BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake lives by the mantra for his team to stay "humble and hungry."
While that slogan resonates as a very effective long-term guiding principle in building a culture that has the Cougars near the top of the college football world, BYU needs to adopt a different mindset for Saturday's game against the Arizona State Sun Devils, and it's this:
Angry and agitated.
Why the Cougars' defense should play with a controlled anger
If Kalani Sitake wants his team to be humble, then it was mission accomplished in the No. 2 Cougars' gut-wrenching loss at UCF last week.
BYU's defense, in particular, was humbled by UCF's backup quarterback Keyone Jenkins, who accounted for 332 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns. Running back Duke Watson averaged 6.3 yards on on 15 carries and rarely came down on first contact. BYU's defense generated very little pressure and had one of the sloppiest displays of tackling in recent program history.
For the first time under new defensive coordinator Brady Poppinga, the defense looked bad.
And the defense should be angry. Not at UCF. Not at the officials. Not at the world. But with themselves. There are no excuses for their baffling subpar outing in Orlando, and they need a "get right" game.
Enter the Arizona State Sun Devils.
If banged-up quarterback Mikey Keene can't suit up, ASU will likely start their third-string quarterback in freshman Jake Fette. If Fette gets the start, this unproven quarterback is going to have his hands full in LaVell Edwards Stadium against an angry defense in a must-win game for the Cougs.
And the Sun Devils don't have a great running game to take the pressure off their young signal caller. Kenny Dillingham's offense averages 144.1 rushing yards per game, which ranks 14th in the Big 12. This dynamic should give BYU's defense a chance to unleash some controlled anger that will have built up over a week of re-living their poor performance against UCF.
What it means for BYU to play "agitated"
In addition to being angry with themselves for stumbling at UCF, the Cougars should also be agitated about the position they have put themselves in.
For one glorious week, No. 2 BYU was the darling of the college football universe. With their win over Notre Dame the Cougars finally - FINALLY! - earned the national respect this program has been craving for the better part of three seasons now.
And then they let that respect evaporate in one fateful trip to Orlando.
Playing "agitated" against Arizona State doesn't mean that BYU is annoyed or frustrated or picks up cheap late hit or unsportsmanlike conduct calls, but that they are appropriately anxious about the stakes of this game. At 3-1 in conference play the Cougars simply can't afford another UCF-like stumble and still reach their goals of a conference title and/or a spot in the College Football Playoffs.
BYU will unleash that agitation in the first fully "complete" game the Cougars put together this season.
While the Cougars have been winning this year, they have yet to put together a clean, dominant game spanning all four quarters without taking their foot off the gas pedal.
Playing at home with and angry and agitated mindset, BYU will finally go out and obliterate an opponent in convincing fashion.
Final score: BYU 38, Arizona State 16
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