BYU’s (4-4) blowout loss to Liberty (7-1) on Saturday dropped the program to new lows this year as the Flames routed the Cougars 41-14 at Williams Stadium in Lynchburg, Virginia.
After beating then-No. 9 Baylor at home and climbing as high as No. 12 in the polls to start the season, the Cougars have since gone backward — going 2-4 and have looked worse and worse with each passing week.
Saturday’s performance summed it up perfectly as the Cougars scored a season-low 14 points and gained just 258 yards of total offense. Meanwhile, Liberty — which narrowly beat Gardner-Webb 21-20 the week before, outgained BYU 547 to 258.
The 3-game losing streak has been frustrating on many levels. The team brought back 18 returning starters, however, in the last three weeks, the Cougars have shown they probably couldn’t beat very many high school teams at this point.
In every phase of the game, the Cougars have struggled. Offense, defense, and special teams. The team woes and frustration were so apparent, that many alumni were calling out the coaches and players for the pathetic showing on Saturday.
Here’s how fans and former players reacted to the loss.
Thanks to all of you who urged me to take @LibertyFootball rather than WVU as my superdog. Maybe we will make this a weekly thing
— Rece Davis (@ReceDavis) October 22, 2022
I mean ain’t no way we can keep watching this and be like … you know what let’s keep this defensive strategy up…
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) October 22, 2022
So it’s a joined group effort! I’m not here to bash scheme or players that’s not what I wanna do … I’m just saying in general that something has to change up when stuff isn’t working for a couple weeks. I’m not lookin for perfection let’s just get some fight!
— Kyle Van Noy (@KVN_03) October 22, 2022
Man, how bad does Baylor, Wyoming and Utah State feel right now?
— Greg Welch (@ArtDirectorBYU) October 22, 2022
Ryan Smith must’ve accidentally sent the “We need to tank” email to the BYU Football program instead of Danny Ainge.
— Jake McCleary (@JMCCLEARY_10) October 22, 2022
This is the same effort I gave when home teaching was a thing.
— Jerry O (@801saltlake) October 22, 2022
Never seen a defense lose contain this frequently.
Ever.
And that's just the beginning of BYU's issues.
So many problems.— Hans Olsen (@975Hans) October 22, 2022
Handing out career highs. Run blitz, pass blitz, bring 5, bring 6, bring a safety, a corner. For the love, please do something different.
— Andrew Rich (@andrewrich22) October 22, 2022
Drives since that point:
TD
TD
FG
TD
TD
TD
TD
TD
DownsFG
INT
TD
TD
FG
TD
TD
Fumble— Nate Copier (@NathanCopier) October 22, 2022
I just feel really bad for the players and coaches right now that represent this defense…
Like.. My heart goes out to them..
— Benjamin Criddle (@CriddleBenjamin) October 22, 2022
And 2022 has now severely under performed compared to its expectations….
Not sure how this BYU team became worse at football than they did a year ago despite returning so much talent and experience.
Coaches collectively need to evaluate what has happened and why…
— Benjamin Criddle (@CriddleBenjamin) October 22, 2022
I played for the 2017 team that went 4-9 and we were horrible…this 2022 team is playing bad but definitely not as bad as we were playing…don’t mix those seasons up because this team has 5x more talent than we did that year…still a chance for 8-4
— Trajan Pili (@TRAYpili9) October 22, 2022
To give perspective and understanding on BYU’s defense…the entire scheme ,regardless of Tuiaki or Kalani calling plays, is based off of the Dline DOMINATING the game…if they don’t do that it doesn’t matter how good the back 7 is or what the play is…
— Trajan Pili (@TRAYpili9) October 22, 2022
Every BYU fan right now watching this game pic.twitter.com/VicNDCOzDS
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) October 22, 2022
How did Gardner-Webb stop this absolute offensive juggernaut that is the Liberty Flames?!
— Jonny Linehan (@jlinehan9) October 22, 2022
Ok can we get something straight… you don’t have to blindly “support” your team. You’re allowed to show passion & critique things. I’m not going to use hashtags or get personal, but don’t get confused.. being disappointed and expecting more doesn’t mean I don’t support the team.
— Jonny Linehan (@jlinehan9) October 22, 2022
I thought this Liberty game was a trap game prior to the season, but this? THIS???
— Brandon Gurney (@BrandonCGurney) October 22, 2022
2017 easily. Our defense has extreme issues. I don’t see any defensive coach keeping their job and if they do then byu has a fundamental problem
— BYUfooter (@jasenec21) October 22, 2022
Is this what 2017 felt like? I’m sorry.
— Jonny Linehan (@jlinehan9) October 22, 2022
in 15 years of watching byu football this is the most frustrated I've ever been.
— Jackson Ringger (@chaachieeee) October 22, 2022
This is 100 times worse than Arkansas
— Patrick Kinahan (@PKKinahan) October 22, 2022
Kalani might want to fire Tuiaki before he gets fired himself
— Ys Guide (@YsGuide) October 22, 2022
