BYU football: Is UCLA a must-win game for the Cougars?

The BYU football team is coming off a crushing loss to the Utah Utes last Saturday. Now the Cougars’ brutal schedule continues as the team prepares for UCLA in its home opener. Is the game against the Bruins a must-win for Kalani Sitake’s squad?

Why it’s a must-win for BYU football

The Cougars’ game with the Bruins is a must-win contest because there aren’t many winnable games on their brutal 2016 schedule.

After hosting UCLA, BYU travels to Maryland to take on West Virginia at FedEx Field. If the Cougars fall to 1-2 on Saturday, then they may be staring 1-3 right in the face..

The Mountaineers will be coming off a bye week, and while they haven’t been stellar this season, they still have a good offense and have the advantage of not traveling across the country.

I’m not saying that WVU is necessarily the better team, but the odds are certainly in their favor come Sept. 24.

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If this hypothetical situation becomes reality, I’m not so sure how tolerant the fan base will be knowing their team sits at 1-3. This isn’t fair to coach Sitake and his new staff, but life isn’t fair. There will be some segment of the fan base – even if it’s a tiny portion – that will be wishing Bronco Mendenhall was still in town.

If they begin 1-3, it will be the first time since 2010 they’ve done so (the Cougars started 1-4 that year). But overall, it’s not like 1-3 is really big deal, right?

Well, yes and no. It certainly shouldn’t be an issue, but I bet it will be. Let’s continue to play the “What If” game.

The Cougars return to Provo sitting at 1-3 with a game against Toledo, which they win. Now they’re 2-3. Now they have a 12-day stretch with games at Michigan State, home against Mississippi State and at Boise State.

How many of those games are winnable? I’m leaning towards two (Mississippi State and Boise State), but when you factor in fatigue, maybe that’s not realistic. Maybe they lose all three games and own a 2-6 record through eight games. This feels like a stretch, but again, this is the “What If” game.

It’s more than likely that the Cougars will win their final four games, three of which are at home, which means they finish at 6-6 going into the Poinsettia Bowl.

But still, that’s a brutal eight game stretch for Cougar fans to chew on.

Why it’s not a must-win for BYU football

(Jeff Swinger-USA Today Sports) /

This game isn’t a must-win for the Cougars because one game does not a season make.

Sure, BYU hasn’t lost a home opener since 2011. Sure, this will probably be the most electric LaVell Edwards Stadium will be all year. Sure, the last time UCLA came to Provo the Cougars handed the Bruins their worst loss since 1929.

But even if BYU falls on Saturday, it’s not a big deal.

The expectations for this season should’ve been a bowl game, and that happens win or lose. The schedule is brutal, and no on in their right mind had the Cougars pegged for 10 wins.

The trouble will come from immediate reaction to want to be “outraged” by the record. To feel like BYU is better than the record it carries.

But again, it doesn’t really matter. Overreacting over one game, especially one in a quality opponent like UCLA, is ridiculous. If BYU loses to Toledo, then people should freak out. Until then, just relax and trust Sitake’s system.

And I know that Sitake inherited a talented team, but it’s important to remember that these guys aren’t “his guys.” The most fair way to judge a collegiate head coach is to give him four seasons – so his first recruiting class becomes upperclassmen – before condemning him.

So, which is it?

At the end of the day, the fan reaction is the least important aspect of a football team. So if fans become upset that the first Provo game day of 2016 ends poorly, so be it.

It won’t matter in the long run, because realistically you’re taking the team from six wins with a loss to seven wins with a victory. For a first-year man in Sitake, getting the Cougars to a bowl game should be all that really matters.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, we’ll be watching Sitake and the Cougars on Dec. 21 in the Poinsettia Bowl.

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