BYU Football: The ground game and other keys to beating Western Michigan

BYU Football is set to take on Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and they’ll need to do three things to finish 2018 with a winning record.

It’s bowl time for BYU Football.

The Cougars will take on Western Michigan in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Friday afternoon, their final game of the 2018 season and first bowl game in two years.

And the season would look much different with a win instead of a loss. If they take down the Broncos, BYU finishes with a winning record, righting the ship measurably from a disastrous 2017 campaign.

A loss gives the Cougars their second straight losing season.

Finishing 6-7 would still be an improvement over last year, but a winning record would represent a much bigger step in the right direction.

The Cougars have already taken advantage of the biggest benefit of a bowl game: the 15 extra practices. That extra time won’t just help BYU on the Smurf Turf, it’ll also help them going into next season.

Those extra practices have given the Cougars plenty of time to prepare for Western Michigan, but they still have to execute what they’ve planned in order to beat the Broncos.

Here are the three keys to taking home the potato trophy:

Establish the Ground Game

This will be easier said than done. The Broncos aren’t a particularly good against the rush, but BYU may be scraping the bottom of the barrel as far as manpower is concerned.

Matt Hadley is out. Lopini Katoa is still a question. Squally Canada will be available, so he’ll get the lion’s share of the touches, but behind him could be Riley Burt and not a whole lot else.

Western Michigan has strong pass defense, and if the Cougars can’t establish a ground attack it’ll play right into the Broncos’ strength. BYU will have to have balance in order to keep pace on the scoreboard with Western Michigan.