BYU’s starters played great across the entire defense in their 41-23 win over Colorado State. The Cougars built a 38-7 lead before they put their second and third string in. It’s been a team effort for BYU. Established stars like Isaiah Glasker, Faletau Satuala, Evan Johnson, Keanu Tanuvasa, and Therrian Alexander III have been as good as advertised. They’re joined by great newcomers like Tommy Prassas, Cannon DeVries, and Tausili Akana! This defense could be the best Kalani Sitake has had in his 11 seasons at BYU.
It starts for BYU with stopping the run. In their last 30 games, BYU has held their opponents to an average of less than 127 yards per game. They’ve gotten the 2026 season, and Kelly Poppinga’s era as defensive coordinator, off to a great start in continuing to stop the run. They’ve yet to allow a team to get past the century mark. Utah Tech had 49, Arizona came close with 97, and CSU was held to 82 yards on the ground. This was the Cougars’ seventh straight regular-season non-conference game holding the opponent to under 100 yards rushing. SMU in 2024 was the last team outside of the Big 12 to rush for over 100 yards against the Cougars’ defense in the regular season.
They’ve been stout against the pass, too. Averaging less than 230 yards per game over their last 30 contests. CSU was held to 220 (Utah Tech had 135 and Arizona had 230) yards passing. Their total defense in that same span has been less than 330 yards on average. Colorado State had 302 (Utah Tech had 184, Arizona had 327) total yards of offense. The Cougars’ defense had 60 tackles, seven tackles for a loss, five passes defended, and an interception by Hunter Clegg…