BYU Preview
1 year 4 months ago #385
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BYU Preview was created by wvu4u2
Editor’s note: This is the ninth installment of a 12-part series previewing West Virginia’s football opponents for the 2023 season.
MORGANTOWN — Kalani Sitake joked that he turned to veteran college quarterback Kedon Slovis for advice before he took the stage at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for his turn to speak at the Big 12 media days last month.
Slovis had experience in those settings while playing quarterback at the Power Five level in the ACC with Pitt and the Pac-12 with USC, but Sitake was in the position for the first time as BYU’s head coach.
“I just want to take this time in my statement to express my gratitude and appreciation for being here at media days,” Sitake said. “This is a lot of fun.
“Being an independent [college football program], I wasn’t able to experience this as a head coach, so this is my first time. I was actually getting some pointers and some tips from Kedon Slovis. He’s been through more media days than I have.”
BYU is now preparing for its first season in the Big 12 after spending the last dozen years playing as an independent. The Cougars’ schedule includes a Nov. 4 game against West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Cougars have been one of the top programs in the nation playing as an independent. They finished the era with a 99-56 record, and those 99 wins are tied for 15th most in college football during that time frame. They’re coming into the league with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — newcomers from the AAC.
The 2023 season will be the eighth for Sitake as BYU’s head coach. He’s gone 56-34 overall during that time, including 29-9 over the last three seasons. BYU went 8-5 last fall, beating the only Big 12 team it played — a 26-20 double-overtime win over Baylor — and claiming the New Mexico Bowl with a 24-23 win over SMU.
For Sitake, a three-year starter at fullback at BYU who also worked in Provo, Utah, as a graduate assistant early in his career, leading the program to the Big 12 has been special, and he’s excited for the league to see the Cougars.
“This isn’t going to be easy, and we know that,” Sitake said. “That’s why independents, I told [athletic director] Tom [Holmoe], find as many as you can that people don’t want to play; I want to play them all, with the thought that possibly this could be the goal.
“Now that we’re here, there’s a high sense of urgency for us to get ready to go, and I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made as a team in the last couple years, and there’s some really cool lessons that we’ve been able to learn about our skills but also the deficiencies that we probably have meeting some of those P5 teams that we’ve played in the past five years.”
BYU ranked 36th nationally in total offense last season with 426.3 yards per game and tied for 44th in scoring at 31.3 points per game with Jaren Hall at quarterback. Hall is now in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, and Slovis was brought in to lead the offense.
Slovis has played in 38 games with 37 starts over four years with USC and Pitt. He’s thrown for nearly 10,000 yards and has 68 career touchdown passes. He threw for 308 yards and a touchdown on 16 of 24 passing in Pitt’s 38-31 Backyard Brawl win over WVU in last year’s season opener at Acrisure Stadium.
“I think the high level of experience at that quarterback position — I know a lot goes to what he’s done on the football field, but the things that I’ve been impressed with Kedon is the stuff he does off the field, the connection he has to his teammates, to his coaches, to our fans,” Sitake said. “I’ve been impressed with that.
“I think that’s going to help take him to another level of playing. I want to make sure we give him a comfortable pocket, but I know if it’s not too comfortable he can find ways to extend the plays and hopefully find success. There’s a lot of things that he brings to the table with his leadership and with the experience that we’re going to lean on heavily.”
BYU lost top rusher Christopher Brooks, who ran for over 800 yards last year, but brought in junior UNLV transfer Aidan Robbins, who rushed for 1,011 yards and nine scores in 2022.
The Cougars will be without 2022 top receiver Puka Nacua, but return several playmakers, like Kody Epps and Keanu Hill, who combined for 13 touchdown receptions last year, and brought in a pair of transfer wideouts in Darius Lassiter from Eastern Washington and Keelan Marion from UConn. BYU’s transfer portal class ranked No. 21 by 247Sports.
The Cougars hired Jay Hill to coordinate the defense, after allowing 29.5 points and 408.1 yards per game in 2022. He comes to BYU after serving as the head coach at Weber State from 2014-22, where he made the program one of the strongest in the FCS.
Hill worked with Sitake previously at Utah.
“We speak the same language when it comes to defensive-minded football,” Sitake said. “He’s my friend, so I’ve watched him in his career. He’s taken Weber State to become an FCS powerhouse, and he’s done it in a lot of different ways, developing his players and coaching them hard but also loving them.
“Everything that he’s about fits right in with what we’re trying to get done and the culture of BYU.”
The Cougars were picked 11th of the 14 teams in the Big 12 football media preseason poll, ahead of Houston, Cincinnati and WVU.
BYU’s Nov. 4 game will mark the program’s first trip to Morgantown. The Mountaineers claimed a 35-32 victory over the Cougars in Landover, Maryland, in 2016 in the only meeting between the two programs.
Kickoff time and broadcast information for the Nov. 4 meeting have not yet been announced.
Jared MacDonald covers WVU athletics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow @JMacDonaldSport on Twitter.
MORGANTOWN — Kalani Sitake joked that he turned to veteran college quarterback Kedon Slovis for advice before he took the stage at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, for his turn to speak at the Big 12 media days last month.
Slovis had experience in those settings while playing quarterback at the Power Five level in the ACC with Pitt and the Pac-12 with USC, but Sitake was in the position for the first time as BYU’s head coach.
“I just want to take this time in my statement to express my gratitude and appreciation for being here at media days,” Sitake said. “This is a lot of fun.
“Being an independent [college football program], I wasn’t able to experience this as a head coach, so this is my first time. I was actually getting some pointers and some tips from Kedon Slovis. He’s been through more media days than I have.”
BYU is now preparing for its first season in the Big 12 after spending the last dozen years playing as an independent. The Cougars’ schedule includes a Nov. 4 game against West Virginia at Milan Puskar Stadium.
The Cougars have been one of the top programs in the nation playing as an independent. They finished the era with a 99-56 record, and those 99 wins are tied for 15th most in college football during that time frame. They’re coming into the league with Cincinnati, Houston and UCF — newcomers from the AAC.
The 2023 season will be the eighth for Sitake as BYU’s head coach. He’s gone 56-34 overall during that time, including 29-9 over the last three seasons. BYU went 8-5 last fall, beating the only Big 12 team it played — a 26-20 double-overtime win over Baylor — and claiming the New Mexico Bowl with a 24-23 win over SMU.
For Sitake, a three-year starter at fullback at BYU who also worked in Provo, Utah, as a graduate assistant early in his career, leading the program to the Big 12 has been special, and he’s excited for the league to see the Cougars.
“This isn’t going to be easy, and we know that,” Sitake said. “That’s why independents, I told [athletic director] Tom [Holmoe], find as many as you can that people don’t want to play; I want to play them all, with the thought that possibly this could be the goal.
“Now that we’re here, there’s a high sense of urgency for us to get ready to go, and I feel really good about the progress that we’ve made as a team in the last couple years, and there’s some really cool lessons that we’ve been able to learn about our skills but also the deficiencies that we probably have meeting some of those P5 teams that we’ve played in the past five years.”
BYU ranked 36th nationally in total offense last season with 426.3 yards per game and tied for 44th in scoring at 31.3 points per game with Jaren Hall at quarterback. Hall is now in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings, and Slovis was brought in to lead the offense.
Slovis has played in 38 games with 37 starts over four years with USC and Pitt. He’s thrown for nearly 10,000 yards and has 68 career touchdown passes. He threw for 308 yards and a touchdown on 16 of 24 passing in Pitt’s 38-31 Backyard Brawl win over WVU in last year’s season opener at Acrisure Stadium.
“I think the high level of experience at that quarterback position — I know a lot goes to what he’s done on the football field, but the things that I’ve been impressed with Kedon is the stuff he does off the field, the connection he has to his teammates, to his coaches, to our fans,” Sitake said. “I’ve been impressed with that.
“I think that’s going to help take him to another level of playing. I want to make sure we give him a comfortable pocket, but I know if it’s not too comfortable he can find ways to extend the plays and hopefully find success. There’s a lot of things that he brings to the table with his leadership and with the experience that we’re going to lean on heavily.”
BYU lost top rusher Christopher Brooks, who ran for over 800 yards last year, but brought in junior UNLV transfer Aidan Robbins, who rushed for 1,011 yards and nine scores in 2022.
The Cougars will be without 2022 top receiver Puka Nacua, but return several playmakers, like Kody Epps and Keanu Hill, who combined for 13 touchdown receptions last year, and brought in a pair of transfer wideouts in Darius Lassiter from Eastern Washington and Keelan Marion from UConn. BYU’s transfer portal class ranked No. 21 by 247Sports.
The Cougars hired Jay Hill to coordinate the defense, after allowing 29.5 points and 408.1 yards per game in 2022. He comes to BYU after serving as the head coach at Weber State from 2014-22, where he made the program one of the strongest in the FCS.
Hill worked with Sitake previously at Utah.
“We speak the same language when it comes to defensive-minded football,” Sitake said. “He’s my friend, so I’ve watched him in his career. He’s taken Weber State to become an FCS powerhouse, and he’s done it in a lot of different ways, developing his players and coaching them hard but also loving them.
“Everything that he’s about fits right in with what we’re trying to get done and the culture of BYU.”
The Cougars were picked 11th of the 14 teams in the Big 12 football media preseason poll, ahead of Houston, Cincinnati and WVU.
BYU’s Nov. 4 game will mark the program’s first trip to Morgantown. The Mountaineers claimed a 35-32 victory over the Cougars in Landover, Maryland, in 2016 in the only meeting between the two programs.
Kickoff time and broadcast information for the Nov. 4 meeting have not yet been announced.
Jared MacDonald covers WVU athletics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow @JMacDonaldSport on Twitter.
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