Eighteen missed tackles. That’s the brutal truth facing No. 8 BYU after their chaotic double-overtime loss to UCF this past weekend, a season-high mark that’s got to be fixed before Arizona State rolls into town. Forget the controversial officiating in those wild final minutes, Head Coach Kalani Sitake has already moved past the drama. He knows there are way bigger issues to tackle, literally.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: A Defensive Meltdown
Look, it would’ve been sweet to get some clarification on Saturday’s officiating, but Sitake isn’t dwelling. “I’ve moved on, it’s not really going to do much for me to cry about it,” he told reporters. He’s focused on ASU, and rightly so. Because for all the missed opportunities in Orlando, the missed tackles were *everywhere*. Pro Football Focus charged the Cougars with that devastating 18 missed tackles against UCF, and get this: it was their lowest regular-season defensive grade (62.3) since way back in 2023. This is not the standard, folks. BYU gave up 463 total yards, including a whopping 170 yards rushing, to a Knights offense led by their backup quarterback, Keyone Jenkins. Defensive tackle Justin Kirkland summed it up: “I feel like we were in positions to make plays, and just kind of didn’t finish up on the missed tackles and stuff like that, after watching the film.” He compared it to stubbing your toe in the middle of the night. Painful, right?
What Happened on Third and 17?
You want to talk about consequential? The biggest, most frustrating miss came on a third-and-17 play in the third quarter. Isaiah Glasker bounced off a bubble screen, letting a 56-yard gain happen for the Knights. Just moments later, UCF punched in a go-ahead touchdown. That’s the kind of play that haunts you. Sitake laid it out plain: “Their skill finds ways to make you miss, so we’ve got to be better tacklers, and be better tacklers who are working on tackling, working on body position, coming to balance, leveraging and spilling the right way, and everybody understands their 1/11th.” He’s right. When everyone tries to do too much, you get in trouble, cutting each other off, creating duplication, and that’s not good. “I mean, that’s not our style of play, and I’m really disappointed that it showed up, but we’ve got to fix it,” Sitake added, and you could feel the frustration.
Time to Rep It Out Before Arizona State
So, what’s the fix? Safety Raider Damuni believes it’s not some complex schematic overhaul. It’s about getting back to basics: “rep it out” in practice and locking in on tackling drills. “We don’t plan on going into a game trying to miss tackles,” Damuni said, which, yeah, obviously. But the message is clear: the fundamentals have to be nailed down, and they have to be nailed down *now*. Arizona State is next on the schedule, and if BYU wants to keep that No. 8 ranking from becoming a distant memory, the tackling woes have to disappear. It’s time to show that UCF game was an anomaly, not a preview of what’s to come.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply