BYU linebacker Siale Esera greeted all the media with firm handshakes as he entered the media room following his team’s thrilling 33-27 double overtime win over Arizona, and for good reason.

The sophomore middle linebacker had just polished off a career game, logging a team-leading 16 tackles while providing several standout plays for a Cougar defense that was missing several top contributors. Sure, the 6-foot-3, 245 pound Timpview product knew prior to the game that he’d be without outside linebacker Jack Kelly alongside him, but eventually the defense lost starting safety Raider Damuni due to an apparent injury, and then defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa, who was tossed due to being flagged for a targeting penalty.

“I just had to step up,” Esera said. “This game had a lot of ups and downs, especially depth-chart wise. We had a lot of players go out and new players step in, and we brought those players in for a reason. We have the utmost trust in those players out there today…We all know it’s next man up and we have to do our job.”

The next men up on Saturday included Ace Kaufusi, who received most of the reps at outside linebacker usually allotted to Kelly, sophomore defensive end Tausili Akana, who stepped up big with some notable pressures in the fourth quarter, and even freshman Nusi Taumoepeau, who entered late to provide some solid play.

But leading the charge in stepping up was Esera, who was assigned a lot of expectations prior to the season as BYU’s primary middle linebacker. As for assessing his own performance, Esera downplayed much of it with his typically soft voice when asked by the media.

“It was alright. It was good, (but) I could have had more,” Esera said. “There were opportunities where I should have stepped up to the plate, but unfortunately I made some mistakes, and I’ll get better on my part going into this next week.”

Taking over

One of the more notable developments of Saturday’s win was the visiting BYU crowd, which is often called by Cougar players as ‘The ROC’ in reference to the official name of the home BYU student section. Well, the ROC showed up big throughout the game, but particularly during the two overtime periods where they provided quite a bit more noise and support than the Arizona faithful.

As mentioned, BYU players and coaches noted all of it. Indeed, BYU Head Coach Kalani Sitake opened up the press conference following the game giving thanks to the fans, with players doing much the same when asked.

“It helps us a lot. The ROC travels well, and we know that,” Esera said. “…Them cheering (for us) and overshadowing all the Arizona fans in that stadium was amazing and a feeling like no other. So I love the ROC…I thank god for them traveling with us.”

More enthusiasm needed

One of the more interesting admissions by Sitake in postgame interviews was the effort himself and the BYU sideline needed to provide versus Arizona relative to what they showed the week prior in the win versus West Virginia. The Cougars defeated the Mountaineers 38-24, sure, but according to Sitake, the enthusiasm and overall appreciation for the win wasn’t there, and needed to turn around versus the Wildcats.

“Last week when we won the game it was kind of a weird feeling,” Sitake explained. “Then (Coach Kelly Poppinga) made a good point…and he actually showed some clips of the West Virginia game where we made plays…and the sideline was just a little bit dead, you know?…He pointed that out, and it was actually eye-opening and embarrassing, for me, because I was one of those.”

It all changed in earnest in the win over Arizona, and it helped.

“I appreciate (Poppinga) being able to see that and talk about it, and then show it visually to our players,” Sitake said. “Our players fed off of it, and even when were were in the delay, guys were upbeat and happy…We talked about not worrying about the end result and just to enjoy the time that we have to play in the game…It was really fun.”