BYU Football Head Coach Kalani Sitake walks off the SAB outdoor practice fields after practice at the start of spring camp in Provo on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024.
Before we present the Deseret News’ fifth-annual post-spring stab at BYU’s depth charts for the 2024 football season, a confession is probably in order.
While we got most of the 2023 projections right last April in regard to the offensive depth chart, we predicted that BYU’s offense under the direction of transfer quarterback Kedon Slovis would “keep on clicking in the Big 12 after (Jaren) Hall carried the Cougars last season (2022) when the defense faltered.”
“I thought we got better this spring. We still have a long way to go. But (there was) definite improvement, especially in our run game. We worked really hard at that this spring and I think we are heading in the right direction.”
BYU OC Aaron Roderick
Yeah, that turned out to be wrong; after going 8-5 in 2022 and averaging 426.3 yards per game with an offense ranked No. 36 in the country, the Cougars’ attack nose-dived in 2023 — even before they got into Big 12 play.
Remember the whopping 14 points and 257 yards the Cougars put up against Sam Houston in the opener? With Slovis getting hurt in the 35-6 loss to Texas, never to return, and Jake Retzlaff doing just OK but failing to deliver a win or many explosive plays in the final four games, BYU finished 118th in total offense and averaged just 309.8 yards per game.
The good news, when looking ahead to 2024, is that almost every skill position starter from 2023 is back, most notably quarterback Jake Retzlaff, receivers Darius Lassiter, Keelan Marion, Kody Epps and Chase Roberts and freshman sensation running back LJ Martin. The Cougars are trying to replace tight end Isaac Rex, running back Aidan Robbins and offensive tackle Kingsley…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/trickiest-part-projecting-cougars-2024-030000215.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-04-10 03:00:00
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