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PROVO — The deepest analysis of BYU football's third straight loss, and fourth in five games, of its first season in Big 12 play came with one of head coach Kalani Sitake's simplest statements: A lot of things went wrong.
The Cougars let Abu Sama (112 yards, two touchdowns) and Eli Sanders (58 yards, one touchdown) run all over them, and freshman Rocco Becht was an efficient 15-of-23 passing for 203 yards and two touchdowns with just one sack taken as Iowa State earned bowl eligibility with a 45-13 win in the chilly night air at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
BYU's first home loss of the season was a lot like its other five setbacks on the year in many ways, and dissimilar in others. The Cougars (5-5, 2-5 Big 12) lost the turnover battle 3-0 and converted on just 1-of-11 third downs.
They also failed to establish the run game, at least until Jake Retzlaff, who had a team-high 17 rushes for 64 yards, used his legs to scamper a bit more in the second half; Aidan Robbins rushed 10 times for a season-best 58 yards, and LJ Martin returned for 57 yards on eight carries.
"There aren't a lot of things that are going right for us right now," Sitake said. "But I know one thing is to get back to result and find a way to get a better result next week. ... I'm definitely disappointed in the performance."
But the problems with BYU in its latest loss — a loss that puts the Cougars' postseason bowl streak in serious jeopardy — weren't just related to Aaron Roderick and the offense, the offensive line or breaking in a new quarterback. The defense under first-year defensive coordinator Jay Hill also faltered.
BYU allowed the Cyclones to converted 8-of-14 third downs — including six of their first eight attempts — and were a perfect 5-of-5 in red-zone scoring opportunities. That doens't account for two touchdown drives, either; Becht's 66-yard touchdown to Jaylin Noel down the west sideline, and a gashing 59-yard scoring run by Sama to wrap up the third quarter.
The Cougars had just one sack and five tackles for loss, didn't force an interception or any other turnover, and allowed Iowa State on the field for a whopping 33 minutes and one second in time of possession.
Whereas BYU's 38-27 loss to Kansas could fall squarely on a pair of turnovers that flipped the game, and losses to TCU and Texas that featured a combined 17 points featured a distinct lack of offense, the Cougars have lost back-to-back games with a decidedly lack of defense in a 37-7 rout at West Virginia and Saturday's setback to the Cyclones.
"I don't have all the answers to that; I'll probably have a better answer for you Monday after watching the film," Sitake said. "But my first response is probably guys not believing in the system. There are a lot of missed tackles, and the mistakes in fundamentals ... a lot of guys slipping all over the place, not making plays.
"Defensively, you have to stop the run. We have to figure out a way to stop the run and we did not do that. They had so many big plays, and a lot of seemed to happen on third down. We've got to figure it out; there are probably a bunch of ways to get that done. I'm open to all of it, to fixing it and getting it done next week."
For linebacker A.J. Vongphachanh, the defensive breakdowns are less about trust and more about execution.
"I think whoever goes out there, we trust in them," the Utah State transfer said. "I know the guys that are going in there and put the time and effort into everything, it just comes down to executing. We do it when we practice in the game, and we've just got to turn that switch on."
Hill may be in his first year as defensive coordinator, safeties coach and associate head coach. But it's not his first year running a defense with Sitake.
The duo teamed up at Utah from 2007-2011, including the last couple of years when Hill was cornerbacks coach and Sitake was defensive coordinator before the former Weber State head coach took the job in Ogden.
At Utah, the two — under the direction of Kyle Whittingham — led the Utes to nine different bowl games, and coached standout defensive players like NFL second-round draft pick and Pro Bowl safety Eric Weddle, as well as Sean Smith, Brice McCain, R.J. Stanford and Brandon Burton, to name a few.
"I've been around the scheme for a long time, and the way it works is everybody has got to do their 1/11th," Sitake said. "When your opportunity comes, you have to find a way to make a play. But we're responsible for that, me as a head coach, Jay Hill and all the coaches on defense; we have to find ways to get guys to do their part.
"Everybody has to do their part. That's just not good enough. This is a gap sound, assignment-sound type of defense ... We had great success with it early in the season. We've got to find ways to get it done, to coach it the way it's supposed to get done, and then find ways to be effective."
