The task of beating a legendary Southeastern Conference team on the road was a game that stood out on BYU’s football schedule from the start.
But now? Well, the Cougars are facing a different kind of pressure.
BYU, coming off its 30-12 loss to Utah, faces a new challenge. Forget hanging with an SEC legend, can the Cougars merely do what Georgia State was paid $950,000 to do, which is beat the Volunteers at home?
Georgia State stunned the Vols with a 38-30 upset on Saturday, shocking a team that had expectations of being a team on the rise under second-year coach Jeremy Pruitt.
Now, when the Cougars face Tennessee on Saturday, the Vols will have the intent of trying to salvage bits of their dignity after what some are calling the program’s worst loss in history.
There isn’t much left after a loss that stunned Tennessee and its supporters. The Vols committed three turnovers and had to settle for field goals twice inside the red zone. No doubt, that last bit is a frustrating stat for new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, who molded Georgia into one of the league’s best offenses. Now he can’t even beat a Group of Five team that went 2-10 last year and was picked last in the Sun Belt?
Tennessee quarterback Jarrett Guarantano told media members he was “disgusted” by the Vols’ performance, while Pruitt went so far to admit the depth chart was so thin at spots, there was “zero” competition.
Part of the depth chart woes can be attributed to injuries since the Vols were missing four defenders. But the Vols also called themselves out, saying they were underprepared and out-coached.
All of this of course means BYU finds itself in a precarious position. If the Vols had beaten Georgia State, Saturday’s contest would have been nothing more than an East-meets-West kind of game. Now the Vols will be under all kinds of pressure to save face by beating the Cougars.
So the question becomes, does Tennessee’s outlook change anything for the Cougars?
Not really, other than BYU likely will acknowledge the Vols are going to be highly motivated. BYU has its own motivations and concerns and those will be the focus as the Cougars start their prep.
BYU coach Kalani Sitake acknowledged the Cougars weren’t nearly as clean as they needed to be against Utah. Quarterback Zach Wilson threw two interceptions and the Cougars also fumbled. The Cougars were also penalized seven times for 63 yards.
“There are a lot of things we need to fix,” Sitake said following the game.
BYU left the opener frustrated over the chances it couldn’t convert into more points. That will be the biggest task come Saturday.
“We all know we need to finish drives,” BYU receiver Micah Simon said. “Early on in the game we knew we could move the ball, but once we got to the red zone we had some crucial penalties that killed us along with some sloppy ball play. We know we need to execute better, finish drives and capitalize on opportunities.”
The defense has its own issues to address as well. Utah running back Zack Moss lived up to his hype, rushing for 181 yards on 29 carries. The defense needs to play better, Sitake said.
“I’m just excited to move onto the next one and learn from this,” he said.
The Vols are probably thinking the same thing.