BYU 1-on-1: What should Cougar fans expect in the 2024 football season?
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- BYU players gather after practice in Provo on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.
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- BYU players run onto the field during practice in Provo on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.
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- BYU offensive and defensive lines battle during fall camp in Provo on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024.
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- BYU players listen to defensive coordinator Jay Hill during practice in Provo on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024.
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- BYU’s Allie Fryer (23) leaps around a Wisconsin player during a women’s college soccer match at South Field on Thursday, August 15, 2024.
Daily Herald sports writers Darnell Dickson and Jared Lloyd give their opinions on the hot BYU sports topics this week:
1. Rhetoric never seems to change during fall camp, with nothing but positive responses from BYU players and coaches. What’s REALLY happening with the Cougars?
LLOYD: BYU is just … being BYU. This is a team filled with players who made a decision to believe in the coaches, each other and themselves and they’re quietly putting in the work to be ready for the season. No, that doesn’t make a lot of headlines — but they want the headlines to be made on gameday, not in fall camp.
The Cougars have acknowledged that they made some costly mistakes last year, on and off the field. They were too reliant on the transfer portal and the team didn’t gel fast enough. They allowed bad breaks to snowball until games got out of control.
So the first focus has been fixing those errors. They’ve tried to increase cohesiveness and familiarity with the schemes. They tried to build depth so (hopefully) injuries won’t be as devastating. And they’ve tried to increase their resiliency to be able to bounce back when things don’t go their way.
Will that be enough to have a successful season? No one knows yet.
But they play and talk with an assurance that this squad can be good. Now they just have to prove it.
DICKSON: There is a palpable confidence with this team that they made the right moves in the offseason to shore up areas of weakness. The Cougars believe their running game, line play and pass rush will be much better than last season. That’s a good place to start. They also believe that their returning players are healthier and better than they were in 2023.
I have a tendency to be skeptical that every single move will bear fruit, but I think enough good things will happen and BYU will be much improved in 2024.
I have a couple of indicators. One is the opener against Southern Illinois, a good FCS squad whose defense will challenge the Cougar offensive attack. If we get another Sam Houston outcome (BYU eked out a 14-0 victory in the opener last year), that will definitely be a huge warning sign. Remember how BYU scored on its first possession in that game?
Also, here were way too many blowouts during last year’s Big 12 schedule (TCU, Texas, Iowa State, West Virginia) so BYU needs to be competitive every time they take the field to convince me that real progress has been made.
2. The BYU coaches haven’t picked a starting quarterback yet. What does it all mean?
DICKSON: Us media types pretty much ask at every opportunity about the quarterbacks, and the coaching staff says the same thing: Not yet.
It’s easy to get all twisted up about BYU not naming a starter yet. Does it mean that neither Jake Retzlaff nor Gerry Bohanon have played well enough to earn the job or is the competition still tight?
The Cougars are starting game prep for Southern Illinois so you’d expect the majority of the reps to go whoever will be the starter.
I think the race is very tight and it will come down to a couple of things. One, the coaching staff is going to fall in love with Bohanon’s potential as a duel threat and he’ll get the nod. Two, Bohanon hasn’t played in a game since the 2022 season because of his shoulder injury.
Retzlaff would be a good choice as the backup because he started four games last season and if an emergency situation arises, he would be able to handle it.
If 2024 is like most years, both players will get their chance.
LLOYD: On the one hand, you have to give both Jake Retzlaff and Gerry Bohanon a tremendous amount of credit for not backing down at all throughout camp. The highlight reels have shown they haven’t been completely error-free, but both have been consistently good enough to keep the call from being obvious.
But is that a good thing? It’s hard to say.
As Darnell pointed out, BYU will probably need both to be ready at some point, since it is extremely rare that a team goes through a season without some sort of injury at QB. So having both ready to play and lead the team with confidence is a positive.
But that also might mean it could be tough for whoever does get the job to not be looking over his shoulder. There could be that worm of worry that a bad pass or a bad drive will be all it takes for the other to get sent in, making for some hesitancy from a position that can’t afford that.
I think the most important attribute for the Cougar quarterback to have is the “it” factor, that assurance that they are going to get the job done. But I don’t know if that can be seen in practice, so it might need to be displayed on the field.
3. Who has low-key had a great fall camp and will surprise BYU fans this season?
LLOYD: It can be so hard to know who is going to turn out to be just a camp star and who will actually have camp success translate to the field. I’ve seen plenty of examples of both while covering BYU.
This year that is even more uncertain because so many positions have established starters who will likely get the bulk of the snaps, even if they were somewhat limited in camp.
Harrison Taggart is a player, however, who both has been solid so far and needs to be really good for the Cougars. His Mack linebacker position plays a key role in Jay Hill’s defense, so he needs to be in the right place making plays. Look for him to put up some big tackle numbers this fall, particularly if Jack Kelly can be a playmaker next to him.
On the offensive side, I’m going to point to a wide receiver, which is a little surprising given the fact that that unit has Kody Epps, Darius Lassiter, Chase Roberts and Keelan Marion all back for another season.
Parker Kingston would be a good pick here, but I’m going to go with Jojo Phillips, who I’ve seen make some nice catches. I think his athleticism and ability could make him poised to be a surprise in a deep WR room.
DICKSON: Nicknames are kind of an old-school thing, and I’m old, so what nicknames have emerged from fall camp? My favorite is “Glitch,” bestowed on freshman running back Pokai Haunga because he’s so quick and has a lot of moves. You know, “Glitch,” like the Vanellope von Schweetz character in the movie “Wreck-It-Ralph?”
Then there is “Shmev,” the nickname given to redshirt sophomore cornerback Evan Johnson. He’s a had a great camp and is pushing for a lot of playing time. Senior Jakob Robinson has locked down one cornerback spot and redshirt junior Maury Bamba might have the other, but Johnson has put himself into a position to get a lot of reps this season.
If Marque Collins is healthy, that’s pretty good depth, along with talented freshmen Therrian Alexander and Jonathan Kabeya.
4. Since the Cougars are hoping to improve their pass rush, who will pick up the first sack in Game 1?
DICKSON: Cougar coaches are showing a lot of confidence in the defensive ends because they are basically the same guys who played last year.
Senior Tyler Batty is an All-Big 12 level player, but former Boise State transfer Isaiah Bagnah needs to make more plays. Then there is the “Mangler,” senior Blake Mangleson, redshirt sophomore Bodie Schoonover and redshirt senior Logan Latui.
If freshman Ephraim Asiata can put on a few pounds, he could be a threat in the pass rush. But I’m going to say Weber State transfer linebacker Jack Kelly will get the first sack. If anybody has been flying around in fall camp, it’s been Kelly.
LLOYD: Conventional wisdom says that the answer to this question will be a defensive end coming off the edge or a linebacker firing through on a blitz — and both are certainly possibilities.
But I’m going to buck the trend and select a defensive tackle: junior Joshua Singh.
I watched Singh play since his high school days at Orem and he is more agile than many expect for a man his size. He has a knack for getting past his defender that will pay dividends this season.
My prediction is that early in the contest against Southern Illinois, Jay Hill will dial up a blitz but the Salukis offense will pick it up. Singh, however, will win his one-on-one battle inside and bring the quarterback down when he steps up in the pocket.
5. The BYU women’s soccer and volleyball teams have been picked to finish at or near the top of the Big 12 standings despite both programs filling big holes left by graduating seniors. Do the high expectations put too much pressure on the young players?
LLOYD: Remember we are talking about exceptional Division I athletes who came to Provo having had impressive success with the previous high school, college or club teams, so they already have high expectations for themselves.
I don’t think national rankings or preseason polls impact that all that much, particularly once they get on the field or court. All the focus there is on getting the job done.
But the bigger question is whether these two teams can develop the cohesion they need fast enough, a concept that is much easier said than done. I don’t think either the Cougar women’s soccer or women’s volleyball teams are lacking the necessary talent, but they have to show me they can come together to make a great team.
I don’t think either team will end up putting together a special season in 2024, since there are just too many unknowns. But after some tough moments early, I want to see them hitting their stride in late October and November so they can head to the postseason brimming with confidence.
DICKSON: Both programs are used to high expectations, but rarely do they have to replace as many key players as they do in 2024.
In soccer, you need playmakers who can set up your scorers and the Cougars are still figuring out how that works with new players in those positions. Same for volleyball, which is looking for terminators at the pins and some steady passers in the back row.
Fortunately, both programs are in really good hands. Jennifer Rockwood is in her 30th year as the only head coach the women’s soccer program has ever had, and I think she’ll whip this group into shape before the end of the season. Heather Olmstead has the highest active winning percentage in the country for a reason so I expect volleyball will round into form as well.
Be prepared for growing pains for both groups, though.
