BYU's 20 seniors should be remembered for 'toughness,' 1-year turnaround

PROVO — No. 19 BYU enters the final game of the 2024 regular season with a two-game losing skid, but somehow (almost) everything to play for in front of it.

The Cougars (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) can clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game with a win over Houston, and some help — namely, a loss by Iowa State or Arizona State — as one of four teams that entered the final weekend tied atop the Big 12 standings.

A win is vital for BYU, because every scenario of earning a spot in the conference championship game (and by extension, a possible College Football Playoff berth) begins with a win.

But it's also vital for the 20 seniors who will be celebrating their final home game at LaVell Edwards Stadium (8:15 p.m. MST, ESPN). Those seniors include the following:

• Isaiah Bagnah; DE; Lethbridge, Alberta
• Mory Bamba; CB; Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
• Tyler Batty; DE; Payson, Utah
• Gerry Bohanon; QB; Earle, Arkansas
• Marque Collins; CB; Sacramento, California
• Sam Dawe; OL; Spanish Fork, Utah
• Caleb Etienne; OL; New Orleans, Louisiana
• Mason Fakahua; TE; Cedar City, Utah
• Cade Fennegan; QB; Dallas, Texas
• Keanu Hill; TE; Bedford, Texas
• Brayden Keim; OL; Sandy, Utah
• Darius Lassiter; WR; Chandler, Arizona
• Logan Lutui; DE; West Valley City, Utah
• Blake Mangelson; DT; Nephi, Utah
• Ray Paulo; TE; Pago Pago, American Samoa
• Connor Pay; OL; Highland, Utah
• Jakob Robinson; CB; Orem, Utah
• Hinckley Ropati; RB; Downey, California
• Mata'ava Ta'ase; TE; Mesa, Arizona

"It's been a long time coming, so it's a little bittersweet," said Batty, the Payson native who will play his final home game. "Having the opportunity to play one last game on that field means a lot."

Batty considered leaving after last year, with an NFL future and professional pastures in front of him. The 6-foot-5 pass rusher didn't make the final decision to return until late in the offseason, but he's glad he returned for a chance at 10 wins Saturday night against Houston (4-7, 3-5 Big 12).

Ending with nine wins or more, to say nothing of the chance of a bowl game, is much better than ending his career on the note that was the 5-7 season that was BYU's first in the Big 12.

"It definitely felt like a dress rehearsal last year, in some ways," Batty said. "It felt like my last game here, or my last game on the road, or my last game at LaVell. This year, it's allowed me to just play football and not worry about that stuff as much, honestly, while also being really grateful for the opportunity I've had to come back for another year."

He's also grateful to be able to try to snap a two-game losing skid rather than the four-game skid the Cougars were trying to end before last year's season finale at Oklahoma State.

In reality, returning for one more season has been everything Batty had hoped it would be.

"With a couple hiccups, of course," he added. "But it's been everything we've planned on it being."

The same goes for Pay, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound starting center who returned for one final year to help lead BYU's turnaround from bottom of the conference to a likely top-four finish.

But the same legacy of a group of players who refused to let their tenure end on a slump is what the former Lone Peak standout hopes his Class of 2024 is remembered for the most, for that "toughness" and "resilience," he said.

"We hope we represented BYU the right way as we carried it into the Big 12," he added. "We're a group that, regardless of how things were going, we always showed up and never backed down even when things were going poorly.

"The resiliency to come back from how tough things were last year and try to help lead the team to where we are now, I hope that's the legacy we can leave."

Isaiah Bagnah hasn't been at BYU for as long as Pay or Batty. But the 6-foot-4, 245-pound defensive end from Lethbridge, Alberta, by way of Boise State is beyond grateful for the final two years of his collegiate career.

It's been a long journey and a longer "process" since the teenager at Lethbridge Collegiate Institution took a chance on another country, another variation of American football, and eventually, another collegiate culture in BYU.

But "everything's going to work out," as Bagnah would tell his teenage self, if he could.

"To come from the place that I did to make it to where I'm at now is beating a lot of odds," added Bagnah, who plans to play football professionally either in the NFL or in his home country in Canada. "It's coming to a different country, playing a different style of football, doing different things to get recruited. It takes faith to go through all that, and to make it to where I have come so far. But I just trusted in God, in myself, in my ability, to know that everything would work out if you put the work in for it."

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