BYU coach Kalani Sitake reacts on the sidelines during a game against Sam Houston State Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in Provo, Utah. Sitake will lead his team into Year No. 2 in the Big 12 this fall. | Rick Bowmer, Associated Press
During the dog days of preseason training camp, after his BYU football team had completed another practice in afternoon heat in Provo with temperatures soaring to the high 90s, Kalani Sitake was asked if the talent was in place for the Cougars to exceed expectations in 2024 and get back to a bowl game, at the minimum, in their second season in the Big 12.
The coach, who is entering his ninth season with a 61-41 career record at BYU, smirked slightly and enjoyed, for a fleeting second, yet another subtle suggestion that the Cougars — who went 5-7 last year and have lost five straight games — are in for another tough season in a Power Four conference.
“Yeah, we added pieces, we changed some things, we developed some guys,” Sitake said. “It is not like we thought we had the answer last year. So we made adjustments and I think we have done the right things with all the different variables that go into it. So I anticipate us doing better this year.”
Gone was the Sitake who came off as a little peeved, perhaps defiant, at the Big 12 football media days in Las Vegas in July when there was talk that BYU would do well just to win two conference games again against a tougher schedule that includes the teams predicted to finish in the top five in the league: Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona.
After a difficult nonconference schedule that begins Saturday versus Southern Illinois and then ramps up considerably with road games at SMU and Wyoming, BYU also has to play at Baylor, at Central Florida and at Arizona State. It is not a stretch to say that the Cougars will only be…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cougars-quiet-confidence-ll-exceed-030000531.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-08-31 03:00:00
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