A little more than eight months ago, BYU’s first season in the Big 12 ended with a heartbreaking 40-34 double-overtime loss in the pouring rain at No. 21 Oklahoma State, a loss that extended the Cougars’ losing streak to five and produced some doubts about whether coach Kalani Sitake’s program could compete in a Power Five conference.
The critics and doubters came out in force, claiming BYU was years away from contending for a Big 12 title.
Through it all, Sitake remained resolute, yet bolstered by a belief that the last two games of the season showed they weren’t that far from respectability.
“I would be completely nervous if we were completely overwhelmed from last year,” Sitake said at Big 12 football media days on July 10. “I know everybody looks at the record (5-7), but we had flashes where we could compete.”
The coach, who is entering his ninth season at the helm in Provo, also said he was “tired of talking about it” and eager to get back on the field and show that the Cougars belong — especially now that longtime rival Utah is in the conference, along with former Pac-12 mates Colorado, Arizona and Arizona State.
Las Vegas oddsmakers are predicting they will only win four or five games, media members who cover the Big 12 have picked them to finish 13th in the now 16-team conference, and ESPN’s College Football Power Index has them as the No. 73 team in the country.
How can BYU improve in Year 2 in the Big 12?
“Consistency is the key,” Sitake said. “After watching everything that happened last year, that’s the issue for us. There were moments when we competed. How can we do it consistently, from the first game to the last, from the first quarter to the fourth? That’s my job as a head coach. I can tell you that the learning process from Year 1 to Year 2 has naturally already happened.”
Camp begins Wednesday
Talking season, and one of the longest offseason periods in recent memory, ends this week. It is time for practice/playing season, a start that receiver Chase Roberts said can’t get here soon enough.
“Everybody in this program wants to get that bad taste out of our mouths,” he said.
The Cougars open 2024 preseason training camp with a lot to prove — and not many believers in their corner. Players were scheduled to report to campus on Tuesday — almost all of them have been in Provo the past eight weeks — and the first practice will be held Wednesday.
The program was seemingly on an upward trajectory until last year, having won 29 of its previous 38 games before the 2023 season happened. Can Sitake right the ship? If he can’t, what will be the consequences?
BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe gave Sitake a vote of confidence at football media days, but Sitake knows this is a “bottom-line business,” he said in Las Vegas. And the bottom line is wins.
The opener is Aug. 31 at LaVell Edwards Stadium against FCS Southern Illinois; then the Cougars hit the road for two huge nonconference affairs — Sept. 6 (Friday) at SMU and Sept. 14 at former conference rival Wyoming.
Their Big 12 opener is Sept. 21 against Kansas State in Provo.
Five storylines to follow through training camp
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-to-high 90s this week in Provo and throughout August, so the heat is on — in more ways than one.
Here are five compelling storylines to watch as the month unfolds.
Closest starting quarterback derby in years
OK, there’s no use burying this one at the bottom of this story: In my 17 years of covering BYU sports, I can’t remember a closer starting quarterback derby entering preseason training camp than this year. Maybe 2010, when freshman Jake Heaps and Utah State transfer Riley Nelson battled, only for offensive coordinator Robert Anae to basically declare it a tie and say they would rotate quarterbacks until a starter emerged.
Turns out that was Heaps, but only because Nelson sustained a season-ending shoulder injury before September had ended.
Of course, the battle this month will be between incumbent Jake Retzlaff — who started BYU’s final four games in 2023, all losses — and transfer Gerry Bohanon, who hasn’t played in a game since 2022. I’m on record as saying, and writing, that Retzlaff will win the job. I just think he’s the safer pick, knows the offense a little bit better, and enters with more momentum because of the way he protected the football, yet still moved the team, in spring camp.
Perhaps the more intriguing question is when offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick will name the starter. My guess is that he will inform the team after a couple of weeks, but won’t announce anything publicly until game week. Roderick said Retzlaff and Bohanon were “neck-and-neck” coming out of spring camp, and that the starter will be one of those two.
However, in every interview I’ve heard since then, he has mentioned two other quarterbacks — Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet and Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead — who both have quality playing experience. Don’t be surprised if one, or both, of those guys see some action this season, particularly in November.
“I can’t tell you a deadline…
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