU and Wyoming first met in 1922, with the Cougars holding a 45-30-3 all-time record against the Pokes that includes the first-ever win as a Division I program on Nov. 14, 1922.

Game threads

BYU's royal blue helmets were such a hit against Baylor that they're bringing them back against the Ducks.

The Cougars will wear an all-white uniform combination — with royal numbers and trim — as the road team paired with a royal blue helmet and blue facemask Saturday afternoon in the heat of Eugene, Oregon.

Forecasts in the area Saturday call for sunny skies with a high of 79 degrees and 54% humidity, with only a brief 5-10 mph breeze blowing through the Willamette Valley.

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