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PROVO — If there was any consolation, it's that BYU didn't give up more than 500 yards of offense.
The Cougars didn't give up 548 yards, including over 300 on the ground, like they did in a 41-14 loss to Liberty a week before. So progress, right? Baby steps?
In every other way, the Cougars were out-played, out-matched and out-coached on their home turf by an East Carolina team seeking its second win over a Big 12 invitee in as many games.
The Pirates stormed into Provo with a two-game winning streak and stretched it to three with Andrew Conrad's walk-off 33-yard field goal to extend BYU's misery to four consecutive losses with a 27-24 loss Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
It's the longest losing skid since the Cougars' ill-begotten 4-9 campaign of 2017, the one that included a seven-game skid and led to frank dismissals of offensive coordinator Ty Detmer and a handful of former BYU standouts in Kalani Sitake's second season in charge. The skid marks just the 12th time since 1922 that BYU has gone winless in the month of October, and just the third time since 1974.
Another of those others, of course, is 2017. Remember what happened during that season?
The end of this season could lead to similar changes, but they won't happen until the end of the year, Sitake has repeatedly said. For now, it's up to the current players and coaches to figure out the best response.
"When I first got here, we experienced similar adversity, and it kind of came full circle," said running back Lopini Katoa, who redshirted the 2017 campaign and was named offensive developmental player of the year on the scout team. "The potential of this team is huge, and it's a weird feeling, but there are a lot of guys who were here when we were in a slump.
"I know we're going to keep working, and we're going to keep improving. That's just the nature of this team."
The pain of the program was evident a half-dozen years ago when BYU had just three wins before pulling off a minor stunner at Hawaii to capture any attempted momentum in the offseason. It led to changes on the coaching staff, changes across several personnel groups, and the eventual rise of a quarterback who would be taken No. 2 overall by the New York Jets.
But first, it led to pain. Lots and lots of pain.
"It's supposed to hurt," Sitake said after the latest setback. "Struggles and adversity are a tough thing, but I'm proud of our players and how hard they played. We were unable to get the win, but I love these guys and I love their attitudes.
"They played hard, but not well enough to beat East Carolina tonight. We'll get back to work, fight some more, and get ready for Boise next week."
In its wake, it led to some of the best moments of the Sitake era of independence, highlighted by the 11-1 season in 2020 that propelled Zach Wilson to superstardom and helped launch Tyler Allgeier from walk-on to the NFL, as well.
Neither of them were available to save BYU's season Friday night, nor were Dax Milne, Khyiris Tonga or any other former player that has made a living playing on Sunday since then. Chargers defensive back Michael Davis and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid all took in the home game, but both could only watch as the bad run of form continued at their alma mater.
What do you say to a team that has lost four in a row, where each loss feels more debilitating than the last? Kudos to Sitake, Katoa, Puka Nacua and Tyler Batty for attempting to explain another disappointment in front of the media.
"I didn't think it was bad," wide receiver Puka Nacua said of an offense that gained 388 yards and a defense that gave up 424. "Critical game execution and critical downs were the key, fourth-down conversions obviously; I don't think I caught a single deep ball, other than the blown coverage. I've got to do better. I'm a playmaker, a deep threat, and I didn't do that today."
Whether by defense or offense, the same mistakes keep handicapping the Cougars. The record plays a different song, but the album is the same: a loss, and a crippling one at that.
Barring an upset, BYU (4-5) will not be headed to a bowl game for the first time since that 2017 season. The Cougars need to win two of their final three games, including road trips to Boise State and Stanford, to even be eligible.
But can the same team that squandered chances at home against East Carolina, that was shut out over the final three quarters against Liberty, and that couldn't convert on fourth-and-1 against Notre Dame pull off a road upset against a Broncos team that has won three in a row since Dirk Koetter was named offensive coordinator?
A Cardinal team that is 3-4 but riding a two-game winning streak over Notre Dame and Arizona State doesn't seem much more favorable at Stanford Stadium, either.
Sure, the Cougars can fight. They can refuse to quit, and upsets happen. but that's what it will take: at least one upset.
"If anything, this has just brought us closer as a team," said Batty, who had two tackles and a tackle for loss Friday. "We've got a good group of dudes, and there's not a single quitter in our locker room."
