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BYU defenders Isaiah Glasker (16), Bodie Schoonover (48) and Logan Lutui tackle West Virginia quarterback Khalil Wilkins in a Big 12 football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday, Oct. 4, 2025.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Daily Herald

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Darnell Dickson, Daily Herald

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Here’s what’s going on inside Darnell’s head during a rainy General Conference weekend. After the week I’ve had, I really needed the choir to come through with some great music, and they delivered.

They’ll always be the “Mo-Tab” to me, no matter what they decide to be called.

Full disclosure, I was late to the BYU-West Virginia football game Friday night, arriving midway through the first quarter. A family situation delayed me in Salt Lake City and I had to drive south on I-15 to the game.

I don’t know how you guys do that.

I don’t think I’ve ever been late to a BYU football game I was covering, though I’ve been close. I remember years ago former Daily Herald sports reporter Jason Franchuk and I were in Colorado to cover the BYU-Air Force game. We went to lunch with former Herald managing editor Al Manzi in Denver and left a little bit late for Colorado Springs. We actually sat down in the press box right as BYU kicked off.

Anyway, if this column is a bit disjointed (more than usual, anyway), you’ll know why.

Do you have to enjoy the win?

After BYU’s sloppy and, to many, unsatisfying 38-24 victory against West Virginia on Friday, I couldn’t help but think about something defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa said earlier this week.

“I think success needs to be counted. If you’re only counting the things you need to improve on, it makes it extremely difficult to stay motivated and disciplined in a long season.”

Wise words.

BYU certainly could have played better and cleaner on Friday. Three turnovers (after zero giveaways in the first four games) and ten penalties were eyesores. After a brilliant goal line stand in the fourth quarter, the Cougars subbed backups on the next West Virginia possession and immediately gave up a long touchdown pass.

Plus, it rained.

But I like Tanuvasa’s point about counting success. BYU is 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12. There are some big games coming up and all of the Cougars goals are still in front of them.

It had been four weeks since BYU had played at home and a sellout crowd let them know it was good to have them back on Friday.

Having said all that, I might get a little bit critical with this next part.

Hey, it’s kind of my job.

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PROs).

PRO No. 1: The only reasons BYU’s defense has been special are linebackers Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker.

Are you ready to find out? Neither Kelly nor Glasker finished the game on Friday. Kelly left with what looks like a shoulder injury and Glasker didn’t play in the second half on defense, though he argued with coaches about how he wanted to play and was in on West Virginia’s onside kick attempt in the final minute. We don’t know yet the extent of Kelly’s issue or how long he’ll be out. Those two are generally considered future NFL linebackers by defensive coordinator Jay Hill and others. Heading into a tough stretch of games, BYU absolutely needs both guys healthy and in the lineup. The Cougars have some depth at linebacker but most of it untested. It’s been a little rougher sledding for the D lately. Two of West Virginia’s touchdowns were basically gift wrapped by bad turnovers from the offense and the third Mountaineers score was against mostly backups with the game well in hand.

PRO No. 2: BYU is a top 15 rushing offense so everything is fine.

Funny how stats lie. The Cougars went into Friday’s game as the No. 9 rushing offense in the country and finished with 167 yards. LJ Martin had 21 carries for 90 yards and two touchdowns. All of that seems healthy enough, right? But anyone who watched the game saw how difficult it was for Martin to find any room in the traditional run game. He had a 32-yard gain in the final minute, so if not for that, he had 20 carries for 58 yards (2.9 yards per carry). The hard truth is that the offensive line isn’t getting it done in run blocking. To be fair, opposing defenses are focused on stopping the run and that’s why Bachmeier threw for 351 yards on Friday. There’s a lot of stuff open when teams commit that much to the run. The question becomes: Can BYU get short-yardage or goal-line running yards against Texas Tech? Or Utah? Or Iowa State? Or Arizona next week? Work still needs to be done by TJ Woods and his boys.

PRO No. 3: Utah had a much better win against West Virginia then did BYU.

Ah, yes, comparison is the thief of joy, isn’t it? Utah thrashed the Mountaineers 48-14 a few weeks ago, leading 28-0 at half and up 35-0 early in the third quarter. BYU led WVU 28-10 at halftime with the only touchdown after a Cougar fumble inside their own 5-yard line. the Mountaineers managed more yards against the Utes (346) than BYU (291), including 261 on the ground (the Cougars only surrendered 156 rush yards).

It really doesn’t matter, but you know there were BYU fans at the game really wanting Kalani Sitake to go for a score on that last drive to make the score 45-24. Just sayin’.

And finally, PRO No. 4: BYU needs to win by a large margin next week at Arizona to keep momentum heading into the meat of the Big 12 schedule.

There is something to be said about style points in college football, but Sitake doesn’t believe in them so it’s really a non-starter as a conversation piece. I wish college football was more like the NFL, where a win counts as a win regardless of margin. You know that any team in the NFL can beat any other team on a given Sunday. I feel that way about the Big 12 for most games. Think about the expectation level when BYU was in the Western Athletic Conference, or the Mountain West Conference or most games as an independent. The Cougars were supposed to win every game and needed to do that to have any national recognition. It’s not that way in the Big 12 where anybody can beat you. Anybody seriously give Cincinnati a shot at beating No. 14 Iowa State? The Bearcats did it. All I’m saying is margin of victory is sexy but wins are more important. Get them how you can.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

Let’s give it to the roommates, wide receivers Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston. Both put up career highs in yards (161 for Roberts, 111 for Kingston). In the post-game, Kingston joked about Roberts needs to “unhitch the trailer” after he went 85 yards on a reception and was tackled just a few yards short of the end zone. As teams focus on the run game, Roberts against 1-on-1 coverage is something the Cougars need to attack. And Kingston taking a middle screen to the house was definitely a highlight.

A big loss

Jarom Jordan, the play-by-play announcer for BYU men’s volleyball, announced this week that his broadcast partner, Steve Vail, had passed away at the age of 55 due to cancer. Vail had been fighting the good fight for years. Jordan and Vail were the perfect pair for BYU men’s volleyball and had amazing chemistry after 16 years and more than 230 matches together. Vail played the typical surfer/beach volleyball dude but had a terrific understanding of the game as well and was extremely entertaining, his love of volleyball showing through with every moment.

He’ll be missed.

Key follower

Country music superstar Carrie Underwood followed me on “X” this week.

No, really, it’s her, I swear. A private account and everything.

What should I say?

Oh, wait. The account only has 182 followers. The “blue check” Carrie Underwood account has 7.8 million.

Now I’m confused.

Night work

While covering the Timpview at Orem football game last week, I heard something coming from an area behind a fence adjacent to the football field. It sounded like one of those giant riding lawnmowers. Turns out somebody at Orem decided the best time to mow that field was in the dark during the football game.

I wonder if he got overtime?

Doing the impossible

The BYU women’s volleyball team lost the first set on Wednesday at Cincinnati before coming back for a 3-1 victory at First Third Arena. Cougar freshman Suli Davis was terrific and finished with a career high 27 kills, hitting .333.

But let me tell you about Sydney Nolan, a 6-foot-4 junior for the Bearcats. Her stat line is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen.

Nolan had 25 kills on 52 swings without a single error. That means on 52 swings, she wasn’t blocked and didn’t hit a shot out of bounds or into the net.

That’s simply astounding.

That’s all for now, but for this: If James Bond is the most famous spy, wouldn’t that also make him the worst spy?

Have a terrific week and remember it doesn’t cost a thing to be kind to others.