What kind of defensive role will Kalani Sitake take when Cougars face Liberty?

byDuc Manh •
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BYU coach Kalani Sitake, left, stands on the sideline as his team plays the Arkansas Razorbacks in Provo, Oct. 15, 2022.

BYU coach Kalani Sitake, left, stands on the sideline as his staff performs Arkansas in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. The Razorbacks dropped 52 factors on the Cougars’ protection.

Ben B. Braun, Deseret Information

This text was first revealed within the Cougar Insiders publication. Signal as much as obtain the publication in your inbox every Tuesday evening.

BYU will play its eighth sport in a row when the 4-3 Cougars journey to Lynchburg, Virginia, to play the 6-1 Liberty Flames on Saturday. Head coach Kalani Sitake is working laborious to see that he has a a lot better protection on this journey.

After a disappointing loss to Arkansas through which the protection struggled in opposition to the SEC staff, Sitake labored earlier this week to shore up the boldness of his protection. A part of the plan was to step in and take a much bigger position himself and shake up some assignments along with his workers. On Monday, he wouldn't element what modifications he would make to the media.

Cougar Insiders predictions

Predict the rating of BYU vs. Liberty and clarify your reasoning.

Jay Drew: At first look, this could look like the lure sport of all lure video games for the Cougars. However as a result of BYU has misplaced two straight video games, the Cougars can’t afford to look previous anyone, and so they comprehend it. 

The whole program is present process an intense self-evaluation this week after the Arkansas catastrophe, and feelings are excessive in Provo. For that motive, I feel BYU will give you certainly one of its greatest video games of the season on Saturday in faraway Lynchburg, Virginia.

I additionally know that that is Liberty’s Tremendous Bowl. The Flames and their former SEC coach Hugh Freeze aren’t hiding that truth. They've been getting ready for this sport for years — ever since virtually knocking off BYU in Provo in 2019. Liberty is de facto able to getting the win, and I wouldn’t even think about it a giant upset if the Flames pull it off. Freeze is a big-time coach and so they’ve obtained some big-time gamers. And BYU’s confidence is shaken, notably on protection. The important thing for BYU is a quick begin to hold Liberty’s crowd from turning into an element. 

Prediction: BYU 35, Liberty 31

Dick Harmon: I assumed BYU ought to have beat Notre Dame however I underestimated the impression of Jaren Corridor’s damage and the well-hidden information that he didn’t take a snap in apply that week. Arkansas was a three-point sport twice within the third quarter till the dam broke. I search for Kalani Sitake to have a much bigger position within the protection this week and inject some confidence into his gamers. This can be a rally week and a wake-up name for this system and I count on some outcomes.

Liberty virtually beat Wake Forest and is to be taken significantly. The Flames have a fantastic protection and lead the nation in getting turnovers. I feel Corridor is getting more healthy each week and the return of a 100% Puka Nacua and the emergence of Kody Epps will assist. That BYU had two 75-yard scoring drives on Arkansas within the third quarter buoys up hope in Corridor and his facet of the ball. In an effort to win this sport, BYU’s offense must execute at its greatest, put up factors and construct a lead to assist its ailing protection. If the offense can try this, and I consider it may, then this can be a key, wanted win. 

Prediction: BYU 34, Liberty 31

Cougar tales

The Arkansas loss ended BYU’s unbiased schedule with P5 colleges aside from the season-ending sport at Stanford. If something, the losses to Oregon, Notre Dame and Arkansas uncovered how far BYU must go to be aggressive within the Massive 12. Here's a checklist of tales from the Arkansas loss and Monday’s media availability.

  • Arkansas finds BYU defenseless (Dick Harmon)
  • Hogs go wild in Provo (Jay Drew)
  • Sitake: All choices are on the desk (Jay Drew)
  • What's the treatment for BYU’s ailing D? (Jay Drew)
  • What Arkansas followers mentioned about Provo (Brandon Judd)
  • Liberty coach Freeze dishes on Cougs (Jay Drew)

From the archives

From the Twitterverse

Further factors

Fanalyst

Feedback from Deseret Information readers:

Dropping 8 dashing 3 means he’s clueless as a result of he hasn’t obtained the horses to hurry 3 and put stress on a QB or cease the run. Arkansas would have run for 8-9 yards a carry, however wait, they did that anyway. The issue was the Titanic syndrome, when you hit the iceberg you retain counting on the ship’s design that it's unsinkable and subsequently hold neglecting to do something completely different to repair the issue. Offense and protection was locked right into a plan and couldn’t modify. There wasn’t sufficient depth in teaching data and expertise to make changes on the fly. BYU can be 2-10 subsequent 12 months with this type a expertise in teaching.

— Dimitri

I’m not a coach, however I've a number of a long time of soccer officiating. My place was the umpire. I stood behind the defensive position and linebackers.

I’ve seen good defenses, nice defenses and awful defenses.

The good ones, confirmed completely different appears, stunted rather a lot and blitzed rather a lot. Creativity was a key. Being proactive as an alternative of reactive was key. Having energetic defensive linemen was key.

I noticed a child that was a nostril guard from Grantsville, couldn’t have weighed greater than 150 kilos taking up a middle and guards that outweighed him by at the very least 60 to 70 kilos. He labored inside the defensive scheme and did fairly nicely. Acquired pushed round just a few instances however made a number of tackles and even sacked the QB twice. Somebody taught him nicely.

From my commentary, BYU’s protection is neither proactive nor inventive. They're reactive. They put no stress on the QBs. They’ve had 7sacks in 7 video games and missed one on a important third down play ... 4 gamers obtained hands-on and didn’t make the deal with.

One thing is mistaken. Expertise is relative. You possibly can coach up a lesser expertise. Edwards did it his entire profession and had nice defenses. This 12 months’s staff has had some nice stops, however not sufficient.

— Flashback

Up subsequent

Oct. 19 | 8 a.m. | Males’s golf | TPC | Parker, Colorado

Oct. 19 | 4 p.m. | Soccer | vs. Pepperdine | @Malibu, California

Oct. 21 | 8 p.m. | Girls’s volleyball | @San Diego, California

Oct. 22 | 1:30 p.m. | Soccer | Liberty | @Lynchburg, Virginia

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