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DICKSON: Where did all the momentum go for BYU football?

By Darnell Dickson - | Oct 29, 2022

BYU's head coach Kalani Sitake walks on the field during a timeout while playing the East Carolina during an NCAA college football game Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Provo, Utah. (Ben B. Braun/The Deseret News via AP)

East Carolina took a shot at Central Florida on social media last week after dominating the Knights 34-13, telling them to, “Have fun in the Big XII next year” with an “L” replacing one of the “I’s” in “XII.”

It was a not-so-subtle dig at a team leaving the American Athletic Conference for supposed greener pastures.

Maybe the Pirates think they should have been given more consideration.

They’re making a case for it.

ECU will play all four teams that are headed to the Big 12 next year. On Friday, the Pirates edged BYU 27-24 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It will play No. 20 Cincinnati on Nov. 11 and Houston on Nov. 19.

Several ECU players came back out onto the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium after Friday’s win to take photos and selfies to commemorate the victory. At 6-3, the Pirates are the very definition of a team improving every week with the ability to finish strong.

Now, BYU, on the other hand …

In 2020, the Cougars went 11-1 and had their quarterback, Zac Wilson, taken No. 2 in the NFL Draft. Just over a year ago, the school announced it had been invited to the Big 12 beginning in the 2023-24 season. A day later, BYU ended a nine-game losing streak to Utah and went on to win ten games in 2021.

All spring and summer, the hype machine went to work, producing blue Kool-Aid that Cougar fans and players were only too eager to drink: Jaren Hall was an NFL-ready quarterback, the offensive line was going to be the best in recent memory, the defense was going to be vastly improved.

BYU won its first two games in 2022, including an overtime victory at home against Big 12 favorite Baylor.

The momentum building up in the program was palpable.

Then it fell apart. The loss to East Carolina means the Cougars were oh-for-October and at 4-5 are in danger of not even making a middling bowl game in December.

This program has about as much momentum as a square-shaped boulder being pushed downhill and looks in no way, shape or form ready to be competitive in the Big 12 next season.

BYU fans have questions. They want accountability. They want heads to roll.

Unfortunately, the Cougar coaching staff has not been able to supply any answers or solutions. BYU has struggled mightily in all three phases of the game and doesn’t appear to be improving. Injuries are piling up and the players’ confidence appears shot.

The offensive game plan against East Carolina was to run the ball and the Cougars had a good night on the ground, getting 244 yards and averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Lopini Katoa finished with 116 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries but wasn’t on the field when BYU failed on fourth-and-2 in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars also failed on a fourth-and-1 on its own side of the field, a quarterback sneak where BYU lined up and tried to go quickly but got zero push from what has turned out to be a vastly overrated offensive line.

Those two failed fourth downs cost the Cougars the game, no doubt. BYU is just 5 of 19 (26%) on fourth downs conversions this year which is 127th out of 131 FBS teams. I don’t care what analytics are telling Cougar coaches about going for it on fourth down, that’s really bad.

Before the game, I told Ben Criddle on ESPN 960 that BYU needed five defensive stops against the Pirates to get a win. The Cougars had three — two punts and one fourth down stop. Give them four stops if you count ECU’s missed field goal in the second half. The fifth would have come on ECU’s final drive but for a fourth down pass interference that set up the game-winning field goal.

BYU had opportunities to make plays and win the game on Friday night, but couldn’t execute at critical times.

Three games remain and the Cougars need two wins to become bowl eligible, though how much will BYU fans care about a 6-6 team playing in a who-cares-lower-level bowl game?

Some other difficult questions: How much do the players care about the remainder of the season? Do they care enough to keep grinding and push through the final three games?

Losses make BYU fans mad, as made readily apparent on social media.

Right now, the 2022 season probably feels like a 1,000-pound weight on the shoulders of each player and coach in the Cougar program.

Does anybody have the strength to keep lifting?

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