A new era begins for BYU as they join the Big 12 after a dozen years of being an FBS Independent team. However, the road will be tough for the first year Big 12 team. BYU has a new defensive coordinator and that could be the key to BYU’s success in year one of their Big 12 tenure. Can head coach Kalani Sitake get this team over the hump in the Big 12? Here is the preview for the 2023 BYU Cougars.
Offense
With Jaren Hall leaving for the NFL, the Cougars desperately needed a signal caller. In comes Kedon Slovis from the transfer portal. Slovis played for Pittsburgh last season and put up 2,397 passing yards to go along with 10 passing touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He is a solid quarterback that should help BYU’s offense flourish like it did a season ago. Another big transfer that BYU brought in is UNLV RB Aidan Robbins. Robbins rushed for just over 1,000 yards last season and had 9 touchdowns as well. These two are going to be the big-time playmakers for this Cougars offense in 2023.
One negative for Slovis is that he will have to work with a pretty thin receiving core. The Cougars bring back Kody Epps, Keanu Hill, and Chase Roberts. However, they desperately need some more help in the receiving group. BYU’s offensive line has some question marks and they got some help in the transfer portal. They brought in center Paul Maile from Utah and right tackle Caleb Etienne from Oklahoma State. Both of those men are going to be essential to BYU’s offense succeeding in 2023.
Defense
BYU’s defensive staff got a real makeover after last year’s horrendous showing. They brought in Jay Hill to give the defense the retool that they need to succeed in the Big 12. In the front seven, the Cougars brought in defensive end Isaiah Bagnah from Boise State and linebacker AJ Vongphachanh from Utah State. Both will look like starters for this BYU team that need to take a step forward after last year’s disaster of a season defensively. I think another key playmaker in the linebacker group is going to be senior Max Tooley. Tooley had three interceptions from the linebacker spot and added 57 total tackles. He is going to take that next step forward and help this BYU defense.
In the secondary, they brought in Eddie Heckard from Weber State. He could be a factor for the Cougars. They bring back cornerbacks coach Jernaro Gilford, who is going to help this secondary out tremendously. BYU will be looking for a big sophomore leap from Micah Harper. The safety was the third in the team in tackles last season and will look to take that number one spot on the team. BYU’s secondary can be the difference in this team’s success in their first year in the Big 12.
Win Total Bet
The win total is set at 4.5 on the FanDuel sportsbook, with the over set at -188 and the under set at +152 odds. Offensively, the Cougars will lean on the Slovis and Dobbins combination. However, defensively the issues will need to be resolved before conference play begins. With the high scoring teams in the Big 12, if the defense can be two times better than they were in 2022, there’s a shot that they can be a threat to some teams in the Big 12. I think the Cougars just go over their win total bet of 4.5, but I don’t think that they go much higher than that.
Schedule Predictions
Win vs Sam Houston State (1-0)
Win vs Southern Utah (2-0)
Loss at Arkansas (2-1)
Loss at Kansas (2-2)
Closs Loss vs Cincinnati (2-3)
Loss at TCU (2-4)
Win vs Texas Tech (3-4)
Loss at Texas (3-5)
Win at West Virginia (4-5)
Win vs Iowa State (5-5)
Loss vs Oklahoma (5-6)
Loss at Oklahoma State (5-7)