Liberty huge receiver Noah Frith, proper, catches a cross as BYU’s D’angelo Mandell defends throughout an NCAA faculty soccer sport, Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in Lynchburg, Va. Paige Dingler/The Information & Advance through AP
LYNCHBURG, Va. — BYU’s protection was clearly damaged earlier than the Cougars entered Williams Stadium on Saturday afternoon to fulfill up with an impressed Liberty squad enjoying to meet a imaginative and prescient laid out some 50 years in the past by its founder, Rev. Jerry Falwell.
Now your entire BYU workforce seems damaged after a 41-14 loss through which coach Kalani Sitake stated the Cougars got here up quick in all three phases.
However the protection was particularly unhealthy, and for the second straight week. Liberty rushed for 300 yards, handed for 247 and transformed on 7 of 12 third-down alternatives.
“Clearly we have to make extra performs defensively and we want extra disruption general, deal with higher, shore up the run (protection). As soon as once more we gave up numerous run yards and many large performs. However we have to execute higher. I believed a simplified sport plan could be loads simpler for us to execute, and the factor is now the movie doesn’t lie.” — BYU soccer coach Kalani Sitake.
It was most likely BYU’s worst loss, and arguably its most embarrassing, since that 16-10 setback to UMass in 2017 in Provo.
“Yeah, yeah. Completely,” stated BYU defensive finish Tyler Batty, when requested if it was probably the most troublesome loss to soak up his three-year profession in Provo.
“It's robust. I feel now we have a tremendous workforce. We nonetheless have superb potential for the video games down the stretch. To not obtain expectations, our personal expectations, that sucks. That sucks. So yeah, very irritating.”
Head coach Kalani Sitake vowed to make adjustments after the protection gave up 644 yards and 12 of 15 on third down conversions to Arkansas final week. One noticeable change was that defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki was on the sphere, reasonably than within the press field.
One other was that Sitake known as the defensive performs, he acknowledged afterward. Nothing labored.
“We simplified the sport plan, tried to concentrate on execution. I'm not certain if we executed effectively sufficient. I must watch the movie slightly extra and see the place the breakdowns had been,” Sitake stated.
That’s going to be a protracted film. There have been dozens.
“Clearly we have to make extra performs defensively and we want extra disruption general, deal with higher, shore up the run (protection),” Sitake stated.
“As soon as once more we gave up numerous run yards and many large performs, however we have to execute higher. I believed a simplified sport plan could be loads simpler for us to execute, and the factor is now the movie doesn’t lie. We gotta return and test it out and see why the explanation was we didn’t execute and the place is the fault.”
One evident weak spot is tackling; one other is that working backs and quarterbacks seemingly get to the perimeters on the Cougars at will. BYU merely doesn’t seal the perimeters effectively.
“I do know they bounced numerous the runs (exterior) and I'd be involved if we didn’t have any our bodies on the market to make the tackles, however I really feel like we had our bodies on the market to make the performs,” Sitake stated.
Beginning rover linebacker Payton Wilgar and beginning free security Malik Moore didn’t play, as anticipated. There was a shock, although. Former four-star recruit Chaz Ah You performed for the primary time this season and recorded one deal with.
“I'm going to maintain working the protection and specializing in getting the protection higher and executing higher, in order that’s going to be my focus,” Sitake stated, when requested if there might be extra teaching adjustments.
“I'm going to ask the fellows to teach their positions higher and maintain everybody accountable, and that's to carry one another accountable. I sit up for seeing who desires to come back out of this mess, however it's a straightforward filter for me, see who desires to affix the combat and who desires to not be part of it. We'll get by way of it.”
Keenan Pili and Micah Harper led the Cougars with eight tackles apiece. Max Tooley and Batty had seven takedowns every.
“I feel simply us as gamers, now we have to be higher, and now we have to come back out and make performs. None of our coaches are on the sphere, proper?” Batty stated.
“None of them can go make tackles or a catch or run the ball, so for us, now we have to be higher as gamers.”
Clearly, BYU’s model — the one which brought on Liberty coach Hugh Freeze to proclaim the Cougars’ go to to Lynchburg crucial residence sport in Liberty program historical past — has taken a giant hit the previous few weeks because the shedding skid has reached three video games.
Batty isn’t certain.
“I feel our model is who now we have been, and who we're at present. This wasn’t our model of soccer,” Batty stated.
“And that’s what's irritating, and as we work to get again to that, after all we're going to see extra success as a result of our model of soccer is a really profitable model of soccer.”
However proper now that model is damaged — particularly on protection.