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BYU head coach Kalani Sitake reacts as a play unfolds during a game against the Arizona Wildcats held at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. | Isaac Hale
When it comes to analyzing the first half of the season for BYU football, which ended last Saturday with a convincing 41-19 win over Arizona to send the Cougars to a 6-0 record, perhaps the most-used word from local and national pundits is “surprising.”
Very few people saw this coming, particularly media members who picked the Cougars to repeat last year’s 2-7 finish in the Big 12 and believed they would come in around 13th again this year. Las Vegas was also wrong, picking the Cougars to win only four or five games in 2024.
Head coach Kalani Sitake and his players have repeatedly said they saw it coming, displaying a quiet confidence almost from the time they lost 40-34 in double overtime to Oklahoma State last November, a loss that kept them out of a bowl game.
“We are sitting at 6-0. Happy with what the team has been doing every week, with the work the guys have put in. I am really pleased with the team and the direction we are headed, but we have a lot of work to do still.”
BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“We are sitting at 6-0. Happy with what the team has been doing every week, with the work the guys have put in,” Sitake said Monday. “I am really pleased with the team and the direction we are headed, but we have a lot of work to do still.”
Coincidentally, BYU opens the second half of the regular season on Friday (8:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN) against that same Oklahoma State team that overcame a 24-6 halftime deficit to knock them out of postseason play 11 months ago.
It is a far cry from where BYU was sitting in mid-October last year, although the record isn’t all that different.
A year ago at this point, we called BYU the “worst 4-2…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/midseason-examination-no-13-byu-224216405.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-10-15 22:42:16
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