Liberty operating again Dae Dae Hunter carries in opposition to BYU throughout an NCAA school soccer recreation Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Lynchburg, Va. Paige Dingler/The Information & Advance by way of AP
Six weeks after BYU’s crowd stormed the sphere to have a good time a hard-fought win over Baylor, and three weeks after the Cougars reached their fourth win by defeating Utah State, bowl eligibility is instantly the one sensible purpose left for coach Kalani Sitake’s shaken staff.
The Cougars, who dropped to 4-4 with Saturday’s disheartening 41-14 loss at Liberty (which additionally featured a crowd-storming), have to win two of their closing 4 regular-season video games to turn into eligible for a bowl. However that's removed from a straightforward process for a staff that has misplaced three straight video games and has regarded progressively worse in every of them.
Reeling BYU performs host to 5-3 East Carolina, which has gained two straight video games and three of its final 4 and is coming off a 34-13 thrashing of Large 12-bound UCF, on Friday at 6 p.m. MDT at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
“I look ahead to seeing who desires to return out of this mess. It's a straightforward filter for me, (to) see who desires to hitch the struggle and who desires to not be part of it. We are going to get by it.” — BYU soccer coach Kalani Sitake
After internet hosting the recent Pirates, BYU performs at 5-2 Boise State, hosts FCS Utah Tech (1-6) after which performs at 3-4 Stanford, which defeated Notre Dame and Arizona State in its final two video games.
The Cougars opened as a 3-point favourite over ECU, maybe the final time this season BYU will probably be favored in opposition to a fellow FBS opponent. In different phrases, a case could possibly be made that BYU’s bowl eligibility is on the road Friday in Provo.
Nonetheless, bowl eligibility proper now could be the least of head coach Kalani Sitake’s speedy considerations. The Cougars are in a tailspin, a free-fall they haven’t skilled for the reason that 2019 season after they dropped three straight video games to Washington, Toledo and South Florida.
The explanations for the backslide are many and varied, and have been totally mentioned right here and elsewhere for almost a month. Keep in mind that 26-20 win over Baylor in double-overtime when the Cougars missed two area targets and kicking woes seemed to be BYU’s greatest downside?
Sitake would commerce what he has on his fingers now for that in a heartbeat.
“I look ahead to seeing who desires to return out of this mess,” he mentioned Saturday in Lynchburg, Virginia, after confirming that he's calling the defensive performs now and saying he'll maintain everybody accountable to enhance, and ask gamers to carry one another accountable.
“It's a straightforward filter for me, (to) see who desires to hitch the struggle and who desires to not be part of it. We are going to get by it,” he mentioned, defiantly.
With BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe viewing Sitake’s postgame information convention exterior the Cougars’ somber locker room, Sitake acknowledged “quite a bit wants fixing.” A leaky protection was added to the record of issues weeks in the past, and on Saturday afternoon the offense joined in after the Cougars have been shut out within the second half and mustered simply 258 yards — on simply 50 performs — in opposition to the Flames.
The place does he go from right here?
“I've been by stuff earlier than, so I wish to lean (into) the difficulties and I do know that individuals have considerations and every part,” he mentioned. “However I do know one factor I can do is struggle. I'm all about preventing by stuff. So again me in a nook and discover out. That’s the place we're at proper now. So issues are going to get actually robust in our program. That’s how it will need to be. I look ahead to seeing the staff that can emerge from all of this.”
Quarterback Jaren Corridor, who struggled within the second half to hit open receivers, typically throwing passes excessive or late, mentioned receiver Puka Nacua gave an impassioned speech within the locker room after the loss and urged his teammates to look inside themselves for solutions.
“We have now been on this scenario for a few weeks,” Corridor mentioned. “Issues haven't gotten higher, so it's a matter of staying collectively. We are able to’t collapse now. That is the time we want one another essentially the most.”
Sitake mentioned he preferred what he noticed within the locker room quite a bit higher than what he noticed on the sphere.
“Gamers talking up and main and calling one another out and holding one another accountable … goes to be actually good (for us),” Sitake mentioned. “We'd like that shifting ahead from right here on out. We'd like our gamers to step up and take possession of every part and for coaches to do it, too.”
Sitake acknowledged that receiver Kody Epps received banged up once more and wasn’t in a position to end the sport.
“In direction of the top, we needed to make some selections. We put in our backups the final couple drives,” Sitake mentioned. “We needed to maintain guys prepared for subsequent week.”
As a result of subsequent week may determine if the Cougars go bowling or not.
Cougars on the air
East Carolina (5-3) at BYU (4-4)
Friday, 6 p.m. MDT
LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM