{"id":247290,"date":"2025-10-24T00:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/247290\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T00:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T00:05:17","slug":"how-does-this-current-byu-defense-compare-to-last-years-big-12-best-group-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/247290\/","title":{"rendered":"How does this current BYU defense compare to last year\u2019s Big 12-best group? \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

When BYU last faced Iowa State in November 2023, the Cougars couldn\u2019t stop the Cyclones.<\/p>\n

Iowa State scored on seven of its first nine drives, averaged more than 7 yards per play, went 8 of 14 on third down and scored a season-high 45 points, embarrassing BYU from start to finish to mark one of the lowest points of the Kalani Sitake era.<\/p>\n

Cougars on the air<\/p>\n

No. 11 BYU (7-0, 4-0) at Iowa State (5-2, 2-2)<\/p>\n

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDTAt Jack Trice StadiumTV:\u00a0FoxRadio:102.7 FM\/1160 AM<\/p>\n

But the Cougars have come a long way in the 712 days since that 45-13 setback \u2014 especially on defense. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Special Collector’s Issue: “1984: The Year BYU was Second to None”<\/p>\n

Get an inclusive look inside BYU Football’s 1984 National Championship season.<\/p>\n

Jay Hill\u2019s group was the best in the Big 12 during 2024\u2019s 11-2 campaign, and BYU has continued to see strong success on that side of the ball in its 7-0 start to 2025.<\/p>\n

Hill, of course, still wants to see more, especially as the Cougars\u2019 schedule ramps up to the max over the next four games against Iowa State, Texas Tech, TCU and Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had moments where we were outstanding, and then moments where we got to clean things up,\u201d Hill said. \u201c(Starting) 7-0, if you\u2019d asked me that at the start of the year, I\u2019d have taken it for sure. I think statistically speaking, there\u2019s some things that we can still clean up right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2024, BYU stood atop the conference in points (19.6) and yards allowed (308.8) per game, while also leading the nation with 22 interceptions from 12 different players.<\/p>\n

Through seven games this season, the Cougars are no longer top dog in the Big 12 defense business \u2014 Texas Tech is on another level \u2014 but BYU\u2019s stats are even better than they were this time a year ago. <\/p>\n

The Cougars are only giving up 15.6 points and 293 yards per game, while ranking fourth nationally in red-zone defense (66.7%) and with an overall stop rate<\/a> of 69.8%.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re better in the scheme right now,\u201d Hill said. \u201cWhen we have all of our veteran dudes in there, I think we\u2019re really, really good. We\u2019re more stout inside than we were a year ago. I think there\u2019s just an overall better understanding of just what we\u2019re trying to get accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against Utah, though they allowed 470 yards of offense, the Cougars rose to the occasion when the stakes were highest, stopping the Utes short four times on fourth down, with two such stands coming in the red zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest thing with our defense is execution,\u201d defensive end Logan Lutui said. \u201cWe have the pieces to be a really great defense, but it all comes down to everybody doing their part, making the plays when the play comes to you, executing the assignment that you have, and I think everybody\u2019s taken that pretty well, so I\u2019m really impressed by our defense so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

While BYU likely won\u2019t eclipse last year\u2019s sky-high interception total, the Cougars are currently on pace to finish with more sacks than they did in 2024 \u2014 no small feat considering they didn\u2019t bring back any previous defensive line starters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re better in the scheme right now. When we have all of our veteran dudes in there, I think we\u2019re really, really good. We\u2019re more stout inside than we were a year ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill<\/p>\n

Facing Utah\u2019s highly-touted, NFL talent-filled offensive line last week, BYU sacked Devon Dampier three times \u2014 doubling his season sack count up to that point \u2014 with such a performance potentially showing a sign of things to come for the Cougars\u2019 pass rush. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I think it just shows who we are,\u201d Lutui said of BYU\u2019s sack success against Utah. \u201cI think up to that point we\u2019ve been getting close to sacks but never really been able to finish, so it was good to actually have it all come together, and even in that game we left some (sacks) out on the field, too. So it just shows us where we could be, we\u2019re still moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linebacker Jack Kelly had one of the sacks on Dampier, upping his team-high season tally to five. Just the fact Kelly played against Utah \u2014 let alone notched a sack \u2014 was remarkable considering the seemingly serious upper-body injury he suffered two weeks before. <\/p>\n

But Kelly fought to get back on the field after being held out of Oct. 11\u2019s trip to Arizona, and while he may not have been 100% healthy against the Utes, Hill has much more current confidence about his star\u2019s ability to contribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at him on the sack that was so critical on fourth down, he looked like a freak coming off the edge super fast, he looked like Jack. And then there were times where it looked like his shoulder was hurting him still,\u201d Hill said of Kelly. \u201cThis week he looks way better than last week. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know that anybody (with such an injury) could have been there in practice, and he was. He\u2019s just a tough dude that is already back (from) an injury where most people would not be back right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly and company will be tasked on Saturday with corralling Rocco Becht, one of the most experienced and proven passers in the Big 12. The redshirt junior has 57 career passing touchdowns under his belt \u2014 two having come against BYU in 2023 \u2014 and keeping him in check will be critical for the Cougars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Rocco Becht\u2019s competitive nature,\u201d Hill said. \u201cHe can throw it, he can run it, he\u2019s really smart. Rarely does he go to the wrong spot with the ball. I mean, he looks like a guy that\u2019s played a lot of snaps in the Big 12 and started a lot of games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Lutui: \u201cRocco\u2019s a really great quarterback from what we\u2019ve watched on film. He\u2019s able to really coordinate his offense well. I think if we get to where we\u2019re supposed to be with our game plan \u2014 we have a really good game plan \u2014 so being able to iron out all the details these last couple practices, I think we\u2019ll be in a really good position.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"IowaIowa State quarterback Rocco Becht escapes a sack from Miami defensive lineman Rueben Bain Jr., during the Pop Tarts Bowl Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. | AP <\/p>\n

Facing Becht\u2019s Cyclones Saturday in Ames isn\u2019t just an opportunity for BYU to win an eighth-straight game. It\u2019s a chance for the Cougars to completely bury the demons of their 2023 loss to Iowa State, showing that their recruiting success and improved depth since then has helped them become tougher and more physical as a group that doesn\u2019t get gashed for 40+ points anymore.<\/p>\n

BYU has flipped the script defensively over the past 712 days. On Saturday, Hill\u2019s Cougars could prove that louder than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something that we haven\u2019t forgotten about, even us being where we\u2019re at right now, that\u2019s something that we still remember pretty clearly,\u201d Lutui said of the 2023 loss. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that they came in here and they did such a great job, and we didn\u2019t really answer back the way we wanted to. So, we\u2019re grateful. We don\u2019t get many second chances. So we\u2019re grateful that we do and we\u2019re going to make the most of it, so that\u2019s what we\u2019re prepared for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"BYU linebackers Siale Esera (54) and Bodie Schoonover (48) celebrate an effective rush on Utah quarterback Devon Dampier (4) as they play at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When BYU last faced Iowa State in November 2023, the Cougars couldn\u2019t stop the Cyclones. Iowa State scored…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[40544,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-247290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-byu-cougars","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}