Provo • Isaiah Glasker was nearly breathing down Devon Dampier’s neck, but the Utah quarterback sidestepped the BYU linebacker on third-and-7 before scampering for a first down.
One play later, Dampier connected with Braden Pegan for a touchdown.
Two weeks earlier, the Cougars missed 17 tackles in a 39-31 double-overtime loss at UCF just days after climbing as high as No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 with a win over Notre Dame.
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier has taken criticism for his four-interception game in the loss to the Utes that knocked the Cougars to the edge of the College Football Playoff field in the selection committee’s latest rankings. The sophomore quarterback has owned it, shouldered it, and promised to be better as the Cougars move on to a critical game Saturday.
But perhaps a more glaring issue in BYU’s two losses in the last three weeks has come on defense: the havoc-driven Cougars have struggled to wrap up at even an average level.
Statistically, average might be an upgrade.
As No. 10 BYU prepares for what many are calling a must-win game Saturday against Baylor (1:30 p.m. MT, FOX), tackling has been top of mind.
That’s more than just hitting hard, BYU safety Raider Damuni told The Salt Lake Tribune.
“It’s just about repetition, and continuing to work on that,” Damuni said. “In individual periods and team periods, we need to make sure we hit and are wrapping up.
“We’re in the right positions; we’re just trying to kill people,” he added. “Sometimes you don’t have to do that, but just get the person down.”
Like most college football teams, BYU doesn’t do as many live tackling drills during the regular season as during spring ball or training camp.
That’s the norm across the sport, as coaches try to limit exposure to potential injuries and optimize recovery. But in the case of the Cougars (7-2, 4-2 Big 12), tackling hasn’t been avoided.
Especially not lately.
“The coaches have done a great job the last few weeks of doing different tackling circuits for the whole circuit,” Damuni said.
At BYU, it’s a focus for a reason.
The Cougars rank among the teams with the highest rate of missed tackles in the Football Bowl Subdivision. BYU’s defense whiffed on 18.7% of its tackle attempts through the first 10 weeks of the season, according to data provided by TruMedia — tied for 135th among 138 FBS programs.
Only Florida Atlantic (18.8%) and Iowa State (19.5%) missed more, according to the data.
BYU defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga is well aware. It’s why fundamentals have taken on a new focus as of late.
“The coaches have been harping on us about (missing tackles),” defensive end Nusi Taumoepeau said. “It all comes down to the mental part for us.
“We’ve done so many drills, and we’re going to have to go out there and execute; it’s all a mindset,” he added. “You’ve got to want to go out there and hit somebody. We’re all very capable of thinking like that, and I think we’ll be more than fine this week.”
It’s not just the stops, or lack thereof, that have affected the Cougars’ play. It’s also the timing of some of their missed tackles, like Glasker’s missed sack against Dampier.
Against UCF, BYU brought pressure 45% of the times Knights quarterback Keyone Jenkins dropped back to pass — but sacked him just once.
Poppinga said the Cougars were “better” in open-field tackling against Utah, but key moments haunted the defense.
“As far as our percentage of missed tackling, it was one of our lowest missed-tackle percentages of the season,” Poppinga admitted. “There were some key ones that we missed.”
In a similar way to Jenkins and Dampier, Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway can strike fear into the BYU defense as a dual-threat passer capable of eluding tackles and finding space in the run game.
He’s not as good of a runner as Dampier, Poppinga admitted. But he’s good enough to hurt a defense, and he certainly was in last week’s 42-31 win over Iowa State.
“We know what he’s capable of doing,” Damuni said of Lagway.
Among the Florida transfer’s highlights in the victory was a season-long 54-yard touchdown run — nearly half of his season-high 119-yard performance on the ground that complemented a 229-yard, two-touchdown passing game.
“He’s big. He’s strong. He has an arm as good as anybody I’ve seen,” Poppinga said of Lagway. “He can really rip the ball.”
The Cougars’ task will be making him miss.
And not missing in the open field, either.
“We’ve got to execute the defense,” Poppinga said, “and when we execute the defense and you’re in position to make a play, you’ve got to make a play.”