West Virginia looms but opportunity awaits
Humbled after a loss to No. 7-ranked Texas in Austin, BYU will take its 5-3 record all the way to Morgantown, West Virginia, this week. Early on, word out of the Cougars camp is that coaches, staff and players remain resilient, hopeful and determined to get a sixth win and qualify for a bowl game. If there is sniping and finger pointing, it is buried in the background. In fact, in this piece by Jay Drew, he chronicles how determined the BYU football team is to fight through issues.
What are the issues? In this tweet from Greg Wrubell, here’s the good and bad:
BYU top-25 FBS stats:
3rd TOs gained
5th passes intercepted
8th TO margin
10th fewest penalty yds/gm
13th red zone defense
16th fourth down defense
19th fewest penalties/gm
24th net punting
--
BYU bottom-25 FBS stats:
107th third down defense
122nd first downs/gm
122nd team…— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) October 29, 2023
Cougar Insider predictions
Question of the week: West Virginia has turned its football trajectory around and this places even more importance on BYU’s road trip to Morgantown this weekend. A road win against the Mountaineers would be very difficult to pull off, but what does BYU need to do in order to have a chance at a win and bowl eligibility this week?
Jay Drew: First and foremost the Cougars must take care of the football if they hope to succeed at West Virginia. This team is too fragile, and has too hard of a time scoring, to give up anything easy.
They also need to avoid a start like the ones they’ve had in all three of their road losses. West Virginia’s crowd will be in party mode, and nothing fuels that like an early lead from the home team.
Finally, BYU’s offense has got to sustain some drives, and perform better on first and second down so Kedon Slovis doesn’t have to try to work miracles on third down. An improved running game would help, but that might not be in the works with freshman LJ Martin perhaps not ready to play. Whatever the case, the Cougars face a tall task in their first-ever game in Morgantown.
I’m not expecting much after having watched this team’s struggles on offense in Austin last week.
Prediction: West Virginia 38, BYU 17
Dick Harmon: The good news for BYU is the Cougars offensive line won’t be facing an elite defensive front like it did last week in Austin. The bad news is West Virginia doesn’t have to field an elite D-front to stop a struggling BYU run game and offense. This is especially true if BYU gifts W.Va. first-quarter points like it has in three conference losses.
Unless there is major improvement in BYU’s run attack and successes on first and second down, we’ll continue to see Kedon Slovis in positions where he’ll need to be perfect. BYU’s offense will need to be efficient, productive and without turnovers if there is any chance on this road trip, which will be the longest trip of the year for the Cougars.
I’d like to see Isaac Rex targeted more in this game, which would force safety help and perhaps open up things for the receivers. I think BYU’s defense will account for itself well enough for a win — the challenge is BYU’s wobbly offense that is prone to big giveaways on the road early.
Prediction: West Virginia 31, BYU 24
Cougar tales
BYU’s women’s soccer team notched a 6-0 win over No. 10 Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament, advancing easily. In football, BYU added targeted ACC member SMU and Weber State to future schedules. Over the weekend, three former BYU quarterbacks threw passes in the NFL, including Zach Wilson, Jaren Hall and Taysom Hill.
In Austin, BYU’s football team gave up points early and late in losing to No. 7 Texas. Here are some of our stories on the loss:
Texas whips past BYU still plagued with offensive woes (Dick Harmon)
Season-long issues catch up with Cougars in Texas (Jay Drew)
Coaches sticking with Slovis after another inconsistent game (Jay Drew)
From the archives
https://www.deseret.com/2023/10/29/23928820/what-byu-football-needs-to-do-to-in-november
From the X-verse
Defense did enough to beat Texas (@957Hans)
Struggles to gain 300 yards is historic (@BYUstatsMAN)
What do you know about BYU, WV? (@BYUSportsNation)
Extra Points
BYU’s got a half-full, half-empty glass right now (Deseret News)
Rockwood reaches milestone heading to Big 12 postseason (KSL Sports)
Is Taysom Hill equivalent of Tush Push? Mates say yes (Deseret News)
Fanalyst
Comments from Deseret News readers:
Have defense and special teams win one more game and get to a bowl. Realistically, that’s all there is to play for this season. Exceeded expectations and made the ankle-biters mad, all that was great, but just get to a bowl and plan to improve the offense next year.
Oh, give another QB a chance.
— RR
I think the most important factor for BYU has been the offensive line play. If you can’t block, you can’t run the football. If you can’t protect the QB long enough, you can’t get receivers open, and the QB will be rushed into throws where incomplete passes are more likely and so are interceptions. During the offseason, I thought the most important team changes from the transfer portal were the losses on the offensive line. The loss of excellent blocking coaches like Mateos and Grimes have continued to be manifest. If BYU wants to fix things, it starts with the O-line!
— Cougnizant
Cougs ... we are doing a good job grinding through the season. We will finish with a better record than anyone that matters thought we would. Keep up the good work. Win one more and we will be bowl eligible. That’s a good first season in the Big 12. We have a lot to build upon and a lot reason for optimism. Thank you!
— Mustafa
Up next
Nov. 1 | All Day | Men’s, women’s tennis | ITA National Fall Championships | @ San Diego
Nov. 1 | 3 p.m. | Women’s basketball | Westminster | @ Provo
Nov. 1 | 6 p.m. | Women’s soccer | UCF | @ Round Rock, Texas
Nov. 1 | 7 p.m. | Men’s basketball | Life Pacific | @ Provo
Nov. 4 | 5 p.m. | Football | West Virginia | @ Morgantown, West Virginia
Nov. 4 | 7 p.m. | Women’s volleyball | Cincinnati | @ Provo
