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LAWRENCE, Kan. — In many ways, the BYU football program was prepared for its Big 12 debut.
The Cougars jumped in the transfer portal often, adding depth on defense and a fifth-year starting quarterback in Kedon Slovis to replace NFL draft pick Jaren Hall, who is now with the Minnesota Vikings.
They added Aidan Robbins from UNLV, grabbed Colorado's leading rusher from a year ago in Deion Smith, and flipped LJ Martin — a four-star tailback by ESPN from El Paso — after a coaching change at Stanford.
New defensive coordinator Jay Hill boosted a new-look defense, including bringing FCS All-American cornerback Eddie Heckard and teammate Kamden Garrett from his previous stop at Weber State, and the Cougars even loaded up on the offensive line, plucking top additions from Oklahoma State, Utah, Utah State and Missouri State (among others) out of the transfer portal.
In a lot of ways, they were prepared for Big 12 play. Until, suddenly, they weren't following a 38-27 road loss to Kansas in the Cougars' first conference game since 2010.
Perhaps most stark, BYU (3-1, 0-1 Big 12) struggled to run the ball, averaging just 0.4 yards per carry when attempting 22 rushes. Yet again, Martin led the team with 28 yards on 11 carries — and added a 10-yard touchdown on a screen pass from Kedon Slovis.
But when BYU needed to run, admittedly against a Kansas team that focused on stopping it, success was fleeting — at best. Throw in an early 7-0 deficit and playing from as much as 15-down in the second half, and it became complicated, even if the Cougars wanted to establish the run more.
Still, no BYU rusher had a single run longer than seven yards.
"It seemed like the run game was tough sledding. So if the pass game is there, take it," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "But I'd like to see us get the ball in the end zone more. I think they forced us to kick some field goals instead of get in the end zone, and we definitely didn't take care of the football."
What's wrong with the Cougars' rushing attack, which ranked 125th out of 130 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivisions with 2.67 yards per carry and 78.3 yards per game through the first three weeks of the season?
"If I had the answer to that, I'd tell you guys. Maybe you guys can let me know," Sitake quipped with the media. "It's probably a combination of getting the guys' confidence back, and a lot of teams are trying to take the run away from us, which is fine. But when they do that, we've got to make them pay, and that's putting the ball in the air. When you throw the ball in the air, you've got to take care of the football; you can't throw interceptions ro take sacks. Kansas' game plan was to take the run away, and then they tried to make big plays with sacks and interceptions.
"We didn't make enough plays to counter it. That's the game of football … and I've got to do a better job to make sure our guys can have better success."
Slovis completed 31-of-51 passes for 357 yards and two touchdowns, accounting for all but nine yards of total offense with his arm.
He also threw two interceptions, including a pick-six, and was sacked thrice among seven tackles for loss behind an offensive line that resembled something of a triage unit by the end of the afternoon.
At one point, Brayden Keim — the backup tackle entered the game at right tackle to replace Caleb Etienne — was switched to left tackle to replace an injured Kingsley Suamataia. The Cougars had just given up a pick-six to Kenny Logan Jr., but drove to first-and-goal from the 9-yard line looking to pull one back.
But the makeshift line quickly gave up a sack, as Austin Booker slithered around Etienne for the 16-yard loss that forced BYU back into 34-yard field-goal territory.
"Those guys are good players; it's tough losing them," Slovis said of his linemen. "But I thought the other guys stepped up and did a fine job. I thought they did a good job creating a pocket for me.
"It's always a next-man-up mentality."
Tackle wasn't the only revolving door impacting the Cougars' offensive line. Earlier in the first half, Ian Fitzgerald — a former FCS All-American at Missouri State — replaced Weylin Lapuaho, the former 13-game starter at Utah State, to beef up the interior of the line.
BYU linebacker Ben Bywater, who led the team with 10 tackles, also didn't finish the game. And wide receiver Parker Kingston was knocked out with an apparent head injury after the third play of the game, when Cobee Bryant rocked the former Roy High quarterback, scooped up a loose fumble, and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring.
Sitake said no player was ruled out for the season due to injury, but several left David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in slings, braces and without their equipment.
With BYU entering a short week and a Friday game against Cincinnati that precedes general conference weekend of the school's sponsoring faith, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, that mantra of "next man up" may be tested, though.
"We just have to move forward and take the good things we can learn from," Slovis said. "We played a lot of good football. … Got to find a way to establish the run game. But there's a lot of good out there."
