New Big 12 member BYU will make their first trip to Austin since 2013 on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars sit at 5-2 on the season, but have played one of the easier schedules in the country. Wins over Sam Houston State, Southern Utah, Arkansas, Cincinnati and Texas Tech don’t look too sexy on paper, while losses against TCU and Kansas showed more of the true talent level of the 2023 squad.
Offense
BYU has not escliped 300 total yards in 3 of their 4 conference games this year and have one of the least productive offenses in the country. The Cougars are abysmal running the football (131st nationally) and rank outside the top 100 nationally in yards per play. The passing game is not great (74th nationally), but will likely be the best way for the Cougars to move the ball Saturday. QB Kedon Slovis has thrown over 1,500 passes in his college career with stops at 3 different schools (USC, Pitt and BYU). He is completing 56% of his passes on the year at under 7 yards an attempt. Slovis offers zero running ability (-49 rushing yards) so all his damage will come through the air.
BYU does have a decent group of receivers, led by Chase Roberts and Darius Lassiter. Roberts, who stands at 6’4, leads the team with 29 receptions and 430 yards. TE Issac Rex also gets involved in the passing game often (23 catches). The Cougars will do almost all of their damage in the underneath passing game. Slovis rarely pushes the ball down the field aggressively.
Despite not being able to run the ball, BYU does trot out a decent pass blocking unit at offensive line. LT Kingsley Suamataia is a future NFL player and anchors the group. The Cougars have only allowed 10 sacks in 7 games.
Defense
BYU has struggled mightily to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks, only racking up 7 sacks on the season despite playing some bad offenses. DE Tyler Batty has half of those sacks and is the primary pass rushing threat. BYU is experienced along the defensive line, but nothing really sticks out about the unit.
The LB and DB units have been hit hard by the injury bug. The Cougars have already suffered season-ending injuries to their best LB and safety. The secondary ranked 99th nationally in passing yards allowed, but has grabbed 11 interceptions on the season. As a matter of fact, turnovers are a strength of the BYU defense (16 forced).
Expect the Cougars to dial up some pressure early with Texas trotting out a backup QB.
Overall Thoughts
BYU isn’t as good as their record indicates, but the Longhorns are beat up and coming off an almost catastrophic loss to Houston. It’s tough to know exactly what Texas team will show up Saturday afternoon. With Maalik Murphy making his first career start, points may be at a premium. If Texas is able to slow down the putrid BYU offense and string together some drives of their own, they will be in good shape.
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