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Provo • BYU's defense played well enough for the Cougars to win their first three games of the season, giving up just 16, 20 and 17 points, respectively, against Arizona, Utah and UCLA.

The fourth game?

Not so much.

West Virginia converted on 6 of 12 third-down opportunities and was 1 of 2 on fourth down en route to racking up 481 yards. The Mountaineers had a touchdown drive of 13 plays, and two TD drives of 12 plays.

When he wasn't burning BYU on bubble screens and quick throws, WVU QB Skyler Howard seemingly had a long time to throw.

"As we look at it, there were drives we could have gotten out of, especially when they were in third-and-long situations," BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said Tuesday. "We just need to tighten it down and be more disciplined."

Tuiaki said during the game he thought the Cougars needed to get a better pass rush going, but changed his mind after watching the film.

"I thought we did a good job, at least, of collapsing the pocket," he said.

Still, BYU is tied for 97th in the country in sacks, with just 1.5 per game. The Cougars are tied for 50th in tackles-for-loss, 26 total for minus-76 yards.

"Our coaches are trying to put guys into situations that let them get after the quarterback more successfully," linebacker Fred Warner said. "We have a lot of new guys there. We have moved guys with experience there inside, guys like Tomasi [Laulile], and so it is harder for the inside guys to get a really good rush. But yeah, I think we will get it going as the season goes along."

The Cougars are also 97th in third-down conversion defense, having gone 23 of 54 in that category (42.6 percent).

A strong pass rush "helps us a lot, definitely," said safety Matt Hadley. "It takes a lot of stress off the secondary, that's for sure."

Head coach Kalani Sitake said the defensive line needs to do a better job of disrupting the quarterback's timing.

"It doesn't always have to be sacks," Sitake said. "But if we can disrupt the quarterback's timing, just get in his face and make him move a little bit, it helps. … Most quarterbacks can throw accurately if they don't have to move."

One fewer pick

BYU's Taysom Hill has thrown one fewer interception than was previously listed in the quarterback's statistics. Utah statisticians re-examined a play in the BYU-Utah game on Sept. 10 in which Utah's Hunter Dimick hit Hill just as he was about to release the ball and worked with the Pac-12 to get the result changed.

Sunia Tauteoli caught the errant ball, and was credited with an interception that night. However, the play has been ruled a fumble, so Dimick has a caused-fumble and another sack to his stats, and Hill now only has six interceptions, rather than seven.

Briefly

Offensive coordinator Ty Detmer said junior offensive lineman Tuni Kanuch passed a kidney stone last week and missed just one day of practice before playing well against WVU. … Special teams coach Ed Lamb said the Cougars are "hopeful" that freshman kicker Jake Oldroyd will be able to play against Toledo. Oldroyd is dealing with back issues that forced him to miss the second half of the UCLA game and all of the WVU game. … Jamaal Williams is the College Sports Madness Independent Player of the Week after rushing for 169 yards and two TDS vs. the Mountaineers.

Twitter: @drewjay —

BYU vs. Toledo

P Friday, 8:15 p.m. MDT

TV • ESPN2