Analysis: BYU’s second Big 12 football schedule should be more manageable than its first

Fans in the student section hold up a BYU banner during a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022. | Ben B. Braun, Deseret News

Once the initial shock of having the renewal of the BYU-Utah rivalry the second weekend of November, rather than the last, wears off, there’s a lot to like about the Cougars’ 2024 Big 12 football schedule for BYU fans.

In short, it should be more manageable than their first Big 12 schedule, thanks to bye weekends that come after the fifth and eighth games in what BYU is calling its 100th season of college football.

Of course, BYU’s first season in the Big 12 was mostly forgettable for the Cougs, as they went 2-7 and finished the year on a five-game losing skid. It was the “11th-toughest in the Sagarin schedule rankings,” according to a BYU news release.

A repeat of that campaign — with a slightly more difficult nonconference schedule of Southern Illinois at home and road games at Wyoming and SMU — would seemingly be unacceptable to BYU fans and might just put coach Kalani Sitake on the hot seat.

The primary goal for BYU in 2024 should be returning to a bowl game, after missing out last year for the first time since 2017, Sitake’s second season. Beating rival Utah, which will probably be picked to win the league in its first year in the Big 12 because quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe, among others, are back for the Utes, is another top priority.

At least, the Cougars won’t face a gauntlet of seven-straight difficult conference games after their bye week, as was the case last year.

BYU’s byes this fall come on Oct. 5 (General Conference weekend), before it hosts Arizona and standout quarterback Noah Fifita on Oct. 12, and on Nov. 2, the week before it travels to Salt Lake City to face the rival Utes on Nov. 9 at Rice-Eccles…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/analysis-byu-second-big-12-183219562.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-01-30 18:32:19

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