BYU football: Three things we learned from Portland State game

No. 3: BYU football has plenty of work to do

If there’s one clear takeaway from game one, it’s this: BYU football has plenty of work to do in 2017.

There was a ton of hype surrounding the Cougars during fall camp – and good reason for it. BYU football is talented. But there’s a lot of improvement that’s necessary.

The offense needs to pick up chunks of yards. The defense needs to finish drives when they force third-and-long situations.

On the whole, the Cougars need to play cleaner football. Penalties continually killed drives and took points off the board. There’s nothing worse than breaking a big play, only to settle for no points (or a field goal). Twice against the Vikings BYU football broke off 30+ yard plays, only to come away with three points.

Luckily for the Cougars, every game is a little bit different. This was game one – there were nerves and jitters. Next week, BYU is put in Portland State’s spot. The underdog. The team with nothing to lose.

Surely, Kalani Sitake and the coaching staff will work the team hard this week. A win over LSU would be one of the best in team history. But, you can’t go to Houston and get shellacked by the Tigers – not if you want to be taken seriously.