BYU Football Game Week — at No. 21 Arizona State

"On to the next game. We have our matchup against Arizona State. Obviously last week didn’t go well. We have got to find a way to get better and learn from it. There were too many mistakes to overcome. That’s hard to do against a really good team. Kansas is not an easy opponent. There is a lot of parody in the conference. Anyone has a shot in the conference, especially when you make too many mistakes as a team. Even though it happened, we all have to learn from it, and myself included as a head coach. We have to get ready for the next one. Arizona State has done a lot of good things. Kenny Dillingham is a really good coach. I have a lot of respect for him. You can tell he has a great connection with his players. He's a local kid from that area, so he grew up as an ASU fan. He knows what that program can do. He brought in a staff the right way, with them being local too. I know a lot of guys on his coaching staff who are really good men. They are talented. It’s a difficult matchup on the road. It will be a little better weather than what we are having here. The goal is for us to, like we’ve said every week, stay humble and stay hungry. There are a lot of things to learn. But there are also still some really good things to praise. I like the way [ASU] plays the game. It’s going to be a cool matchup. And I hope it brings out the best in us. We are going to need that going into Saturday."

 

"There is a fine line between it all. The key to execution is limiting all the mistakes. All that should be cleaned up. There is also some room for improvement where you can install some stuff. You want to have a good foundation that you can lean on, but that’s the stuff that everyone knows is coming. Both of those things give you a favorable matchup depending on who you are going against. That’s what we are trying to get done obviously. It’s worked quite a bit. They are getting in the red zone, but we just have to score touchdowns. It’s hard to get in the red zone, and only kick field goals. Even though we have a good kicker like Will Ferrin, you are going to need to score touchdowns. It gives you a little more motivation. That’s what we are focusing on. We will get there."

 

"It was a bunch of things. It’s from poor execution and communicating better. This is what it comes down to. You have to give credit to Kansas for making the plays. That’s just part of the game of football. Everyone would like to be perfect, but the key is the opportunity to make plays. The worst case scenario is three points, and then it’s a successful drive. It’s hard when you come away with nothing. We cannot come up with zero points in that situation when we are in there."

 

"We are going to focus on the game. But, you look at the strong LDS community in the area, especially the Phoenix area. There are a lot of connections and a lot of people we know there. We are bordering states, so naturally that comes with being familiar with each other and not knowing anyone on the other side. That is going to be part of it. Looking at what they do as a team, you can’t be anything but impressed with how they are coached, how they players play and the results they are getting. They are ranked for a reason. I feel this connection to them because no one cared about us before the season. None of you guys even predicted this happening. So, to have this game come with a lot of meaning is really cool. That’s a huge compliment to their coaches, staff and fans. It’s going to be fun to go down there and have this matchup. We know there are people in the area that are fans of both, so it’s fun to be in the same conference."

 

"He’s a really good player. He’s super athletic, has an accurate arm and has a really good football IQ. He’s dangerous. He’s got a lot of football to play. He’s thriving in his role at ASU. It’s going to be a difficult matchup for us for sure. It’s good to see good young men that you know from amazing families get what they want. The sky's the limit for him. Hopefully we just don’t see that great type of performance this weekend."

 

"We had to explain that in the locker room that there is a little bit on the line. We are still sitting at the top of the conference. But really, that stuff doesn’t matter. We explained to them how we are focused on trying to win the next game. The system and process is still the same. We have to get ready for Super Bowl 11. Obviously. Super Bowl 10 didn't go our way. We have to move on to the next one and find ways to get better. You can’t let the sting of a game affect the next week, and that’s what we have to get back to. I feel like this will be a good lesson for our guys and a moment for us to learn. It’s a really good position for us to be in, and that’s really why I love our partnership in the Big 12. There is still a lot to play for still. That is going to be our focus. With all that being said and done, let’s get back to playing our best and if we can do that then we can live with the result."

 

"It seems like Kansas did a lot of unique and different things that we weren’t prepared for and didn’t see on film. We give a lot of credit to them for making plays. What matters is that we need to hold them to less points. I know Jay and the rest of the defensive staff felt like we could’ve played better. The defense could’ve done more. Let’s fix these things right away, and not make the same mistakes going into Saturday. Let’s combine that with motivating them in things that they did well. Otherwise, we are too focused on the negative things when they actually did some good things. We didn’t do enough good things to overcome the mistakes that we made as a team."

 

"He’s a dangerous running back. You have to give credit to that offensive line. There are a number of running backs who can run the ball. Their offensive coach knows what he’s doing well. I really like the way he plays football. He’s physical and looks like he’s having fun. I am hoping we can get our guys ready for this. We have to be ready to stop them. They have so many players who compliment each other. We have got to find a way to answer it."

 

"They are opportunistic in ways to make plays. They are dangerous up front. A lot of physicality to their game. Tons of talent. Everyone usually gives a lot of attention to the offense, but their defense can play and has a ton of talent. You can tell they have a really good coach around their team. They are starting to feel confident and believe in themselves, and they should be. It should be a really cool matchup."

 

"They are banged up. That’s the game. Nobody should be feeling 100 percent. We might have to go in our depth a little bit. We’ve had others step up. But a lot of guys are banged up. This is tough man football. The difference between banged up and not able to go is you can’t expect it to be perfect. ASU is playing banged up, and so are we. That’s what happens when you play football in the 11th game. It’s a matter of who is willing to make those plays. It is going to hurt anyways, so we might as well try to make it work in our favor. We can really lean on the depth of our team to alleviate some of the banged up guys. You have to learn how to play with a little bit of soreness. We just have to keep going."

On defensive performance from Kansas to preparing for ASU
“We take the victories in that game and the stuff we did good, and we try and translate it onto this next game. We just keep playing our game. The standard on defense doesn’t change. Coach Hill has made sure of that each game we go into. The game didn’t go our way but we’re still going to play hard on defensive no matter who we’re playing. That’s the standard and that’s what we’re going to do.”

 

On the identity of the 2024 BYU football team
“The identity is that we're going to play hard no matter who we're playing. You can pick us to lose, you can pick us to be underdogs, but it doesn't matter to us. We're going to believe in ourselves, no matter what game we're playing, no matter what team we're playing. Arizona State is just another game on our schedule that we need to win and play hard through and that's our identity.”

 

On facing ASU running back Cam Skattebo
“Yeah, I mean, you said it. He's a great player, and he's got a great offensive line blocking for him, but our main goal on defense is to stop the run, and that's not going to change who we're playing. Obviously, Skattebo is a heck of a player, and he’s done a lot of great things this season, but our mentality and our mindset is not going to change. We’ve still got to cover the receivers. We’ve still got to get turnovers any way we can. So, yeah, we're definitely going to keep our eye on Skattebo the whole game and play our style of defense.”

 

On physical health at this point in the season
“I feel great. I know we’ve got some guys on our team that are banged up, but I think our strength and conditioning coaching staff has done a great job of making sure that we're as good as we can be. But as far as feeling banged up, you know, Coach Kalani said everyone's banged up, but that's just part of football and playing in November. So we’ve got to dig deep in our culture and in our roster and find guys that are willing to play and put their bodies on the line. I think we’ve got no shortage of that around here. So, yeah, I'm feeling good about where we are physically.”

 

On team mindset after last week’s loss
“It was a game that got away from us and props to Kansas, they put a great game against us. And, you know, it happens. It's football. Not a lot of teams go undefeated, but we’ve just got to take the lessons we learned and apply them to this week and just get back to BYU football. That’s playing our hardest matter who we're playing and we’ve got to do that on Saturday.”

On assessment of offensive struggles in the red zone
“I would say that we just need to execute better and trust in the play calls. Usually it's just one or two things that needs to be fixed to be able to get in the end zone. We just have to each double down on each one of us doing our one-eleventh and if we do that, then we'll be able to put the ball in the end zone.”

 

On this week’s approach
“I think we need to double down on what’s gotten us here to be 9-1. Obviously, we didn’t want that ending to go like that, so just doubling down on what’s gotten us here and to trust in each other, trust in our coaches, trust in the culture that we've built here, and elevate ourselves to that.”

 

On personal history with ASU
“Yeah, it's definitely going to be a fun game, just because it's like 10 minutes away from home. And I definitely have history with ASU. My uncle is the Associate Head Coach over there right now. It’ll just be fun to be close to the family and have them all come out. But at the end of the day, it's the next game up, and we're focused on beating Arizona State and preparing for what they have to offer.”

 

On talk of tight ends not being used as heavy
“I think everybody in every position wants to get the ball more, but all we're focused on is executing the plays that are called, and when the ball comes our way to make a play and to go do what we can for the team in that aspect. I think more so than anything, us tight ends have an opportunity to affect the play, almost every play that we play. So to be able to embrace that and to do our best in those aspects is what I think about that question.”

 

On playing another team (like BYU) that had low expectations for the season in a game that has big implications for the Big 12 Championship
“Well, I think it'll be fun to be a part of the game. It's two teams that have similar mentalities. Like you said, we were both not projected to be where we are at right now, and I think that comes with a mentality that is needed to get to where both teams are at. So it'll be fun to be able to play against a team that has similar mentality as far as what other people have thought about them, and just happy and excited to be able to go to a good fan base and a good team that is having a lot of success, so it's a good challenge for us.”

 

On ASU’s defense
“From the little film that I've watched, they’re really high energy, high effort, a lot of good playmakers on that end. They’ve got a good coaching staff behind them, and they're coming off a good amount of a win streak and a lot of momentum on their side, so it'll be a good test for us.”

On the overall health of the team compared to last year
“Honestly, I feel like last year we had more injuries than we did this year, for sure, and it's due to our strength staff. They're taking care of us, like looking at our numbers and stuff. We wear these GPS’s out at practice, and it kind of just tracks everything that we do. So overall, I feel like we feel better, and we were playing a little bit faster than we did last year.”

 

On unlimited range on the field
“Honestly, just growing up playing every position. When I was in little league, I started off as a running back, and I played a little bit of safety. As soon as I got to high school, I played mostly receiver, and then just a little bit of safety as well, and then as soon as I got to college,  they thought defense was the position for me. So being able to play safety when I first got here, kind of taught me how to move side to side and widen out the field.”

 

On holding Kansas below their season norms
“I would just say playing good defense and having a good game plan. Jay Hill always gets us prepared with the good game plans. Basically, like the defenses that we run, he watches a whole lot of film. So I don't know, us just believing in Jay Hill's plan is a big factor in why we play good on defense.”

 

On the identity of the 2024 BYU football team
“I would say, when they swing first, we’ll see how we respond. We knew going into this game that Kansas was going to be a good team, and we just knew that we were going to have to bring everything. We fell short so this coming week, we're just going to have to see how we respond. I believe in our boys, and I trust our coaches, and I feel like this is going to help us stay on top of the little things, like Kalani emphasizes.”

 

On facing ASU running back Cam Skattebo
“He's a good running back, and knowing Jay Hill, we're going to be ready for the run. Me personally, I'm excited to go against a good back, just to see what our defense is really made of. We have a history of stopping good backs, so I'm excited to see what this game could be talking about.”