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

By Shaun Gordon

BOISE, ID - DECEMBER 22: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl MVP and team championship trophies on display at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl between the Utah State Aggies and the Akron Zips on December 22, 2015 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Akron won the game 23-21. (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - DECEMBER 22: Famous Idaho Potato Bowl MVP and team championship trophies on display at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl between the Utah State Aggies and the Akron Zips on December 22, 2015 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho. Akron won the game 23-21. (Photo by Loren Orr/Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 24: Matt Bushman #89 of the Brigham Young Cougars catches a pass over Cody Barton #30 of the Utah Utes in the second half of a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – NOVEMBER 24: Matt Bushman #89 of the Brigham Young Cougars catches a pass over Cody Barton #30 of the Utah Utes in the second half of a game at Rice-Eccles Stadium on November 24, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /

Keep Attacking

While it’s painful to look back at BYU’s last game, there’s an important lesson to be learned from it.

The Cougars blew a 20-point lead to Utah in less than a quarter and a half. They did that by playing conservatively on both sides of the ball.

On offense, BYU stopped taking shots downfield in the passing game and relied on a stagnated run game.

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On defense the Cougars slipped into a prevent defense rather than the attacking style that had shut the Utes down for more than half the game.

The coaching staff has done a good job this season of recognizing mistakes and correcting them. They’ve gone away from trying to force a power-running game. They’ve changed their red zone playcalling for the better. The defense has applied more pressure as the season has progressed.

This could be another chance for the coaching staff to learn from mistakes.

There’s a good chance that BYU will pull out to a lead of more than one score in this game, but the coaches (and players) can’t take their foot off the gas.

Western Michigan isn’t as talented as Utah. There’s no comparison. But the Broncos are averaging more than 33 points per game, and they’re good enough on offense to do the exact same thing that the Utes did if BYU starts playing not to lose.

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