BYU 1-on-1: Football expectations for Week 1 are through the roof
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- BYU junior linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother makes a tackle during the game against Southern Illinois at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
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- BYU head coach Kalani Sitake watches his team during the game against Southern Illinois at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024.
Daily Herald sports reporters Darnell Dickson and Brandon C. Gurney use their sports expertise to riff on the hot BYU sports topics of the moment.
1. BYU football’s first opponent, Portland State, lost its home opener to Tarleton State 42-0. How ugly is it going to get on Saturday?
DICKSON: BYU is a 44-point favorite in this game (last time I checked) and fans will be disappointed if the margin of victory isn’t at least that much. The Vikings did not look good in their opener. Chances are, the Cougars will have a large lead in the third quarter and they will start playing a lot of reserves. At least in that sense, the game could get kind of ugly in the second half. I’m interested to see how precise and explosive the starters can be early in the game. I can’t imagine BYU will be sharp the entire game. Mistakes will happen. But an offense that can move the chains and a defense that can force some 3-and-outs would be appreciated by those in attendance.
GURNEY: Not as ugly as it could get is my answer. There’s perhaps no football coach I know of that is more averse to running up the score than Kalani Sitake, and credit to him for being that way. We’ve seen it time and again during Sitake’s tenure at BYU, where the Cougars get off to a big early lead and then sort of just shut it down, often much earlier than some fans would prefer. Portland State is not good, and I’d imagine BYU building something like a 35-0 lead at the half before ultimately winning the game 45-10.
2. Call your shot: Who scores BYU’s first touchdown on Saturday and how will he do it?
GURNEY: I’m going with Carsen Ryan. The Utah transfer tight end has been a standout performer throughout fall camp and has an obvious connection established with freshman starting quarterback Bear Bachmeier. I believe the Cougars will be featuring their tight end much more this season simply due to the apparent abilities of Ryan. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound Timpview product is set to catch a lot of passes this season and it begins with scoring the first touchdown of the season.
DICKSON: This is always a hard one to predict. Remember in Kalani Sitake’s first game as coach against Arizona in 2016 when fullback Brayden El-Bakri scored the first TD? Or in 2023 when the first tuddy was scored by quarterback Kedon Slovis on a running play? Nobody was predicting those scores. But since I asked the question, here’s how it will go down: Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier rolls out, sees open field and takes off, trucking a defensive back on his way into the end zone for the first score. And the crowd goes wild.
3. In the future would you prefer BYU opens the season with an FCS team or a power conference team?
DICKSON: I’ve seen some responses from fans that are lamenting the variety and quirkiness of the BYU football schedule during independence. To be fair, the Cougars had some really cool games in some really cool stadiums during that run. But as a power conference member, BYU has to carefully craft its non-conference slate. There are plenty of tough games in Big 12 play and you can’t get yourself beat up before you even start the league schedule. Playing an FCS team allows you to use it as kind of an exhibition game, getting the kinks worked out and giving some of your backups extended reps. It may not be the prettiest of football but it’s essential to the overall building of a team. As for the rest of the schedule (Stanford and East Carolina), it’s not super exciting.
GURNEY: I’m more than fine with BYU beginning every season versus an FCS opponent. It’s what the big boy programs typically do and BYU is very much a big boy now with its Big 12 Conference affiliation. The season narrative is now flipped, considerably, where BYU doesn’t have to frontload its schedule, as was the imperative throughout the independent era. It’s now prudent to build up in the best way possible for the Big 12 gauntlet and to assure that you’re playing your best football late in the season. I believe that beginning the season with relative patsies aides with that. Not to mention it helps stack wins for bowl eligibility. Bring on the cupcakes!
4. OK, how about a basketball question: Will AJ Dybantsa or Richie Saunders lead the Cougars in scoring this season?
GURNEY: I really, REALLY want to answer Richie Saunders here, but I can’t. Yes, it’s crazy to state that a player who proved as productive as Saunders can be overlooked in any way, but that’s sort of what’s happening given the influx of standout talent that Kevin Young has brought into the program in the offseason. I’m just extremely high on AJ Dybantsa and his potential. He has the athleticism, but perhaps more importantly the mindset and work ethic to realize his great potential. I believe he’ll be unlike anything Cougar fans have ever seen at the Marriott Center and is therefore a somewhat easy pick to lead the team in scoring.
DICKSON: I think they will be within a couple of points of each other, I would guess around 16-18 points per game. I love me some Richie Saunders but what will put AJ over the top is his ability to draw fouls and get to the foul line. Don’t be surprised to see AJ with double-digit free throws in multiple games this season. The dude draws fouls like a magnet draws iron. I would say you can expect AJ or Richie to lead the team in scoring probably 75 percent of the time. I think this team is deep but the scoring is going to come from those two guys.
5. BYU women’s cross country opens 2025 as the No. 1 ranked team in the county and the men are No. 4. Can the Cougars overcome the hype and defend their national titles this fall?
DICKSON: That BYU has created a powerhouse cross country program is no surprise. You start with the high-altitude training and Utah being a real distance runners state at the high school level. Then you have Ed Eyestone and Diljeet Taylor, a ridiculous amount of talent on the coaching staff. It’s no wonder some of the country’s top talent, including Timpview’s Jane Hedengren, are flocking to Provo. Of course they can back up those titles.
GURNEY: There’s absolutely no question in my mind that both programs can do as much. No, I don’t fashion myself an expert in breaking down these two teams, but I do know the women are adding the top female athlete in the entire country, as named by Gatorade (Jane Hedengren), so that’s a starting point I can certainly get behind. So book it; National championship for the women and, well, sure, why not? The men take top honors as well.
