Playing defense is tough. You are always in a state of trying to figure out what the offense is doing and react to it. As a result you get tired quicker than you do on offense.

The current defensive scheme ensures that they are on the field for an inordinate about of time. It might not give up large plays, but it spends a lot of time on the field and wears the players down over the course of a game.

Conversely, an offense thrives when it spends lots of time on the field. It has a chance to get in a rhythm and wears the opposing defense down. There will always be series when the offense sputters, and the biggest gift the defense can give is to get the ball back in the offense’s hands as quickly as possible.

BYU’s defense is currently built in a way that minimizes the time and frequency with which the offense gets the ball and maximizes the amount of time that the opposing offense is on the field. Never lets the offense get in a groove due to infrequent possessions and lags between possessions. It cedes field position continually and with the length of time on the field ensures that it will tire out as the game wears on.

This is why the TOP metric is highly correlated with winning. TOP implies short defensive stands, and long/many offensive possessions that increase the likelihood of scoring. Reduce the TOP (barring an offense that is a quick strike threat) and you reduce the chances to score.

This scheme will never be successful regardless of players or execution as it simply is structurally set up to fail.