For more than a decade, the BYU football team did a tremendous job staying relevant and interesting as a college football independent.

It wasn’t an easy road but the efforts of athletic director Tom Holmoe and a vital relationship with TV giant ESPN helped the Cougars play big games and get national attention.

The long-hoped-for payoff for all those efforts officially came in 2023 as BYU joined a power conference with a lot more resources.

But, as everyone saw during the season, there is a big difference between being part of a league and being successful.

The first year of Big 12 competition featured plenty of highs and lows for the Cougars, which they hope were just growing pains that will set the foundation for future achievement.

Before moving forward, it’s time to take a moment to look back at the Top 10 stories for BYU football in 2023:

1. The Cougars join the big leagues

Clearly the top story of the year for BYU football was finally getting a chance to be part of a conference and have a legitimate shot at reaching the College Football Playoff.

It meant access to more money and the perks of having high-profile Big 12 games throughout the year.

But there were costs as well, including failure to be competitive and having to do things how the conference wants to do them instead of being autonomous.

Only time will tell how Big 12 affiliation will benefit and challenge the Cougars but now they have a seat at the table and can look to maximize the possibilities.

2. Late-season struggles result in losing season

44-11. 35-6. 37-7. 45-13.

Those are scores that probably still make BYU fans cringe. From early October to mid-November, the Cougars stumbled to four losses in five games with all of them coming by 29 points or more.

The defeats at TCU, at Texas, at West Virginia and at home to Iowa State put BYU in a must-win situation in the final two weeks to get to .500 for the year and although the Cougars played much better against Oklahoma in Provo and at Oklahoma State, they couldn’t get it done.

BYU’s five-game slide to end the year was a disappointing way for the first year in the Big 12 to end and showed the Cougars have to get better in a lot of areas to be a player in the conference.

3. Former Cougar Puka Nacua makes most of first NFL opportunity

BYU fans certainly saw plenty of flashes of what Puka Nacua was capable of during his time in Provo, but his struggles to stay healthy and lack of measurable high-end speed resulted in him dropping clear to the fifth round in the 2023 NFL draft.

The situation he got, though, was about as ideal as it could be. Nacua joined the pass-happy Los Angeles Rams and stepped in when leading receiver Cooper Kupp was injured to fill a big role.

He carved out a niche as one of the top rookies in the 2023 class and is a couple of good games away from breaking a 62-year-old NFL record for receiving yards by a player in his first year in the league.

While Nacua has been the headliner, other former Cougars like offensive lineman Blake Freeland and quarterback Jaren Hall have also earned chances to get on the field as rookies in 2023.

4. BYU finds way to make big comeback at Arkansas

The start of the big non-conference game on the road against the Razorbacks from the SEC was a nightmare for the Cougars as BYU surrendered a long TD run and a punt return for a touchdown. Just four minutes in and the visiting Cougars were already facing a 14-0 hole.

But unlike in the past (and other games in 2023), this time BYU found answers.

Thanks to some key turnovers and amazing catches — with Chase Roberts’s one-handed TD topping them all — the Cougars rallied to surge in front in the fourth quarter, then hung on to earn the 38-31 win.

That victory was the biggest comeback under head coach Kalani Sitake and certainly the highlight of the year for BYU.

5. Cougars maintain core of coaching staff, have top players return

The knee-jerk reactions after a losing season can be for both players and coaches to either jump ship or be forced to leave. While accountability is important, such changes can often make it tougher for a team to succeed the following year.

BYU did make changes with two position coaches as offensive line coach Darrell Funk and tight ends coach Steve Clark weren’t retained, but the rest of the staff stayed intact which means most of the players will already have relationships and understand the expectations heading into 2024.

But everyone in the Cougar program knows BYU has to get better, so having strong veteran player leadership makes a huge difference as well.

Talented, proven athletes like defensive lineman Tyler Batty, linebacker Ben Bywater and offensive lineman Connor Pay decided to return to Provo for one more year and their presence will likely provide a big boost in motivation and determination for 2024.

6. New defensive approach has a few good moments, but not there yet

One of the reasons the Cougars likely didn’t make a lot of coaching staff changes is that it had just made a major revamp of the defense heading into 2023. Defensive coordinator Jay Hill and the rest of the new coaches brought a different mindset to how to compete on that side of the ball.

How did the chance turn out? Well, there were some positives from Year 1 for Hill but there were also clearly a lot of things to improve on.

BYU did get a shutout in Game 1 (14-0 over Sam Houston) and forced a lot more turnovers (20) but it also gave up 29.8 points per game (96th in the nation) and 417.7 yards per game (106th in the nation).

The Cougars need to make a big jump on that side of the ball to be able to slow down some of the good offenses they will face next fall.

7. Offensive struggles exacerbated by injuries and inconsistency

The hope in Provo was that the combination of offensive veterans like Isaac Rex, Chase Roberts, Kingsley Suamataia with newcomers like Kedon Slovis, Aidan Robbins, Paul Maile and Darius Lassiter with intriguing youngsters like LJ Martin and Keelan Marion would be a recipe for success.

And there were times where it worked fairly well (like in wins over Arkansas, Cincinnati and Texas Tech).

For the most part, however, injuries and mistakes proved to be too much as the Cougars had a tough time putting points on the board. It was as below-average performance overall, one that the entire unit knows isn’t acceptable moving forward.

8. Isaac Rex sets BYU tight end scoring record

The list of talented tight ends that have worn the blue-and-white in Provo is an impressive one, including names like Gordon Hudson, Chris Smith, Chad Lewis, Jonny Harline and Dennis Pitta.

But after Isaac Rex caught a TD pass in the loss to Iowa State, he had 23 career touchdowns. That broke Hudson’s record of 22, a record that had lasted for 40 years.

Rex (whose father Byron Rex was also a Cougar tight end) finished his career with 24 TDs, as well as 112 receptions for 1,385 yards.

9. Ryan Rehkow has most consistent season-long performance for BYU

It was hard to ignore the roller coaster ride that plagued the Cougars during 2023 but there was a clear winner when it came to consistent, overall performance. BYU punter Ryan Rehkow didn’t even have much competition.

His numbers were very impressive as he finished with 68 punts for 3,289 yards, averaging 48.4 yards per kick. That was the second-best average in the entire country, trailing only Boise State’s James Ferguson-Reynolds (49.7 yards per kick on 55 punts).

Rehkow averaged 47.4 yards per punt in his career, pinned the ball inside the 20-yard line 74 times and set the BYU single punt record with a kick of 83 yards in 2021.

10. The next group of Cougars signs on to help right the ship

A number of BYU players moved on at the end of 2023, either because of graduation, pro football opportunities or transferring. The cycle, of course, meant that the Cougars also added a number of new athletes.

BYU announced that it signed 27 new players on the first day of the signing period in December with the focus going on the defensive line. Many of the signees will serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before joining the team, but others will be in the mix for playing time in 2024.

It’s likely that the Cougars aren’t done either and will look to have a few more players sign on before February as BYU tries to get the right team in place to compete at a higher level in 2024.

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