The BYU Cougars will kick off the 2026 season in 96 days against Utah Tech. As we count down the days until kickoff, today we will profile the player who wears No. 96 - redshirt senior defensive tackle Justin Kirkland.
Justin Kirkland's background
It has been something of a long and winding road for Justin Kirkland to finish his college career at BYU.
The 6-foot-3, 335-pound interior defensive lineman prepped at Roy High School in Utah, graduating in the class of 2020. He wasn't considered a national recruit coming out of high school and was a "zero star" prospect at 247 Sports. He began his college career at Utah Tech where he played in all 11 games as a freshman.
Kirkland served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Hawaii.
After his mission and Utah Tech experiences, he signed with Oklahoma State University in 2023 and spent two seasons in Stillwater as BYU's rival in the Big 12 conference. He had a solid 2023 campaign for OSU with 22 tackles and three tackles for loss. He followed that up on 2024 with 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and a sack. It's not always fair to judge the performance and impact of interior defensive linemen solely upon traditional stats. Sometimes the most important thing they can do is simply eat blockers and free up defensive ends and linebackers to make big plays. Kirkland did just that at Oklahoma State.
Kirkland's experience at BYU - past and present
In 2025 Kirkland decided to transfer back home to the Beehive State and expected last year to be his one and only season at BYU. But his 2025 campaign was hampered by injuries and he ended up playing limited snaps over six games, registering three tackles.
BYU's vision at the time they signed Kirkland was for him and Keanu Tanuvasa to provide a formidable one-two punch in the middle of the defensive line. The plan looked great on paper, but it was never really carried out due to Kirkland's injuries and Tanuvasa's sometimes unsteady play. This year should be different.
Reports are that Justin Kirkland is healthy and ready to deploy his game-changing 335-pound frame. The last time BYU had dominant play from a nose tackle was probably Khyiris Tonga back in 2020.
A healthy Justin Kirkland and motivated Keanu Tanuvasa could be outright dominant together. And if the BYU Cougars are going to make good on their aspirations to win the Big 12 and reach the College Football Playoffs, they're going to need to be.
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