They have their reasons.

The Cougars are no longer undefeated and no longer the darlings of the College Football Playoff Committee, which dropped BYU eight spots in this week’s ratings. The Cougar offense has gone AWOL, especially in the red zone, over the past two weeks.

You know who isn’t wringing their hands?

BYU.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

Oh, they understand the urgency that accompanies Saturday’s road game at Arizona State. The Cougars control their own destiny as it relates to the Big 12 championship game: Win out (this week and next at home against Houston) and they are in. Or a combination of a win Saturday with a win by rival Utah at home against Iowa State gets them to Dallas, too.

This week has been (mostly) business as usual on the practice field.

“It’s the same thing we do every week,” BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. “It’s the same practice plan as always. We’ve had a good week and the guys have done a great job all year. They have great practice habits and are a tight-knit group. We’re just getting ready to play the next game.

“Last week we had a lack of execution in the low red zone. We controlled the line of scrimmage, we ran the ball well and we threw the ball well, all the way down to the low red zone area. We just didn’t finish. I have to do better, too. We had various position groups that made mistakes on that part of the field. The thing we can’t do is panic. We just keep working at it.”

The players went back to work on Monday after a team meeting highlighted by powerful words from backup quarterback Gerry Bohanon, who was part of Baylor team three years ago that won the Big 12 title.

“This is literally, by far, the closest team I’ve ever been a part of,” BYU senior running back Hinckley Ropati said. “The beginning of this week is a testament to that. Nobody likes losing. We hated the results that happened last weekend. But we know what kind of team we have and we have each other’s backs. Everybody knew what we needed to get done this week in order to earn the right to play well on Saturday. We’re focused for every single play and every single practice.

“Gerry stepped in and spoke to us (in the team meeting). He’s been part of a lot of good teams and spoke about his experiences and how special of a team we are.”

According to Ropati, there is a renewed effort to clean up execution.

“The biggest thing is for us to get back to the fundamentals,” he said. “We know the areas we’ve struggled in. We’ve been able to focus on red zone and short yardage, just like every week. There’s no reason to panic. We just need to trust the process and it will all work out. We’re being more purposeful in the way we’re go about our reps but we’re doing exactly what we’ve always done.”

As for the guys in Tempe, Arizona State is 8-2 overall and 5-2 in Big 12 play after being picked to finish 16th (last) in the preseason polls. Kenny Dillingham, who took over the program in November of 2022 after the disastrous tenure of former NFL coach Herm Edwards, is just 34 years old but has turned the Sun Devils around in just his second season.

“They (BYU) are ranked above us and have one loss in the football season,” Dillingham said. “They’re very close to being undefeated and that’s a great challenge for our guys at home. We’re coming off an emotional win (at Kansas State) and they’re coming off an emotional loss. We both somewhat control our own destiny. So which team should actually have a little bit more piss and vinegar? Probably the team that just came off something negative, not the team that’s being told how great we are.”

The parity in the Big 12 makes every week an adventure and the Cougars say they wouldn’t want it any other way.

“The identity is we are going to play hard no matter who we are playing, and you can pick us to lose,” senior defensive tackle John Nelson said. “You can pick us to be underdogs. It doesn’t matter to us. We are going to believe in ourselves no matter what game we are playing, no matter what team we are playing. Arizona State is just another game on our schedule that we need to win and play hard through and that is our identity.”

Roderick said the players know what’s at stake and relishes the opportunity to prove itself on the field.

“We live for this,” he said. “There is no pressure. This is what we do. This is exactly why you play this game. The guys are in the moment and are loving this.”

No. 14 BYU at No. 21 Arizona State

TIME: 1:30 p.m. MT

TV: ESPN

WHERE: Mountain America Stadium, Tempe, Arizona

THE WORD: This will be the 29th meeting between BYU and Arizona State with the Sun Devils leading the series, 20-8 … The Cougars won the last matchup, beating ASU 27-17 in Provo in 2021. Tyler Allgeier’s rundown and punch to force a fumble after a Cougar interception was one of the most iconic moments of the season … This is the first ranked-on-ranked matchup for the Cougars this year as BYU is ranked No. 14 and the Sun Devils are No. 21. The two schools were both ranked the last time they played as well in 2021 as the Cougars were No. 23 and Arizona State was No. 19 in the AP Poll … BYU is 27-8 under head coach Kalani Sitake when playing as a ranked team The appearance in the AP poll is the 288th overall by the Cougars in program history, which is 35th among all teams.