After being thoroughly outplayed and losing two games in a row, the Cougars were tasked with trying to get back on track with a road game against the Liberty Flames.
Even though the Flames have only been an FBS school since 2018, they were 6-1 coming into this game. Liberty may have not had the same level of talented recruits as BYU but they have been playing good football this season and the Cougars have been struggling.
Kalani Sitake and the rest of the coaches would need to get their players re-energized and re-focused for them to have a chance to win this game. I have discussed the Cougars’ struggles since the Oregon game, but this week was a chance for them to break the losing streak and gain some momentum for the back half of the season.
Game recap
Unfortunately for BYU, they continued to struggle in this game. After the Cougars started off strong with a 14-3 first quarter lead, they looked as though they had turned the page and were back to performing well on the field.
However, their hot start was not sustainable as Liberty dominated the rest of the game. The Flames outscored BYU 17-0 in the second quarter, turning a lead into a 20-14 halftime deficit.
The Cougars still had a good chance to win the game in the second half but they were once again outplayed. Liberty scored 21 points in the second half, while the Cougars were not able to put any points on the board.
The statistics also showed a very one-sided story. The Flames had 547 total yards of offense, while the Cougars were only able to gain 258 yards. Once again BYU was outplayed in all aspects on Saturday.
What now?
Another embarrassing performance for the Cougars on Saturday puts them at 4-4 on the season. With the way that this team is playing, it may be a struggle for this team to put together any more wins the rest of the way.
This season has been a huge disappointment after BYU came into 2022 with most of their starters returning from last year’s 10-win team. Fans of the team are very upset with how the team has been performing recently, and many are questioning if there will be any changes made to the coaching staff during the midway point of the season.
Since this season has been such a disappointment, the team will need to figure out the issues that they are having quickly as they look forward to moving to the Big 12 Conference next season. If this type of play continues into next year it could be really ugly for the Cougars and they would be fighting to even win six games to be bowl eligible. If they are already struggling to be bowl eligible this season with a lesser schedule, next season could be hard to watch if nothing changes.
Hopefully, the coaches can find a way to fix the many apparent issues that the team is facing. BYU has not had this many struggles as a team since the 2017 season but this year’s team is much more talented, so it has been much more disappointing and frustrating. This team has the talent to win the remaining games on their schedule but they will need to be much more disciplined and play with more passion to do so.
Up next
The Cougars look to snap a three-game skid when they welcome East Carolina to Provo next week.
The game will take place on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN2.
