BYU Football: Backfield pressure and two more keys to beating Utah State
By Shaun Gordon
BYU Football faces a pivotal matchup against Utah State on Friday night, and three key things will help the Cougars take down their in-state foes.
The first in-state showdown of the year is upon us. BYU Football takes on Utah State on Friday night in a game that could define the season for both teams.
If the Cougars win, bowl eligibility is nearly a lock and they can start aiming higher. If they lose, there’s little margin of error the rest of the way in order to make a bowl game.
For the Aggies, a win would give legitimacy to their strong start, and give them momentum heading into a battle with Boise State and San Diego State for Mountain West Conference supremacy.
Utah State is a good team, especially on offense. BYU is a good team, especially on defense (Washington game excluded).
This is one of those games that could go either way, and if the Cougars are going to pull this one out they’ll need to do three thing particularly well:
1 – Get Backfield Pressure
Once again, BYU is one of the worst teams in the country in sacks. The Cougars only have six sacks through five games, and four of those belong to Corbin Kaufusi.
In the games they’ve won, BYU got consistent pressure in the backfield. While it didn’t turn into sacks very often, it was enough to hurry the quarterback and disrupt the offensive flow.
Against Cal and Washington, though, the Cougars hardly sniffed the backfield. Especially last weekend in Seattle. Washington quarterback Jake Browning’s time in the pocket lasted longer than the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries marriage.
Utah State’s offensive line isn’t nearly as strong as Wisconsin’s or Washington’s, and the Cougars have to take advantage of that.
If BYU fails to make Aggie quarterback Jordan Love uncomfortable, Utah State will make the Cougars pay through the air. They average 284.5 passing yards per game, good for No. 28 in the nation.