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BYU 1-on-1: What’s most exciting about the 2023 Cougar football schedule?

By Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd - | Feb 2, 2023

Marci Harris, Special to the Herald

BYU linebacker Max Tooley makes a tackle during the 2OT win over Baylor at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022.

BYU sports experts Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd address five of the big questions facing Cougar athletics this week:

1. What stood out to you about the 2023 BYU football schedule that was released earlier this week?

DICKSON: February is turning out to be quite a month for college football, isn’t it? First the Big 12 schedule drops, then the Cougars get a bunch of commits as well. It’s all still spinning around in my head, to be honest.

I like that BYU gets both Texas and Oklahoma in 2023. I like that there is a bye in October for the first time in millennia. I like the Oklahoma State matchup for Thanksgiving weekend. Mostly, I like that it moves the Cougars one step closer to an actual Big 12 Conference game at Kansas on September 23.

It will be interesting to see how BYU can compete in a Power 5 conference playing the same kind of schedule as the rest of the teams. Independence tested the Cougars in a very different way. All gas, no brakes from now on.

LLOYD: I’m still not a fan of the nine-game league schedule because it severely limits a conference’s opportunities to demonstrate how they stack up against other leagues. I know leagues like the Big 12 and Pac 12 like it because they get to keep more of the TV revenue, but from a competitive standpoint the net record for a conference in those games is .500.

Let’s be honest here … BYU gets one chance to contribute to the league status with its road game at Arkansas. No one will pay attention to the Sam Houston and Utah Tech games (nor should they). It’s a pity the Cougars don’t get a fourth non-conference game to add a weightier foe to its slate.

That aspect is more interesting to me than who BYU drew in its inaugural season, since the Big 12 has had a lot of competitive teams in the last few years. Although I doubt Oklahoma will be the favorites, it might be a big game when the Sooners come to Provo in October. It will also be nice to make trips back to Austin and Fort Worth for the Texas and TCU games, since BYU already has some history in those venues.

As for everything else, I see a lot of good home and away games against opponents who could be very good — or who could struggle. So it’s basically the same as every year, except it now has the Power 5 conference label on it.

2. With BYU football’s 2023 recruiting class basically complete, how do you assess the additions to the team?

LLOYD: If you listen carefully to the coaches talk about the incoming players, you almost always hear them say something about how they “could” make a big difference on the field or “could” be a really good fit. It’s certainly the best way to say it, since there are no guarantees in college football recruiting (despite what recruiting rankings try to portray). Some guys get hurt or struggle to find a niche or simply aren’t able to be as good as they were at previous places.

The other enormous factor is what it will take for Jay Hill to get the guys he wants doing the things he wants on the BYU defense. In some ways that will make it easier on the newcomers since the current Cougar defensive players are also trying to figure out how to do that.

I think BYU added a number of players who have shown flashes in high school or at other colleges that they have good ability. Before I get too excited though, they have to prove to me that they can be playmakers when wearing a BYU uniform.

DICKSON: There’s a boatload of them, to be sure. As a general rule, BYU’s roster usually turned over a bit more than most college programs because of the missionaries coming and going.

The transfer portal has magnified that turnover and in 2023, the Cougar roster is going to change by 50% or more. And don’t forget this is a mostly new defensive coaching staff as well. Plus, the program is moving into a Power 5 conference. That is a lot of change, even for BYU. Jay Hill has a specific kind of player he’s looking for on the defensive side and there are a ton of defensive linemen who will amp up the competition over spring and fall camp.

I think the Cougars added to the right positions, especially at running back with Aiden Robbins and LJ Martin. There’s talent right there. The biggest challenge for Kalani Sitake and the coaching staff is bringing all of these new players together quickly and pulling in the same direction.

3. In your opinion, will the Cougars be ready to compete in the Big 12 when the season arrives in September?

DICKSON: There are some pluses as BYU gets going. The program isn’t jumping for a G5 to a P5 (like Utah did in 2011). Playing an independent schedule was different but did test the Cougars in many ways. There are also a lot of coaches on the staff who were with Utah when it went through its transition 11 years ago.

The biggest question I have right now has to do with the strength and conditioning staff. Nua Tafisi is gone and we haven’t heard what direction BYU is going to go in now. Maintaining depth while playing a P5 schedule is really important and injuries have decimated the Cougar defense the past two years. I have confidence in Skyler Mayne and Colbey Clawson as sports scientists in the program. Their input will be critical.

LLOYD: I’m going to be a little nitpicky here and zero in on the word “compete.”

If that is saying will BYU come in and immediately win a title, I’d definitely say no. History isn’t on BYU’s side. Utah went 8-5 overall and 4-5 in the Pac-12 in its first year in 2011, while TCU went 7-6 and 4-5 in its first year in the Big 12 in 2012. Yes, the Cougars have been better prepared in independence but that’s still a step up in consistent competition that BYU will have to get accustomed to.

But will the Cougars get blown out by 30 in every game? I highly doubt it. I think BYU will be competitive in a lot of games and I point to how the Cougars did against Baylor in the last two seasons as my evidence. BYU certainly didn’t embarrass itself in either contest.

The other thing to look at is that the Big 12 is made up of a bunch of teams that can be dangerous but doesn’t have any truly dominant programs. This isn’t like when Oklahoma was winning the league handily every year. Whether it was Oklahoma State and Baylor in 2021 or TCU in 2022, this is a conference where a lot of teams have shown they can be dangerous. The Cougars have to be looking forward to getting their turn at some point.

4. Looking in your crystal ball, what will be the postseason destinations for the BYU men’s and women’s basketball teams this year?

LLOYD: I’m going to start with the team that I think has the best chance to be playing after the conclusion of the WCC tournament and that is the Cougar women’s squad.

Yes, its overall record is only 12-10 but this team has won eight of its last 10 games and has chances to get some quality wins against the league leaders from Gonzaga and Portland at the end of the year. If BYU could knock off one of those two teams in the Marriott Center, only lose one other game in February and reach the WCC semifinals, I think it has an outside shot of getting an NIT invitation. That would be an impressive achievement for Amber Whiting and a team that lost a lot of contributors from last season.

I’m not nearly as optimistic about the BYU men’s team, since it already saw its two best chances for big wins slip through its fingers. Just about every night I’m not sure what I’m going to see from these Cougars. They can play great basketball in one game and then they can look thoroughly out-of-sync and confused the next. This squad needs to prove to me it can put together a stretch of really good play before I think it would even get a sniff at the postseason.

Of course, just like for most teams in the country, all it would take is for either one to get hot at the tournament and win the automatic bid — but I don’t believe that will happen.

DICKSON: Right now, both teams are on the outside looking in as far as the NCAA and NIT are concerned. Both programs are in a rebuilding mode, which is unfortunate. It would have been nice for Mark Pope and Amber Whiting to have some momentum going into the Big 12 in 2023-24.

Both coaches have bet on younger players and transfers to make a big difference next season. Whiting in particular has lined up some very good talent for her team next year, while Pope has some offseason work to do.

I’m not sure if Pope and his crew would be interested in playing in anything other than the NCAA or the NIT. Perhaps the women’s team would play in some of those games. Both teams should focus on finishing the regular season strong and playing well in the WCC Tournament next month in Las Vegas, but the odds are stacked against them.

5. What did you learn from the two matches the Cougar men’s volleyball team played at UC Irvine last week?

DICKSON: I learned that this BYU team is very deep in talent. That manifests itself in obvious ways (Anthony Cherfan getting his first action against UC Irvine and playing spectacularly) and not-so obvious ways (better competition in practice).

Last year was a struggle, but the Cougars came through it and have demonstrated early on they are a team that can play with anyone. That’s a start.

I like that Grand Canyon transfer Heath Hughes has been very good starting at setter. I like that Teon Taylor has been the best defensive middle blocker in the college game early in the season. I like that BYU has a bunch of big-time servers that send bombs against opponents. Things are looking up for the Cougars.

LLOYD: I honestly think what we saw in those matchups against the Anteaters will be what we should expect all year. It won’t surprise me if the most consistent thing about this team is its inconsistency.

In the first match, BYU battled to a couple of close losses in Sets 1 and 2, then wasn’t that close in the final set as UC Irvine closed out the sweep. But when the Cougars got their second chance to play the Anteaters, it was a different story. BYU got a key 26-24 win to start the match, then bounced back every time UC Irvine won a set. The 15-9 finish in Set 5 was a testament to the Cougars finding a way to get the job done under pressure.

I think this BYU squad has some good pieces but I’m not yet confident that those will come together to play at a high level in consecutive matches. I expect a lot of 1-1 weekends when the Cougars are playing good opponents.

Courtesy BYU Photo

BYU head coach Amber Whiting talks to her team during the WCC game against San Francisco at the Marriott Center on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2023.

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