Cougars got standout defensive effort in Week 1, hope not to rely on only that vs. SUU

PROVO — Marcus McKenzie has waited all of his life to suit up for the BYU football program.

The son of former BYU standout running back Brian McKenzie made a good first impression in the Cougars' 14-0 win over Sam Houston.

"It was just unreal," said McKenzie, who signed with BYU in the Class of 2022 before serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arkansas. "My dad would explain to me, you have to experience it. That first game, the crowd, the environment; it was energizing and fun. No nerves. I was just ready to play."

McKenzie's impact on the game won't be noticed by a casual glance at the box score. The two-way track star from Pine View High School in St. George who flipped from Virginia to BYU with his twin brother Dominique — who returns home from his two-year church mission Dec. 2, Marcus said — didn't see his first snaps at cornerback.

That's OK, he noted to KSL.com. Jakob Robinson, Eddie Heckard, Kamden Garrett and the rest of the corners were among the standouts of a BYU defense that held the FBS newcomer Bearkats to just 185 offensive yards,including 38 rushing yards, in defensive coordinator Jay Hill's debut.

Where McKenzie was needed, he said, was on special teams. While Ryan Rehkow won awards with nine punts for 479 yards — a 53.2 net yards per punt average that ranks in the top-five nationally — the 5-foot-11, 172-pound speedster was tasked at "gunner," racing downfield to make the tackle on defense.

For his efforts, BYU coaches named McKenzie the special teams' game-changer, the Cougars announced this week, for holding the Bearkats' offense inside the 25 on all but three drives last Saturday.

"I was just excited for the opportunity, to be honest," McKenzie said. "Coach gave me an opportunity to go out and play gunner, because I had some speed and he wanted to see if I could make plays. Rehkow set me up perfectly, making the ball sit in the air for over five seconds; I felt like I could walk down and tackle the guy.

"It was just fun. The environment, the excitement, all the fans — it just felt natural."

All eyes have turned to the BYU offense this week, as the Cougars will try to snap a funk that included just 257 yards, two rushing touchdowns from Kedon Slovis and a sluggish passing game missing top targets Kody Epps and Keanu Hill in Week 2 against in-state FCS foe Southern Utah (1 p.m. MDT, ESPN+).

Both receivers would be a game-time decision Saturday, said offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, categorizing them as day-to-day in recovery from injuries. Head coach Kalani Sitake reportedly told a group of Cougar Club members at an event in Salt Lake City that Hill is more likely to play than Epps.

The Thunderbirds, who narrowly lost to Arizona State 24-21 during a season opener that featured a two-hour weather delay and a haboob in the Valley of the Sun, will be motivated. With 27 players from Utah, most of them from the Wasatch Front, and BYU transfers Viliami Tausinga and Dean Jones, head coach DeLane Fitzgerald admitted there will be plenty of wide eyes when the visitors arrive at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

"LaVell Edwards Stadium is right down the street from my house," said SUU defensive lineman Rylen Sua-Filo, who prepped at nearby Orem High. "Going home and playing is kind of nerve-wracking, but you've just got to treat it like another game."

With BYU's offensive struggles and the scare Southern Utah put in the Sun Devils, some may think the circumstances are ripe for an FCS upset in the Thunderbirds' second-ever trip to BYU.

Fitzgerald will have no thoughts after non-moral victory, he said during his weekly coaches show on Cedar City radio.

"They're a lot better than Arizona State," the former Frostburg State and Southern Virginia coach said. "If they play Arizona State this Saturday, they'd beat them 28-0, 35-7; a lot better football program than Arizona State. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: we have to improve and we have to improve immensely this week, and then we have to go up there and play and not go up there and be fans. … We have to act like we've been there before. And it started on Saturday; we have to act like we're playing grown-man football in every aspect of what we do this week."

The Thunderbirds have BYU's attention — and not just because of their Week 1 near-upset.

"We don't need that scare. We got humbled ourselves; this game will humble you if you aren't ready to play," Roderick said. "You have to respect the game and respect every opponent. We won the game, and we're happy about that; we took care of the ball and we scored touchdowns when we were in the red zone. But we don't want to play like that all year. That's not the style of offense we've been playing the last three years. We're used to scoring a lot of points, getting a lot of first downs, and staying on the field … Yes, SUU got our attention. But what got our attention more was that is not the brand of football that we're used to playing."

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