Offense and defensive struggles

[Ungoy]

BYU's offense does look better than it has in a while. However, after the past 3 years, that really isn't saying much. The offense does a decent job of moving the ball, until they get across the 50 yard line, then mistakes pile up. Bad play calls, poorly executed plays, and untimely penalties stall BYU more often that they should. This season, BYU's done the following after crossing the opponent's 40 yard line:

10 field goals
1 missed field goal
9 touchdowns
4 turnovers on downs.

The fact that we've attempted 11 field goals and only made 9 touchdowns is concerning. Jake Oldroyd is a stud, and I'm glad we have a kid that can nail a 54 yard field goal. However, we're settling for 3 points far too often when we should be scoring TD's. If BYU wans to win games, they need to start turning field goals into touchdowns. I'd much rather see Oldroyd out there kicking PAT's than long field goals.

I like Grimes, and I think he's improving, but play calling needs to improve. The players need to execute better. Zach needs to make better choices on RPO, or Grimes needs to limit RPO calls. Hopefully Grimes can improve and bring us a proficient offense.

Now for defense. In most cases, it's fairly atrocious. Tuiaki was exposed yesterday, like he has been over and over and over since 2016. The vanilla defense, 3 man front soft zone they play does not work with patient accurate passers. Add to that undisciplined play, such as having way too many PF penalties, soft tackling, a complete lack of a pass rush, and it creates a recipe for a really long day. To add insult to injury, the defensive coaches make few if any in game adjustments. I'm not saying we should blitz every play, but they need to do something to shake things up, and keep the offense guessing as to what they're going to do. BYU's getting picked apart, and to make matters worse, they can't stop the run worth a crap. Each team BYU has faced, has rushed for over 170 yards.

Utah - 282 yards
Tennessee - 242 yards
USC - 171 yards
Washington - 187 yards

Through the air, BYU has allowed 80 completed passes out of 108 attempts for a 74% completion rate. They've allowed 909 yards through the air this far this season, mostly against very average QB's.

BYU can't stop the pass, and they can't stop the run. That's a recipe for disaster.

Folks... This defense is not good. It just plain isn't.

BYU fired Detmer for poor offensive coaching. It's time to cut Tuiaki loose. H's not getting the job done.

BYU needs to make improvements and soon, otherwise before too long, Sitake will be 1-11 against Utah, USU and BSU. Should that happen, BYU should look for a new head coach that is more of a coach, and less of a buddy to the players.

[Ungoy]

Another point of concern... BYU has not won the time of possession battle in any game this season.

Utah - 35:58 24:02
Tenn - 33:59 26:01
USC - 32:32 27:28
Wash - 34:30 25:30

This again is indicative, of BYU's offense not being able to sustain and finish drives, and the defenses inability to get the opposing offense off the field.

[KingCoug]

Ongoing sloppy and undisciplined play is a real problem and indicative of...wait for it...poor coaching. To say nothing of when the team has simply just given up and laid down to their opponent.

I never had a problem with Bronco harping on "execution." Superior preparation, scheme, and execution is how a team like BYU is going to beat athletically superior teams. It just gets frustrating when we continually fail to see it.

[Gunk]

We're sloppy and make poor decisions.

For someone that watches so much game film, Wilson keeps making poor decisions.

[KingCoug]

We're sloppy and make poor decisions.

For someone that watches so much game film, Wilson keeps making poor decisions.

Not unlike Taysom Hill, Wilson can get by to a certain extent on natural talent. Unfortunately, like Hill, I think Wilson is in danger of not being developed fully, and reaching his potential, due to lack of coaching.

[frdbtr]

Exactly what I have been saying since 2016. The defense is not physical enough, is not creative enough and is not confusing to offenses at all. BYU is 2-2 right now and I expect at least 1 loss to either usu or BSU if not to both of them. Toledo is no slouch either. If BYU ends up 6-6 again and Holmoe figures that is good enough for a contract extension for Sitake, I may have to switch to watching my second favorite team until this joke gets fixed. (the Huskies).

[mtnradio]

I agree with a lot of what has been said ... but I"m also not as negative as you guys seem right now.
In my mind BYU has two more wins than I had anticipated at this point ... that's a huge plus. Looking at the play of the 4 games it is impossible for me to get a feel of whether this team will win 6, 8, or 9 games this year ... they had much more resilience against TN and USC than I had expected. They laid down and died against U and UW ... it almost felt like the mercy rule should be invoked!
The biggest problem is that the losses are embarrassing ...
Defensive coaching is a problem ... but I don't see KS letting Tuiaki go. And I don't see him being a Bronco and taking over the D and forcing some changes. And that is a big problem.

I see USU and BSU as big problems ... but Toledo first. I don't have much confidence in this team going to this game, but it IS on the road, so we do have that

[BroncoBot]

mtnradio, I don't know that Sitake taking over the defense would make much difference.

[mtnradio]

mtnradio, I don't know that Sitake taking over the defense would make much difference.

I don't know if it would either ... BUT he was D coordinator at Utah and OSU before coming to BYU. At Utah he had a good defense (KWhit driven, probably) ... not so much at OSU

But, really, could we get much more plain?

[Ungoy]

I continue to wonder how much of Utah's good defense was Sitake, and how much was Whitt.