1 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

2 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

3 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

4 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

5 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

6 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

7 / 7

BYU defenders attempt to make a tackle during the 66-49 Cougar win over Virginia at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021. (Marcia Harris, Special to the Daily Herald)

❮ ❯

It’s an understatement to say that no BYU defender was pleased with the performance when the Cougars went into the locker room at halftime Saturday’s 66-49 win over Virginia.

The Cougars had surrendered numerous big plays that had resulted in the Cavaliers racking up more than 400 yards of offense and putting 42 points on the scoreboard.

“I thought we had just needed to make adjustments and and the coaches do a great job of that at halftime,” BYU senior defensive back Jared Kapisi said. “We just stuck in there and trusted the game plan, I think. I think a lot of people have have their own take of what we should have done. But I think if you trust the coaches, they definitely know what they’re doing and know how to help us win games. That’s what we did and it turned out to work out for us.”

Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake was pretty straightforward when he talked after the victory about what the defensive adjustments were and the impact they had, saying: “Drop eight won the game for us.”

“We weren’t getting enough eyes on the quarterback,” Sitake said early Sunday morning. “They were doing some things that really made it difficult in man coverage. We thought we could match up man-to-man with them and it worked early. When the guys got fatigued, they were covering forever so they were getting a little tired and were missing tackles. And then Armstrong was taking off. When you are in man, you are covering your man and you don’t really see when the quarterback breaks the pocket. You are susceptible to big plays.”

He credited defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki for figuring out what the team needed to do to win.

“Going to the drop-eight was Ilaisa Tuiaki’s idea,” Sitake said. “That wasn’t really the game plan but we mixed it in in the second half and held a really explosive offense to seven points. I think people need to respect him a little bit more now.”

Sitake clarified on Monday that he loves being aggressive but always has to keep in mind what is going to give his team the best chance to win.

“Dropping eight on defense isn’t a popular thing for some people but it’s hard to score on,” Sitake said Monday. “Do you like that or do you like giving up one play for a touchdown? I would love to blitz every down. That would be awesome. But there is always a payment for things like that. For me, the mindset is to be aggressive but also to be complimentary in having our offense, defense and special teams working together. It’s important for us as a staff to work together, try to find a way to have success and get a win. That’s the goal.”

BYU senior defensive lineman Uriah Leiataua credited the drop-eight scheme for putting him in position to force the game-changing fumble in the fourth quarter.

“We decided to drop eight and I’m one of the only defensive linemen who knew the drops,” Leiataua said. “On that play, I was out there on the wide receiver. It was funny because like a play earlier, I was doing the exact same thing and I didn’t trigger when I was supposed to. When I came off to the sideline, they were like, hey, you need to respond faster to the run. So on the very next play, I saw the run and I declared and I was just like, I’m going to just run fast at him. Somebody grabbed him by the legs, and I was like, I’m going to take my shot. So I just took it.”

He said he didn’t realize the ball had come out until it hit his back and he was able to roll on top of it.

“I thought that was a really great moment,” Leiataua said.

He explained that in his view, the issues the BYU defense had weren’t because the scheme was poor.

“I think the players need to execute a little bit better, myself included,” Leiataua said. “I don’t blame the coaches on anything. I think that at some point we need to take it upon ourselves to make those critical plays when it’s one on one, when it’s just us versus the quarterback. We need to make sure we wrap them up when we have them.”

Even though BYU had to endure the difficult portion of the game when Virginia scored almost at will, the way the team rallied back to get the stops it need to win was extremely rewarding, according to Kapisi.

“I think it speaks volumes to the character that all of the players on the team have,” Kapisi said. “We’re all fighters. I feel like a good amount of us have been doubted in our lives. Coach (Ed) Lamb has always talked to us about coming back from being down and winning. I think those are tests in a season that you need to have. In order to be successful later on the season, you need to have those those kinds of tests. I thought this was a good one for our defense and our offense and our team.”

Newsletter