Good enough? Assessing where BYU stands with three-fourths of the regular season in the books

With three games remaining on their regular season schedule, the BYU Cougars have clearly established themselves as a good college football team in 2026, with flashes of brilliance.

Look no further than BYU’s 28-24 win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame as evidence of that.

Have the 7-2 Cougars been great?

Not consistently, especially not in the past three weeks as they’ve lost 39-31 in double overtime to middling UCF, eked past Arizona State at home and then blown a golden opportunity to knock off undefeated Utah at Rice-Eccles by sleepwalking through the first five minutes, blowing a 20-14 halftime lead and committing four turnovers on the Utes’ side of the field.

Entering the home stretch, the final one-fourth of the season, beginning Saturday against extremely dangerous Baylor (4-2, 6-3) at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the Cougars will show whether they can rediscover that greatness or fall back into also-ran status in the Big 12 for the first time since 2023.

BYU (4-2, 7-2) has mostly met expectations and put together a decent season. Whether it becomes a great one will be determined over the course of the next several games, with Kansas and Cincinnati on the docket after the huge matchup with the defense-minded Bears on Saturday.

“We are getting into the last quarter of the season,” said head coach Kalani Sitake on Monday. “… I am excited to see our leadership step up and see our guys improve from (the Utah loss) to this game. I want the team to move on and reach its potential.”

A sobering thought is that Sitake’s recent teams have not been as good in November as they’ve been in other months. Since 2024, BYU is 5-4 in November and 25-2 in September, October and December.

Senior kicker Matthias Dunn, who is quietly having an outstanding season, said the Cougars’ culture will pull them through after an emotionally draining loss to Utah.

“What gives us confidence is that we are a very close team. We have really strong bonds with one another,” said Dunn, who is 9 of 10 on field goals and 33 of 33 on PATs. “That’s going to be really important going into this week. There’s not a lot of people who believe in us outside of the building, and we’re totally fine with that.

“I think what carries us through over the next three games is we just got to bond together and attack and give our best, regardless of whatever the outside noise might be,” Dunn concluded.

The deal with this BYU team is that it has shown the capability of beating any team on its schedule, having stunned Notre Dame in Provo and gone toe-to-toe with Utah on its home field, out-gaining the Utes 391-330 and recording 11 tackles for loss to Utah’s none.

It has shown an alarming penchant to play to the level of its competition, too, losing to the 5-4 Knights and barely edging TCU on a rainy night in Fort Worth.

That’s probably why ESPN’s FPI gives BYU a 42% chance of winning its next three games and only a 35% chance of making the College Football Playoffs.

Center Bruce Mitchell said Monday that it is a matter of getting back to what carried the Cougars to impressive wins over Arizona and Notre Dame.

“It is kind of what it has been all season, man,” Mitchell said. “We have to go 1-0 this week. We have to focus it all on Baylor. We have to put the loss behind us, like we would put a win behind us, and focus on being our best selves, having a great week of preparation, understanding the game plan, the call sheet, and then just going out there and executing.”

How should fans view the first three-fourths of the season?

Should BYU’s 7-2 start be viewed as a disappointment, given the high hopes that accompanied a program that won 23 of 27 games heading into the most-anticipated season in recent memory?

Certainly not, but if the Cougars stumble again before November ends it probably will be. That’s the nature of college football these days.

“We feel really good about all three phases, but we want to be great,” Sitake said. “That means we need to improve in all three phases.”

Generally, BYU’s defense has carried the team. The Cougars are tied for 32nd in scoring defense (19.78 ppg) and 21st in total defense (302.0 ypg).

If there’s a knock on this unit, it is that it lacks ballhawks (BYU hasn’t recorded an interception in its past five games) and struggles with tackling. Tackling issues hurt the Cougars badly in their two losses, as has been well-documented.

BYU is tied for 74th in turnover margin, with 11 gained and 12 lost. That’s not a formula for a successful season.

Offensively, the Cougars have lacked explosiveness outside the long passes to superstar freshman receiver Legend Glasker. Running back LJ Martin’s injury has obviously been a factor in that.

With 39 catches for 703 yards, Glasker is on track to post the best receiving season by a freshman in BYU history. Austin Collie had 53 catches for 771 yards and eight TDs in 2004.

BYU is 53rd in total offense (397.1 ypg) and tied for 49th in scoring offense (31.0 ppg).

Injuries to the offensive line have taken their toll, but it is encouraging that BYU leads the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed per game (1.89) and has allowed the fourth-fewest number of sacks per game (0.56).

And the Cougars have faced some top-notch defenses, including TCU (12th), Utah (15th) and Notre Dame (9th).

“The season comes down to which teams are going to be in the (Big 12) championship game,” Sitake said, establishing a glimpse, of sorts, on how the Cougars’ season should be judged. “Every week, teams are going to be eliminated and the picture will become clearer as we go along.”

As will the verdict regarding the 2026 season for the Cougars.

Cougars on the air

Baylor (4-2, 6-3) at BYU (4–2, 7-2)

• Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MDT

• At LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo

• TV: FOX

• Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM