Kalani Sitake on Cougs injury situation, see you week Deseret News

For more than 20 minutes during the lunch break on Monday, BYU football coach Kalani Sitake gave an opening statement and answered questions from reporters about the Cougars' 5-0 start to the No. 17 rankings, their injury situation, the successful fake punt in the 34-28 win over Baylor, whether a BYU player would ever quit his team for NIL reasons, and more.

But when it came time to say goodbye via Zoom and turn his attention to Monday practice and the bye week for his team, Sitake decided he wanted to get something off his chest.

One more thing to add, just to talk about it, he said, previewing what would happen next.

He then gently chided people who said or wrote that BYU became too conservative in the second half of its recent wins over Wyoming, Kansas State and Baylor, especially on offense.

There is a feeling that we are not aggressive in the second half when we are ahead. It's not true, he said. As we work through things, we are not a conservative team. We have been very aggressive. So in terms of being conservative, maybe we should have been a little bit more into this game, to be honest.

Sitake was referring to the fake punt on fourth-and-10 on BYU's first possession of the second half, which Sam Vander Haar ran 22 yards for a first down that resulted in a field goal to give the Cougars a 34-21 lead. He cited the first Baylor interception, which came on third-and-9, and the second interception, which came on third-and-2, as examples of BYU coaches being aggressive and backfiring.

At least we've had leads before and held them (against) Southern Illinois, Wyoming, Kansas State. So when people talk about our program and talk about our mentality, we are an aggressive team. We enjoy finding ways to make big plays. That's what we're going to do, he said. And as far as being a conservative, I would like to be a conservative. Maybe that would have been a little more successful in this game if we had done that.

Sitake reminded reporters that he has always been aggressive, especially on fourth down, and that he will continue to coach that way.

We are an intensive team. We want to be aggressive. But we're going to do what's best for the team when it comes to trying to win, he said. So appreciate you guys. But just when you look at the grand scale of things, we know what we're doing. We are working very hard on it. I just want everyone to see the whole game as they go through it, and criticize us, which we don't mind giving feedback. That works for us too. But make sure everything is up and running.

So there's that.

Now it's time to work on fundamentals and technique as some assistant coaches need to start the recruiting process. Sitake said he will be in Provo all week, conducting practices and scouting Arizona (3-1, 1-0), which hosts Texas. Technology this week.

On Monday, the Big 12 announced that the BYU-Arizona game will begin at 2:00 PM MDT on October 12 and will be televised by Fox.

I still want us to play better. I like the way the team went from week 1 to week 5. I think we have improved every week. Sitake said I would like to see us play our best ball when we face Arizona after the bye week. But with this bye week we are going to work hard. It is still practice. Some guys will heal because we don't play a game. But this is an opportunity for us to get better, so we're going to get back to work and practice just like we would in a normal week.

What is BYU's injury situation?

Sitake said no one suffered a season-ending injury against Baylor, but several guys suffered injuries and will be out for a while. Most notably, center Connor Pay left with a left leg injury and was on crutches in the second half cheering on his teammates.

Sitake said Pay is highly questionable for the Arizona game, and that freshman Sonny Makasini filled in admirably and will be in the mix to take on that role for the Wildcats. He said Austin Leausa and Bruce Mitchell are also capable of playing the former right guard position of Makasini.

Sophomore running back LJ Martin, senior running back Hinckley Ropati and freshman RB Sione I. Moa didn't play against Baylor Martin and Moa didn't even make the trip, but all three will be available for a week starting Saturday.

We should be at full strength at running back by the time we get to the game against Arizona, Sitake said.

Starting linebacker Harrison Taggart also left the Baylor game Aisea Ice Moa and Siale Esera replaced him, but is expected to be back next week for Arizona.

More from Monday's press:

• Sitake said special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga called the fake punt that Vander Haar, a former Australian Rules Football player, executed to perfection. Great work. So it was a planned forgery. Yes, and a great plan, perfectly executed. K Pop is doing a great job as a coach. “I'm excited to have him on the staff,” Sitake said.
• Last week, UNLV starting quarterback Matthew Sluka announced he would retire after leading the Rebels to a 3-0 start, claiming he had unfulfilled obligations. His agent later said this was because of an unpaid deal of $100,000 NIL.

Is there fear that a similar situation could occur at BYU?

No, Sitake said. We do not recruit with NIL as our focus. So that won't be a problem for us.