I contemplated coming on to MAKE A JOKE about blaming the D for the loss, only to find that many were seriously making that claim in a game where the O scored 17 points and had four turnovers and two turnovers on downs. And others blaming Hall (which is another discussion entirely).

Look, there is no magic three and out button. Nor apparently is there a magic 3rd and 11 button for BYU either. There’s no guarantees that you will get pressure with a blitz, or that you can’t get pressure rushing 3 or 4. It’s not like Madden where the same play call yields the same result more often than not.

The 6.5 minute after HT was brutally difficult to endure. And the great defenses of BYU’s past (of which there have been very few) would have bowed up after one of those fumbles and forced a FG or got a turnover. This is NOT one of the future great BYU defenses. But that doesn’t mean it sucks or the scheme is terrible.

While we look at the defense and see more athleticism and (potential) talent than many of us have ever seen on a BYU defense in our lifetime, we fail to consider a few things. 1) it’s still a young and somewhat patchwork defense; 2) we were really far behind in athleticism on defense, we’ve closed some of that gap but there is still a gap; and 3) increased athleticism is not the same as having playmakers to go get that stop on 3rd and 2 or 3rd and 11.

I watch more college football than anyone I have ever met (those of you who know me personally can attest to this). I also have the unique perspective of having been a HS DC. I can say definitively from my perspective (though maybe not as a true expert here as others on here might be) that we play a more conservative defense than most of college football, which I believe is a direct result of the three points above and the level of offensive ability we are facing this year.

For those that argue we ‘rush 3, drop 8’ all the time, you’re just wrong. We brought 4/5 guys plenty today (we might have brought 6 once or twice, but to quote Kalani I’d have to go watch the film). What we don’t have in any of those 4/5 guys is a CONSISTENT disrupter, at least not without Pili. Most top 25 teams/defenses have ‘that guy’ (or for top 10 teams one of those guys at each level of the defense). But most of those teams have multiple 4/5 star guys on their defense.

Pili was really the sole consistent playmaker on this defense, like Takitaki or Rob ‘the freight train’ Morris kind of guy. That loss hurts. We lose a big athletic body with great instincts. We replace with a combination of guys who possess 1-3 of the following traits: smaller, less instinctive, less athletic.

We can’t expect Chaz Ah You to move to LB and suddenly be able to take on a pulling guard, or even a lead blocking TE and win that battle frequently. He’s just too small. I used to attend the same ward as Manti Te’o when he was in college and he could barely walk at church the day after a game. And he was 250 pounds. It’s a physical game and 30-80 pounds is a lot to give up on a guy and win that battle consistently. Chaz can be a more consistent playmaker at SS, but it’s just less likely at LB.

We are playing much more man the past 12 games, which admittedly is a bit new for Tuiaki and he has to evolve here (and hasn’t improved too much), which would help a ton in third and long. It comes both from switching up coverages and disguising our pressure.

The last two games we have played man in third and long situations and ended up with our third or worse best ‘cover guy’ on their best WR. It created some easy mismatches for Thompkins and Shakir and makes the QB’s job easy. D-Lo (or even Herron) needed to be on Shakir in that situation EVERY TIME. And for the most part they were on the other side of the field or on the bench getting a breather. Go watch that third down catch by Shakir that set up the game clinching FG and watch what DB we have covering him. It’s not pretty and, in fact, was totally stupid. Third string ‘slow white guy’ safety.

When we bring five, it’s easy to identify which five are coming. They may stunt and twist but there’s no guessing. Many teams will put 7 up near the line and drop four out just before (or right after) the snap. Or they’ll sometimes actually bring all 7. OLs have to guess and guessing causes mistakes. They don’t have to guess with BYU right now.

There is a lot left to be desired from the defense, but it is 100% not their fault we lost to Boise State. They could have been better for sure but the offense gift wrapped as many points as it scored.

Some of the defense’s deficiencies are coaching. Some of it is just ability. We are getting there but we just don’t have the horses (on the field or in the booth) yet to play 6 tough games in a row.