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Provo • BYU's Kalani Sitake is learning a lot of lessons in his first year as a head college football coach, including the fact that a school cannot appeal a decision made in the replay booth in hopes of getting it overturned.
After Saturday's 20-19 loss to Utah in which BYU defensive backs Kai Nacua and Austin McChesney were flagged for targeting Ute receivers and subsequently ejected from the contest in the third quarter, Sitake expressed his belief that the on-field calls — upheld upon review by Pac-12 officials in the replay booth — were incorrect and could be overturned so the players wouldn't have to sit out the first half of this week's game against UCLA, per NCAA rules.
BYU officials confirmed there is no process in place for that to happen, and the captain/starting safety and backup freshman cornerback won't play until the second half. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"The way it was explained to me was that the appeal was basically Saturday night," Sitake said. "So the rule is that if there is no replay available, then they would review it. This one, there was a replay official available. They made that decision; it was set in concrete Saturday night. That's just the way the protocol is."
It is a huge blow to BYU's upset hopes — UCLA is a 3-point favorite and has one of the top quarterbacks in the country in sophomore Josh Rosen — because Nacua is the heart of the defense, arguably its best player. And the Cougars were already thin at cornerback with starter Troy Warner dealing with an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the Utah game.
"Kai is a captain for our team, so not only a playmaker for our defense, but a leader for our team," said linebacker Fred Warner, Troy's brother. "That will be tough having him out for the first half, but that also pulls us together as a defense, knowing that we need to play for him, and take care of business on our side of the ball."
Fred Warner and fellow linebacker Francis Bernard said targeting and how to avoid it wasn't discussed after Monday's practice, which the older Warner missed due to a "little bruise" suffered in the Utah game. But Warner said watching Sitake get an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for having Nacua's back motivated the team.
"We always teach about the right way to tackle, and who is to say if it is the right call or not?" Warner said. "Now we just have to prepare accordingly for the guys we are going to be without."
Having viewed the calls in question, made on the field by officials from the organization known as CFO-West — a conglomeration of Big 12, Mountain West and Southland conference officials — over and over again Sunday and Monday, Sitake's opinion didn't change.
"Nope. It is exactly how I felt when I saw it on the big replay — the super big screen gave me a great view of it," he said. "And then when I wasn't looking at that, there were two other screens to look at. So no, I saw what I saw, and, I mean, it doesn't change anything, you know? We will just keep working. We will just keep moving."
Sitake said Nacua will be replaced by either Matt Hadley, Eric Takenaka, Zayne Anderson or Tanner Jacobson, and Bernard later said it will likely be Hadley, a junior from Connell, Wash.
"We will see how UCLA comes after us, knowing that we are going to be without number 12 [Nacua] in the defensive backfield," Sitake said. "They should probably test the new guy, and see what happens."
Bernard, who made a spectacular one-handed interception the play after Nacua's ejection, said Hadley is almost as good as Nacua, who has three interceptions, tied for tops in the nation.
"He plays well against the run, moves well in space," Bernard said of Hadley. "So it is going to be a good game for him to get more playing time and showcase his talents."
Senior Michael Davis, a Los Angeles native, has one cornerback spot nailed down. Opposite him, in the absence of McChesney and Troy Warner, possibly, will be either freshmen Dayan Lake and Chris Wilcox or junior college transfer Isaiah Armstrong.
"We will kind of figure it out," Sitake said. "It is like the safety position. We are still working with getting Troy back. … Whoever is in the best position that we feel comfortable with will be in that game."
Twitter: @drewjay —
UCLA at BYU
P Saturday, 8:15 p.m. TV • TBD —
BYU update
• Coach Kalani Sitake acknowledged that rulings from Saturday's 20-19 loss to Utah can't be appealed, so Kai Nacua and Austin McChesney will miss first half against UCLA.
• Linebacker Fred Warner suffered a foot contusion in the game, missed Monday's practice and wore a protective boot to the briefing, but says he will be OK
• Junior Matt Hadley will likely replace Nacua in the starting lineup against UCLA