Provo • BYU football coach Kalani Sitake joked Monday that the Cougars will try to sneak some extra players onto the field against Portland State on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
It’s not that the Cougars will be all that fearful playing the Vikings, although they said all the right things about not overlooking the foe from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in their weekly press briefing.
It is just that they released the largest depth chart imaginable on Monday.
The two-deep lists 15 positions on offense, 13 positions on defense and in 13 cases it is not really a two-deep, but a three-deep.
Counting specialists, it includes no fewer than 84 names, although several are duplicates.
Saturday’s game<br>At LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo<br>BYU vs. Portland State<br>TV: 1 p.m., ESPN
“We are going to try to sneak on 15 [players], and if the refs catch us then we will go to 13 and then 12,” Sitake said. “No, it is really hard to set one with only 11, and then the game starts with a different group, and people are going to be [saying] how come this guy was listed as a third in your regular depth chart?”
There were several surprises, however.
With BYU announcing Thursday that star weakside linebacker Francis Bernard won’t play this season, it was assumed that junior Adam Pulsipher would be the starter at that spot. But the depth chart lists 6-foot, 205-pound senior Matt Hadley, a safety for most of his BYU career as the starter at WLB and Pulispher as his backup.
“Right now he can play linebacker and enjoy it,” Sitake said of Hadley, referencing a comment he made last week about Hadley struggling to lose weight. “He is a good fit there and we do a lot of things with our linebacking crew. There’s a lot of carryover from our safeties to our linebackers, so [freshman] Chaz Ah You is also listed as a guy who can transition there.”
Pulsipher is also listed as the backup to junior Butch Pau’u at middle linebacker.
“We feel like we have really good depth there at that position,” Sitake said.
Junior Zayne Anderson moves into the starting role at free safety vacated by Hadley.
On the offensive side, perhaps the biggest surprise was that sophomore Aleva Hifo is a starting receiver, ahead of sophomore Micah Simon, who coaches raved about in camp.
More depth chart news
One of the emerging stars in training camp, freshman defensive tackle Lorenzo Fauatea, was not one of the 12 defensive linemen listed on the depth chart. Defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said Fautea has been slowed by an injury.
Meanwhile, four freshmen made the chart at defensive line: end Uriah Leiataua, nose tackle Khyiris Tonga, tackle Kainoa Fuiava and outside end Langi Tuifua.
Junior JJ Nwigwe, an offensive lineman his first two seasons in Provo, is listed as a backup tight end. However, the Cougars list two tight end positions on their depth chart.
Briefly
Sitake said the Cougars turned their attention to scouting Portland State and putting in a game plan for the Vikings on Friday and Saturday. “Guys are anticipating the opening of the season and looking forward to start hitting someone else,” Sitake said. … A Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) team, Portland State is 4-34 all-time against Football Bowl Subdivision programs. They last beat an FBS opponent in 2015, a 24-17 win over Washington State.
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