BYU football: Cougars’ defense has been impressively stingy through 3 games, except for this

The sample size is small, but BYU’s defense in coordinator Jay Hill’s second season has been fantastic, for the most part.

The Cougars (3-0) are No. 13 in the country in total defense, allowing just 236.3 yards per game, and No. 4 nationally in pass efficiency defense with a rating of 76.27.

They posted a 74.3 rating — that’s quite good — in Saturday night’s 34-14 win at Wyoming.

But there is one aspect of the defense that has been a bit less than stellar; Opposing quarterbacks have gotten out of pocket and dinged the Cougars with QB runs in all three games.

Southern Illinois’ DJ Williams ran for 137 yards and two touchdowns, SMU’s Kevin Jennings ran for 38 yards and Wyoming’s Evan Svoboda ran for 31 yards and a touchdown.

Svoboda had a miserable passing night, but his 17-yard scamper on 3rd-and-14 kept a drive alive when the outcome was still in doubt.

Sure, that’s being nit-picky of a defense that has clearly improved from last year, but it could morph into a big concern this week because one of the best running quarterbacks in college football arrives at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday night when BYU hosts No. 13 Kansas State (8:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN).

Long-haired sophomore Avery Johnson is developing into a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate thanks to his legs as much as his arm.

The native of Wichita, Kansas, was sensational in KSU’s 31-7 win over Arizona last Friday night. Johnson had 17 carries for 110 yards, with a long of 26. He also threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns.

He’s going to be a problem for a BYU defense that has struggled to contain mobile quarterbacks for years.

“Yeah, Kansas State poses a real problem for us, and for everybody. I mean, the game they had (Friday night) was evidence of that,” coach Kalani Sitake said after BYU held Wyoming to just 77 rushing yards, the fewest…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/byu-football-cougars-defense-impressively-022316349.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-09-16 02:23:16

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