Could 3rd-down failures lead BYU to make defensive changes after loss to Arkansas?

PROVO — Plenty of defensive stats jumped off the page when BYU coach Kalani Sitake and select players met with the media following the Cougars' 52-35 loss to SEC foe Arkansas on Saturday afternoon.

The Razorbacks (4-3) gashed BYU for 644 yards on 82 plays, the most against a Sitake-led team since Toledo piled up 692 yards during his first season in 2016. They scored on 6-of-7 red-zone opportunities, and 8-of-11 offensive drives overall.

But in the end, there was one set of numbers that stood out the most: third downs.

Arkansas converted 12-of-15 third-down opportunities, held the Cougars to 7-of-13 in the most important phase of offense, and forced BYU into three fourth-down chances (while converting only one).

The Cougars (4-3) poured in 471 yards, including 356 yards and three touchdowns through the arm of quarterback Jaren Hall, and scored 35 points.

But it simply wasn't enough.

"That's the biggest issue of me," Sitake said of the third-down opportunities. "Even the moments where we had something, in the second half, when the crowd was into it and made a lot of noise, they had to take a timeout and started long. But we just didn't get off the field.

"Credit to (Arkansas quarterback KJ Jefferson). He made a lot of nice throws, but third down's the only down when it comes to defense. ... They converted 12 out of 15. That's not good defense. That's my main area of concern."

Jefferson completed 29-of-40 passes for 367 yards and a career-high five touchdowns, including three scores to Matt Landers, while Arkansas running back Raheim "Rocket" Sanders ran for 175 yards and two scores for the Razorbacks.

Credit where credit is due. Arkansas' ballyhooed SEC speed, even one that has lost three-straight games in conference play, overpowered the Cougars in the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

But BYU's defense didn't help itself, missing tackles, committing penalties (the Cougars finished with four penalties for 50 yards), and not finishing tackles to allow the Razorbacks to turn a one-possession game into a 10-point lead and finally one that swelled as high as 17 points when Sanders found the end zone with his second touchdown, a 64-yard sprint with 14:25 remaining.

"We had guys not doing their 1/11th. That's for the coaches to make sure that we get that done, and for the players to execute their assignment," Sitake said.

"We didn't have a difficult scheme for our guys to execute, defensive-wise, but I've got to get out plays; it's not good. Not even close. You're just not going to win a lot of games by giving up those percentages."

BYU's offense was better, but far from perfect, on third-down opportunities, as well. The Cougars converted just 7-of-13 chances, a feat made worse by going just 1-of-3 on fourth down.

"I remember that last one at the end of the game was fourth-and-long, and those are the downs and distance we don't want to be in when we're going for it on third down. We want to make it as easy as possible, get behind the sticks, have efficient plays on first and second downs, and have the entire playbook wide open," said wide receiver Puka Nacua, who caught 13 passes for a game-high 141 yards and a touchdown and added two rushing touchdowns.

"It comes down to execution. When we line up against the opposing team, you have your own assignment and all 11 guys out there have to go execute their one job."

In back-to-back losses to Notre Dame and Arkansas — the two most marquee games of the final season as an FBS independent — BYU's defense has given up 1,140 yards and 80 points. They've allowed scoring drives on 13 of the 21 drives they've faced another offense, including eight of 11 Saturday against the Hogs.

An offense that held been stifled to 26 points or less in three-straight losses and had scored more than 32 points just twice this year suddenly looked all-worldly under offensive coordinator Kendall Briles.

One Arkansas fan even pled for Briles to unblock him on Twitter after the game.

"Could you imagine getting on that plane losing? Oh, my Lord," Arkansas coach Sam Pittman said. "Hearing how terrible I am and all that. How bad I need to fire KB and all this kind of stuff.

"C'mon. The man scored 50, we scored 50. I'm not getting into that. I'm so happy that we won."

So where does BYU go from here? According to the players, to a week leading up to a road tilt and independence sendoff at Liberty with a lot of questioning and a lot of soul searching.

Especially on defense.

"They put up 52 points, that's just not good enough defense," said linebacker Ben Bywater, who had seven tackles. "On Monday, we'll be looking at film, but it's going to be a tough few days with some honest conversations with ourselves, with the coaches, and with everybody. We've got to step up. We didn't do our jobs today."

BYU doesn't practice on Sundays for religious observance. Coaches aren't supposed to work when they go to church, either.

But for the next 48 hours, the sting of 52 points, over 600 yards allowed for the first time since 2016, and a third-down conversion rate that bordered on insanity will eat away at them.

Maybe it should.

Maybe it should spark other changes, too.

"I know what we can do as a team to get us playing at our best, and that's what I need to do," Sitake said. "Sometimes it can be just a quick change, and other times it's going to be — we're going to need every part of next week to get it done. I don't think the answer is one thing, but a few things. I have some idea what they are."

Is it time to blow the whole thing up? Not necessarily, Sitake said, but there are plenty of options for change on the table.

Sitake has experience as a defensive coordinator and play caller. Could he go back to that role?

"We've done that before as a program; it's my seventh season, and there have been times where we do that," he said. "I'm involved in it, but I don't think I'm ready to answer that question right now.

"I know that's an option. We have a lot of different options out there. I like our guys, and I think what they have given us is fantastic. But we need to focus on getting things done. I'm not closing any options out there."

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