We're 30 days away from the season opener in Provo, Utah where SIU looks to take down an FBS team for the 3rd straight season.
Meet the Cougars:
BYU is coached by Kalani Sitake in his 9th year as head coach. Sitake was a 3 year starter at fullback for BYU from 1997-2000 and got the BYU head coaching job in 2016 after a year as Oregon State's defensive coordinator. Sitake made bowl games in 6 of his first 7 years at BYU when they were an FBS independent program including a #11 finish in 2020 and #19 finish in 2021. Last season was their first in the Big 12 and they finished 5-7 overall and 2-7 in conference. The Cougars come in to 2024 picked 13th of 16 in the new look Big 12.
BYU has a 2 man race for starting QB between 6-1 Junior Jake Retzlaff and 6-3 Senior Gerry Bohanon. Retzlaff is a transfer from Riverside City College and played in 4 games last year for the Cougars throwing for 648 yards with 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions and rushing for another 3 touchdowns. Bohanon was a 4 star recruit out of Earle, Arkansas and spent his first 4 seasons at Baylor before transferring to South Florida. 2 years ago at USF, Bohanon threw for 1,010 passing yards, 6 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions while also rushing for 386 yards and 3 touchdowns. In 2021 at Baylor, Bohanon rushed for 9 touchdowns. Bohanon hasn't played college football since 2022 because of a shoulder injury he suffered but he said his shoulder is 100% healed.
At the running back position, 6-2 Sophomore LJ Martin had a really encouraging Freshman season for the Cougars. Martin rushed for 518 yards on 109 carries and had 4 rushing touchdowns. Martin suffered a shoulder injury in Spring ball so it looks like SIU might avoid seeing him Week 1 as he's expected to possibly miss their first 3-4 games. According to the above linked article, 5-9 Senior Hinckley Ropati was the primary ball-carrier in their team session. Ropati missed the entire 2023 season with a knee injury. In 2022, Ropati rushed for 189 yards and 1 touchdown on 36 carries.
One of the big strengths for BYU coming into this season appears to be their WR room. The Cougars return 3 of their top 4 leaders in receiving yards from a year ago. 6-4 Junior Chase Roberts led the team in receptions (42), receiving yards (573), and receiving touchdowns (5). 6-2 Senior Darius Lassiter transferred before last season from Eastern Michigan and had 365 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns last year.
On the defensive side, the lone member of the All-Big 12 Preseason team from BYU was 6-5 Senior Defensive End Tyler Batty. Batty led the Cougars with 5.5 sacks last year, had 9 tackles for loss, and forced 2 fumbles. 5-11 Senior Cornerback Jakob Robinson was 2nd on the team in interceptions (4) and had a Pick 6 in a win against Cincinnati.
Links:
SIU Game Notes
BYU Game Notes
SIU QB DJ Williams Interview 7/31/24
SIU QB Hunter Simmons Interview 7/31/24
SIU WR Vinson Davis Interview 7/31/24
SIU G Chase Evans Interview 7/31/24
SIU DE Dewey Greene Interview 7/31/24
SIU LB Colin Bohanek Interview 7/31/24
SIU OC Blake Rolan Interview 8/1/24
SIU DC Antonio James Interview 8/1/24
SIU ST Coach Nathan Frame Interview 8/1/24
I see cbssports has BYU favored by 19.5
I'm not sayin' -- I'm just sayin'!
Update on RB LJ Martin is it seems like he'll be ready for Week 1:
https://kslsports.com/522893/lj-martin-update-byu-football-kalani-sitake-aaron-roderick-fall-camp/
Early forecast for Saturday has a slight chance of showers, otherwise mostly sunny with a high of 86
SIU won't be intimidated and they are going to Provo to win the game. I like SIU in a close one despite what the odds makers say.
Have we named a starting QB? Hope BYU is overlooking us, but I suspect they know that we are not an average FCS team who they can roll. Tough to win out there, but keep it close late and you never know. Wouldn't it be nice to hit a special teams field goal to win it as time expires after the Idaho game. Go Dawgs!
Neither team has announced a starting QB so it’s possible I guess we see 4 different QB’s in the game if both teams use both QB’s
I want to feel like we have a chance at this one, but with so many unknowns at important positions (QB, CB, DL, WR...WR I'm least worried about), it's hard for me to predict anything other than a loss. I hope they keep it close, the newcomers get settled in, and we come out without injury. After this game, the next 3 are going to be really important in determining how this season goes.
Still not naming a starting QB. Interesting that Shaun Lester gets the start at RB with Benefield the 2 deep. I'm a little surprised Eddie Robinson isn't at least in the backup position. Other surprise in the skill positions is Hezekiah at starting WR instead of Tae Marrero, although Marrero will start at KR and PR. We definitely have depth at the skill positions.https://twitter.com/dawgs_fb/status/1828149350490341650?s=46&t=7s0hTttieSER8wqRSA0LoA
Things that stuck out to me on the 2-deep.
On Offense:
Offensive line: LG changes from Harden Jr. to Robarge (transfer from Akron). Mendiola is backing up Jake Green at RG (saw him playing left guard quite a bit in the videos so maybe he can slide there if needed)...Harden Jr. goes from starting to not on the two deep at all. Possible inury or maybe we've just gotten better at the position?
TE: Schwendeman is TE1 I assume b/c Quinn is injured.
WR: About what I thought given what I saw during fall camp videos. Looks like we'll have a bit more height here outside of VD. This really feels like a pretty deep room.
RB: Hill mentioned Lester would be RB1 during interview at fanfest...a bit surprised to see Benefield as RB2. I wouldn't expect that to last unless he's really improved since last season. I think we'll see 3-4 guys most games.
On Defense:
D-Line: A bit surprised to see Mathis beat out Wilbert at DE. This group will rotate quite a bit so probably doesn't matter a ton.
LB: Shug beat out Bogle for the SAM spot and Presto beats out Roth for the WILL. This group will also rotate so I expect all 6 on the depth chart to get time.
CB: Still a position that worries me right now, but I'm hopeful. This will be our youngest position group. I was a bit surprised to not see David Miller on the two deep, but I think I had read/heard he might still be injured? In any case, we need these guys to step up!
Special Teams:
It's the Paul Geelen show...let's hope he can deliver b/c we have really struggled here the last few years.
Didn't really like this game when it was scheduled: long travel, a very difficult place to play (BYU fans are nuts in pretty much every sport) and for how challenging of a game it is, still not the name cachet of a traditional power team (even though BYU is now in the Big 12).
That said, it will be an interesting experience for the players, and Southern is kind of playing with house money after two straight FBS wins. Openers are always hard to predict, but in general I don't have a very good feeling here.
Didn't really like this game when it was scheduled: long travel, a very difficult place to play (BYU fans are nuts in pretty much every sport) and for how challenging of a game it is, still not the name cachet of a traditional power team (even though BYU is now in the Big 12).
That said, it will be an interesting experience for the players, and Southern is kind of playing with house money after two straight FBS wins. Openers are always hard to predict, but in general I don't have a very good feeling here.
I think Kansas bought our game out in favor of Lindenwood which led to a scramble
