It's early, but BYU cornerbacks have been even better than advertised as Arkansas awaits

PROVO — When Kamden Garrett entered the transfer portal last spring after four years at Weber State, the 5-foot-11 All-Big Sky honorable mention cornerback was hopeful for a bigger opportunity — Power Five or otherwise.

It took Jay Hill, Garrett's head coach with the Wildcats who took the defensive coordinator job at BYU, barely a day or two to reach out. And it took Garrett even less time to say, "Let's go."

"We talked, and that was that," he said. "It didn't take long at all."

Through two games of the 2023 season, the fifth-year senior has been right at home at LaVell Edwards Stadium, making six tackles with a tackle for loss and an interception in a defensive backfield that has been the strength of BYU's defense in wins over Sam Houston and FCS foe Southern Utah.

The Cougars have four interceptions before Saturday's kickoff in SEC territory against Arkansas (5:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN2), including two from Jakob Robinson and one each from Garrett and former FCS All-American Eddie Heckard.

While a new defensive scheme under Hill has been touted for its increased aggression, it hasn't translated up front in the form of sacks: BYU has just one through the first two games.

But aggression can come in a lot of ways, and the Cougars' pass rush has led to 14 quarterback hits — led by three each from Tyler Batty and AJ Vongphachanh. That has helped set up four interceptions in a secondary that has largely been left alone in man coverage, with BYU's cornerbacks to take advantage.

Head coach Kalani Sitake isn't worried about the pass rush, or lack thereof, mostly because he said he "likes interceptions more than sacks." And his new defensive coordinator and longtime friend isn't fretting, either.

"Ideally, yeah, we'd have more," Hill admitted of the sack number. "I'll give the Southern Utah quarterback credit; he did a great job of getting the ball out of his hands. There were 3-4 times where we had him in our grasp and he did a good job of burning the ball and not taking sacks. But when a quarterback is throwing the ball off their back foot and we're getting interceptions like we are, you stay the course."

In other words, there isn't a major scheme overhaul or waves of personnel changes that BYU coaches are preparing to get more out of the pass rush.

The baseline is already there, Vongphachanh also noted.

"We just need to be more relentless," the Utah State transfer said. "Even after our first, initial moves, just be more relentless and try to get after the quarterback. I think that's the biggest thing."

Staying the course is just what Garrett did with Hill, when he reunited with his former Weber State coach in Provo, and Heckard, a fellow Las Vegas native and now roommate.

The duo know exactly what Hill wants out of his defense, and when combined with the mentoring of cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford — the only holdover from last year's defense — it's led to a seamless transition for the Wildcats-turned-Cougars.

"We're close," said Centennial High grad Garrett of Heckard, who prepped at Desert Pines in the same Las Vegas Valley. "We live together, right? At Weber, we were always five minutes from each other. But also, practicing with somebody for four-plus years and growing those connections, plus being from the same place in Las Vegas. We're very good friends. I consider him a brother to me."

Mix in Robinson, the star of BYU's win over Sam Houston, reserve cornerback Mory Bamba, and Marcus McKenzie — who is starring on punt coverage while biding his time at cornerback — and the BYU secondary has been the pleasant surprise of the first two games of BYU's season.

"We're all competitors in that room," Garrett said. "We all push each other to get better. When you see someone doing good, you cheer for them and you root them on. But we're competitors, and we're competing to make the most plays or follow their assignment the right way. We push each other in that room, but we also love each other."

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