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PROVO — BYU went through a full week of practice ahead of Week 6 of the 2023 college football season, but with one key difference from most teams in the country: The Cougars didn't have a game.
Sitting at 4-1 and 1-1 in its first season in the Big 12, BYU faced perhaps its earliest bye week in over a decade, since the Cougars left the Mountain West and drifted for a dozen years as an FBS independence — a timeline that often required BYU to play a frontloaded scheduled, followed by a lighter November slate that often included a bye.
It's a welcome change for the players and coaches, at least those who remember playing 10 straight games a year ago before getting a break. But the bye week at the not-quite-halfway mark of the season was hardly a week off, as well.
Sure, there are the bumps and bruises that an extra week will help heal, as well as more serious injuries — most notably to linebacker Ben Bywater, running back Aidan Robbins, wide receiver Kody Epps, offensive guard Weylin Lapuaho, or even safety Talan Alfrey, who missed the first month of the season with a shoulder injury suffered in training camp, as hinted by defensive coordinator Jay Hill.
Both head coach Kalani Sitake and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick expressed cautious optimism that some, if not all, of those players could be back by next Saturday's road tilt at TCU (1:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN)
So where do the Cougars sit after five games and a potentially surprising (at least, to some) one-loss start?
The biggest surprise is the record, which includes a road win over Arkansas and a home win over Cincinnati sandwiching a road loss to Kansas, a 4-1 start that perhaps few outside of the locker room expected. Throwing out the 41-16 win over FCS foe Southern Utah, each of the Cougars' three wins against FBS opponents have come by an average of 9.6 points per game.
Sitake isn't deterred, though. He knows his program can be better, but he also knows that 4-1 is a reasonable start.
"We are sitting in a really good spot right now going into the bye week. Proud of the team and the coaches," he said. "When looking at the Big 12 conference, large leads aren't safe. A lot of games are coming down to the wire, it's part of it. We have to be ready to battle every single week. These guys are committed to doing that. We are really excited to get some time to work on our deficiencies. A lot of positive things to work on."
So where have the Cougars excelled, and where can they improve? The latter will be a much longer list than the former, but that's the nature of a 12-game season across college football.
For BYU, that starts up front and with the run game.
The Cougars rank among the worst teams in the nation in rush yards per carry and rush yards per game, averaging just 2.2 yards per attempt and 61.0 yards per game in a running back core sparked by freshman LJ Martin and hampered by an undisclosed injury to Robbins, who program sources have said was in the "final stretch" of his recovery.
But running backs are only part of the run game, with the others involving the offensive line and receivers as downfield blockers that help propel the ground game forward. In that regard, each offensive player has been unanimous: there's a lot of work to do.
Still, it's important to consider the context of a run game led by Martin's 289 net yards and 4.0 yards per carry with four touchdowns. Miles Davis returned to action against the Bearcats, sparking the offense with 18 yards on four carries in his first game of the season. And the BYU offensive line had just two returning starters from last year — and only one, left tackle Kingsley Suamataia — who played the same position from a year ago.
Through five games, center-turned-right guard Connor Pay has been building into a new spot.
"I think the biggest growth has probably been just settling into my technique at a new position," said Pay, the Lone Peak product who moved after Utah transfer Paul Maile was named starting center in fall camp. "I found out that I was playing right guard full-time about a week and a half before our first game, so settling into that and getting back into the groove of playing guard and I think I've been able to build on that every week."
Perhaps most important, BYU is winning despite its offensive deficiencies. But can a team built on a foundation of an active defense and standout special-teams play continue its current trajectory?
"As a specialist unit, we have grown a lot," said punter Ryan Rehkow, who ranks No. 3 nationally with 49.04 yards per punt for 1,324 yards. "We had a lot of new faces coming into this season, and so I think everyone is getting comfortable with each other and getting a better feel for how we fit into this team as a whole."
Six wins and a bowl game was always considered a success in BYU's first season of Power Five football. But at the Cougars' current pace, they may be able to expect well more than that.
