facebook-pixel

BYU is ‘desperate,’ vows to let it all hang out in final five football games

Coach Kalani Sitake says Cougars have been ‘too conservative’ and gotten away from his aggressive roots

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Brigham Young Cougars running back Kavika Fonua (44) runs with the ball, in football action BYU vs Utah, at Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Saturday, September 9, 2017.

Provo • Aggressiveness.

That, and a lot of other traits, have been lacking in the BYU football program, head coach Kalani Sitake said at his weekly press briefing on Monday.

The Cougars are 1-7 and seemingly circling the drain — a tailspin the likes of which they haven’t seen in nearly 50 years — because they have been “too conservative” and gotten away from the style that has served him well in his coaching career, Sitake concluded after watching video of the 33-17 loss to East Carolina.

“I am sick of losing,” Sitake said, “so we got to do whatever we can to break the [losing] streak.”

That streak is seven games, and counting, as BYU prepares to host also 1-7 San Jose State on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, because what the Cougars are doing now isn’t working.

San Jose State at BYU<br>Saturday, 1 p.m.<br>TV • BYUtv

“The goal is to be as aggressive as we can and develop an identity of aggression as a team,” Sitake said. “We will try to find ways to develop an identity through aggression and through our toughness. So that’s what we are focused on this week.”

Usually tight-lipped about any information that could give away BYU’s tactics — here’s a guy who refused to acknowledge that quarterback Tanner Mangum was injured when the junior was zipping around campus with his left foot in a boot on a scooter — Sitake threw caution to the wind on Monday.

The Cougars are going to let it fly, in all three phases of the game.

“Yeah, it is tough to be really blunt about it,” he said. “As a head coach, this is all on me, so the way I approach it and am demanding it, it has to happen now, and it is desperate. Basically, my mindset is if you are going to go down, you better start swinging.”

Sitake specifically spoke about the need to open up the playbook and get the football into the hands of BYU’s playmakers.

“It is either feast or famine,” Sitake said. “Let’s give ourselves a chance to feast. Otherwise, we just sit there and bleed slowly and die. … I am not one to ever quit and just give in. And neither is this team.”

Although he didn’t say it, but noted people can “read between the lines,” Sitake is clearly putting the onus on offensive coordinator Ty Detmer to put more points on the scoreboard.

“Just score points,” Sitake said. “Whatever it takes. … I have given free rein to our offensive staff to be creative as much as you can, and use the talent we have on the field. Regardless of injuries, there is enough talent to win games and score points.

“So yeah, I guess I am letting the game plan out, but we are going to be aggressive and we are going to give it everything we can and get the playmakers to make plays,” he continued. “As coaches, we need to put them in that position.”

Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune BYU football coach Kalani Sitake at the school's annual spring scrimmage in Provo, Saturday March 25, 2017.

The Cougars now rank 127th of 129 teams in the country in total offense, averaging a mere 264.8 yards per game. They are also 127th in scoring offense, at 12.1 points per game.

BYU is a mediocre-to-poor 72nd in total defense (395.9 ypg.), but just 87th in takeaways. They have made few “disruptive” plays that Sitake emphasizes.

“If you are a coordinator and a coach on the staff, you pretty much know what I am saying right now,” Sitake said, making his challenge clear. “This is what it comes down to.”

A former BYU fullback, Sitake gained a reputation when he was Utah’s defensive coordinator for developing a ferocious pass rush, stopping the run and creating turnovers.

“Those of you that have known me for the many years I have been coaching, I have been digressing,” he said. “This is not the type of way that we play that I think exemplifies what I am about, and that is my fault. … It is just fight or flight time, and I want to fight.”

Not fight literally, he later cautioned.

Just aggressively.