BYU’s defense stood tall against the option. Now the Cougars must face the spread, air attack of Troy.

Throughout fall camp and preseason practices, the BYU defense focus was set to figuring out how to defend the triple option. After all, both Navy and Army – the first two opponents on the schedule — run the option, something BYU hadn’t faced in years.

But then, due to a series of positive COVID-19 cases among the Cougars, the Army game was postponed. The hiccup allowed BYU’s defense to switch over to a more traditional scheme earlier than planned as the Cougars prepared to host Troy in Saturday’s home opener.

Coach Kalani Sitake acknowledged the change provided a new challenge for the coaching staff to navigate, but nothing compared to what the team and staff have been handling over the last few months.

“I don’t think it really mattered that much that we had shifted away from an option-type team for defense to now a little bit of a spread, fast tempo-type team,” Sitake said. “We’ve kind of seen it all. The biggest concern was actually going against a triple option-type team from the beginning, but we feel like this is a good transition for us. We’ve been training for it. It kind of fits what we’ve been playing against since spring.”

The Troy Trojans kicked off their season Sept. 19 with a 47-14 win over Middle Tennessee. The Trojans put up 496 total offense yards in the dominating performance, 256 of those yards (and three of the six touchdowns) through the air.

Sophomore quarterback Gunnar Watson threw for 248 yards and two touchdowns with one interception on 26 of 37 passing. But, most importantly, Troy spread the air attack through 10 different receivers.

No receiver had more than six receptions.

The ability to have multiple different targets out on the field may pose a threat to BYU, particularly with the speed from the slot receiver and physicality from the offensive linemen and tight ends.

Then there’s also the attack on the ground, which can also come from multiple different players.

“You combine all of that with a quarterback that seems really comfortable throwing the ball and you’ve got something to deal with,” Sitake said. “That, including the fast tempo that they run, can really stress the defense.”

While BYU’s focus early on was on the option, the Cougars still sprinkled in some traditional defense throughout fall camp and practices so as to not get far behind, defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said.

Now it’s about having the defense to build off the solid performance at Navy more than two weeks ago and make sure the Cougars don’t allow Troy to hold on to the ball too long, or the Trojans will run away with it.

Tuiaki is hoping, whether he chooses to commit for a two-man or three-man rush, they can get the quarterback scrambled or off balanced and even get some tipped balls, incomplete passes and interceptions.

While the Sun Belt Conference team is a brand-new opponent on tap for BYU, the Cougars know they can’t go into the home opener assuming anything.

“They’re a fantastic team, so we have been taking extra measures not to take them for granted or take them lightly,” junior linebacker Pepe Tanuvasa said. "The coaches and the players and everyone on staff has been ultra focused on the game on Saturday and bringing your "A" game because we know we’re going to need it."