Brigham Young Cougars striker Payton Wilgar, 49, passes a pass from Utah Utes quarterback Charlie Brewer (12) as BYU and Utah play an NCAA football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium in I try on Saturday, September 11, 2021. BYU won 26-17, ending a streak of nine defeats against the Utes. (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
PROVO – While he’s certainly climbing the ranks of the coaching staff’s notoriety and popularity, perhaps the least underrated man on the BYU campus remains defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki.
And while the Cougars still have plenty of ways to improve the overall defensive caliber of the 2021 season (the open field approach remains a prominent issue in two games of the season), there is no doubt that the greatest achievement de Tuiaki already bears fruit in one area: pressure from the defensive line.
All three sacks of the Cougars win over Arizona and then no. 21 Utah ranks No. 31 in the country, which has helped set a third-down conversion rate of 0.269, the 19th best national mark.
The two statistics are not officially connected, but are related. The more pressure a quarterback can feel, the more likely they are to face third and long situations and the less likely they are to finish them completely.
Even with its flaws, Tuiaki’s defense remains undervalued on campus. But here’s the thing: none of them care. Not even the defender himself.
“I feel like it hasn’t been appreciated much in the past few years,” said BYU advocate Lorenzo Fauatea. “We all trust him and everything he says. But Tuiaki is a guy who doesn’t care if he’s appreciated or undervalued. He’s just a guy who does his job.
“He’s a player’s coach. He listens to the players and we listen to him. Our system has been working.”
The first coordinator did one of his most outstanding coaching jobs a year ago, leading a BYU defense that ranked fourth in scoring defense (15.3 ppg) and the top 25 against running and road running. towards the 10th best total defense. in college football, statistically. And while the Cougars have had dynamic pins in the past, this year’s game-making harvest ends, appears, and defense includes fewer star-studded names, but equal or more production.
In many ways, and against an improved schedule, the Tuiaki boys have regained the place they left off, just 14 days after the 2021 season and after sending to the NFL, such as Khyiris Tonga, Isaiah Kaufusi and Chris Wilcox (among others).
Nowhere was it so obvious that after Saturday night’s 26-17 victory over the rivalry, where the Cougars stopped the Utes seven times in third downs and twice in fourth place. Even if BYU’s race didn’t always result in a sack or a loss attack, the defensive line was in charge of pushing a notoriously strong Utah line, controlling the beetle line, and doing that quarterback Charlie Brewer was as uncomfortable as he has been ever since. he was transferred from Baylor for his senior season.
It was the pressure that forced Brewer to throw a bad time that ended up in the hands of Chaz Ah You less than five minutes into the game, and the same pressure that ended up resulting in two sacks, five losing attacks and a fumble. collected from corner Isaiah Herron.
“I love it,” said Earl Tuioti-Mariner, first cousin of the Atlanta Falcons, who finished with Jacob Tuioti-Mariner after getting seven attacks against the Utes. “We’ve got sacks and pressures. These are game changes.”
Still, Tuiaki has done nothing different to curb the pressure. Nor have the other attendees, whose playbook has remained virtually the same, only with better execution, since they took over six years ago.
“It’s just a matter of what the players can do and how many guys they’re able to cover,” said safety coach Ed Lamb, who has worked on all staff as assistant head coach and team coordinator. specials. “He’s just determining who our best players are and then doing his best with them. I think Coach Tuiaki has been doing that for six years.
“There’s not a blitz we’ve run in the last two weeks that hasn’t been in our game book since we got here six years ago.”
Slow to dictate judgments and faster to designate compliments, Tuiaki is not alone in defensive appearance. When offensive line coach Eric Mateos followed offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes all the way to Baylor, he opened up two positions for BYU staff who only needed to replace one for offensive.
This allowed the Cougars to make a defensive reshuffle, promoting Kevin Clune from defensive analyst to defensive coach, moving Lamb from safety defenders, and pushing safety coach Preston Hadley to coaching defensive, hybrid, and high-end runners. to Tuiaki’s usual 4-3 lead.
The changes allowed each coach to focus on new or existing possibilities. He increased Hadley’s ability to put pressure from the edges, while being aware of the background field where he has coached at BYU since 2018.
With the ability to focus on training defensive attacks, BYU’s inside shooting has also been as strong as ever. And the Cougars haven’t made any major adjustments to it either.
If anything they are healthier.
“I guess we’re just trying to get the quarterback,” said Tuioti-Mariner, one of those defensive attacks who came back from surgery to repair a torn labrum a year ago and is finally back to health. “We can trust our guys and do a little more with what we’re doing. I wouldn’t say there’s anything different we’re doing, maybe we’re just performing better and trusting more.”
Through two games, Tuiaki’s defense has limited two Pac-12 South schools to 246 yards, including an average of 136.5 yards on the ground. Through a pattern of acrobatics, twists and bombings, the Cougars have taken a defense with 15 starters listed on the depth table and bombed more, at least anecdotally, than in six years.
Much of the merit of these additional pressures, whether they lead to a sack or not, is aided by an experienced defensive defensive field, led by junior protections Ah You and Malik Moore, and experienced cornerbacks D’Angelo Mandell and Isaiah Herron, among others.
What happens at the front starts at the back.
“It’s good that you can flash,” BYU defender Payton Wilgar said after posting four attacks, 1.5 loss attacks and two passing breaks against the Utes, “and we can only do that if we trust our defensive backs. our defensive backs to equip us, close us down and allow us to put pressure on the quarterback. “
The Cougars face an even bigger rival and a tougher clash on Saturday in their third straight Pac-12 South rival. Arizona State No. 19 visits LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first time since 1998, and BYU is looking for its 32nd win over a ranked team since 1974.
The Cougars are 4-2 in the last six games against ranked opponents after Saturday night. But next Saturday presents a formidable challenge.
The Sun Devils (2-0) have the 44th best offense in the country with 446 yards per game to add to their fifth-ranked defense that allows just 189.5 yards. Led by junior quarterback Jayden Daniels, who has 307 yards and two touchdowns in wins over Southern Utah and UNLV, ASU is a top 50 team with an efficiency score of 148.96 for 187 yards per game.
Arizona State’s passing defense ranks fourth in the Football Bowl Subdivision, allowing just 106.5 yards per game with a pass efficiency of 75.78.
It presents a challenge for a BYU defense that suddenly resurrects. But one that, as Tuiaki says in his defensive attacks before a three-man race, they should “enjoy.”
“Players like to be challenged to play as much as they can,” Lamb said, “or to create as much havoc as they can.”