Following BYU’s 38-24 win over West Virginia on Friday, Sitake opted toward the latter and perhaps provided the perfect quote to sum up the course of play that was set forth in front of 63,917 fans in attendance at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

“I’m not upset about the win…We were just a little tense, a little bit, and I want to be relaxed, a little bit, toward the end,” Sitake said. “That wasn’t a comfortable win. It was a good win, but it wasn’t as comfortable as I wanted it to be.”

Not comfortable at all, as it were.

Sure, the Cougars dominated the stat sheet, outgaining the Mountaineers 516 yards to 291 with freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier throwing for 351 yards, and in so doing setting a record for the most yards thrown by any Cougar quarterback in Big 12 Conference competition. But turnovers, sloppy execution and an inability to put the finishing touches on an outcome that was never truly in doubt left a bit of an ominous cloud hanging over all involved.

While the team celebration following a dramatic 24-21 win over Colorado a week prior, Saturday’s win led to a bit more somber and muted celebration, if you could even call it a celebration.

“Every win is a tough win in the Big 12. Every win is good, but I think it’s just because we know we could have played better,” said BYU receiver Parker Kingston. “We made some mistakes, had some costly penalties in the redzone when we could have scored, and I think we’re just upset about those mistakes that we had.”

Adding to the team’s pensive emotions was the prospect of not having defensive standout Jack Kelly in the lineup. The senior linebacker, who is widely regarded as the team’s premier defender, left the field late in the second quarter and was immediately deemed out of the remainder of the game with an apparent shoulder injury.

Although Kelly’s injury looked dire, with the prospect of missing significant playing time seemingly likely, Sitake expressed optimism.

“I felt good about it because at the end in the locker room he was actually feeling pretty good,” Sitake said. “So we’ll evaluate it tomorrow…and that’s the game of football. Sometimes you get banged up and we’ll see how banged up he is and if he can go next week or not.”

Kelly was seen on the sidelines with his left arm in a sling with ice being applied to his shoulder. Isaiah Glasker, meanwhile, left the game late in the first half and didn’t return to action, although Sitake mentioned the junior linebacker was held mostly as a precaution.

Sure, the mistakes and sloppy play laid out by BYU received most of the focus, it’s not to suggest that Friday’s game was all bad because it wasn’t, at all.

Providing a good amount of positivity was Bachmeier again showing marked improvements, this time showcasing an ability to beat an opposing defense deep, completing several chunk yardage passes to both Kingston and Chase Roberts. Most notable of his long gains was 47-yard completion to Roberts on BYU’s very first offensive play from scrimmage and then an 85-yarder again to Roberts late in the game that ended with the 6-foot-4 American Fork product being tackled just three yards short of the endzone.

As for Kingston, he managed to use his superior speed in taking a middle screen 54-yards downfield for one of his two touchdowns. Overall the two combined for 272 total yards receiving on just eight receptions in showing a downfield threat that opposing defenses may have to account for better moving forward.

“I thought that was really good, especially with the big play production,” Sitake said. “We probably haven’t seen it enough and it was more methodical. So now we’re getting some chunk yardage and we just got to finish drives…We just have to impose our will and be more physical.”

Indeed BYU’s ground game left much to be desired, with LJ Martin finding little space to operate en route to a 90 yard effort on 21 carries, which included a 32-yard touchdown run for BYU’s final score of the evening. As has been too common, BYU’s offense received scant production from running backs not named Martin throughout the course of the game, save perhaps for Jovesa Damuni, who unfortunately had his touches come to an abrupt halt after fumbling away the football in the third quarter.

On the defensive end there was much to like, beginning with an interception by Therrian Alexander early that was returned to within West Virginia’s five yardline, which was quickly turned into a touchdown scored by the offense.

“I just trusted myself,” Alexander said. “I jumped it, seeing the ball, and it happened. I’m a little disappointed in myself because I’m supposed to score. It was uncharacteristic of me to get caught, especially by the quarterback…But it was a real feeling. You grow up dreaming of making plays like that.”

Other defensive standouts included safety Tanner Wall, who also recorded an interception and safety Faletau Satuala, who led the defense with eight total tackles. Standouts along the defensive front were again Logan Lutui and John Taumoepeau, who added six and five tackles, respectively.

But positive plays aside, Saturday’s win was mostly about the sloppy and somewhat uninspired play, which will give the Cougars, who are now 5-0 on the season, plenty to work on as they move forward to a much tougher schedule which includes game versus Utah and TCU and home, along with Iowa State and Texas Tech on the road.

“We’ll get it back,” Sitake said regarding the prospect of putting together a more complete team effort. “Not everyone is playing a full 60 minutes, so I’m asking the impossible, for the most part. But I’m always going to be like that. I mean, I’m complaining about winning a game by two scores, but I want to get better. So (we) don’t want to get too spoiled and too comfortable…We’ll fix it and we’ll get back to work.”