‘Really good team’: BYU could have its hands full with giant-killer Southern Illinois in opener

23FTB at Kansas 1479 23FTB at Kansas – BYU 1st Game in the Big 12 Conference 2023 BYU Football BYU-27 KAN-38 Photo by Nate Edwards/BYU September 23, 2023 © BYU PHOTO 2023 All Rights Reserved photo@byu.edu (801)422-7322 | BYU Photo

BYU’s football team wrapped up preseason training camp on Tuesday, took Wednesday off, then turned its attention to Southern Illinois on Thursday.

The Cougars will host the Salukis of the Football Championship Subdivision on Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. MDT, and suffice it to say the pressure to win — regardless of the division of the opponent — is as high as it has ever been for BYU in the Kalani Sitake era.

A five-game losing streak will do that to a program. And as daunting as BYU’s 2024 schedule is, a loss could continue a run of futility that hasn’t been seen in Provo since 2017 — Sitake’s second season.

“Really good team,” Sitake said of Southern Illinois, which is based in Carbondale, Illinois, and competes in the Ohio Valley Conference, widely considered the top conference in FCS football.

“I know some of the coaches on that staff,” Sitake said. “They are a well-coached team. They have had success playing against FBS teams, and so we need to make sure that we are ready for it, and part of that is making sure that we are prepped and have a plan going into it.”

As of Friday evening, neither team had announced its starting quarterback.

For BYU, it will either be Jake Retzlaff — who was the Cougars’ QB the last four games of 2023 — or Gerry Bohanon, who hasn’t taken a snap in a game since the 2022 season at South Florida.

For SIU, it will either be returnee Hunter Simmons, a redshirt junior, or Murray State transfer D.J. Williams, who also has two years of eligibility remaining.

Simmons backed up Nic Baker, SIU’s all-time leading passer, last year and threw for 169…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/really-good-team-byu-could-020016655.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-08-25 02:00:16

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