Kalani Sitake’s BYU cruised past Iowa State yesterday with a dominant 41-27 win. But the head coach wasn’t ready to hand out pats on the back. Instead, the HC issued a challenge to his whole team. Why? Despite the scoreline, Iowa State played neck to neck until the end of the third quarter, tying 27-27.

The performances weren’t without some errors from the defensive players. Kalani Sitake, in his recent press conference after the game, outlined how BYU allowed too many big plays. “We gave up a bunch of big plays, and so, if we can limit the offensive big play production. And not get as many big plays, I think we’d be better as a team.” Managing the Cougars team in his 10th season, Sitake was stern to his defensive players, since the next opponent is quite formidable in Texas Tech.

BYU is undefeated in the season and is cruising towards the Big 12 title game. Their next fixture is against the Raiders, who are close behind in Big 12 title contention with a 7-1 record. No wonder Sitake felt the need to school his players despite winning by a significant margin against Iowa State. Not just that, the HC also nudged his players to capitalize on the importance of the bye week in between.

“We have a bye week coming up. We’ll take advantage of it, get an early start on Texas Tech. Use our second buy differently than we did the first bye. Because the science tells us to. And so we’ll do everything we can to get our team ready mentally, physically, and spiritually,” said Sitake. Surely avoiding big plays will be a big onus for BYU, considering the plays Iowa State had.

For instance, just in the opening drive of the game, Iowa State executed a 75-yard touchdown drive. Guess how many plays it took Iowa State to cap it off? Just two, and one of them was the kickoff. So, it took just a single 75-yard touchdown pass to get those 6 points, which surely shows the brilliance of Brett Eskildsen and Rocco Becht. But it also raises questions about the pass rushers and BYU’s secondary to allow it. This isn’t the only case in the game, which can surely make things tricky against Texas Tech. Not to mention, Sitake also has an injury on his roster.

Kalani Sitake opens up about his leading RB’s injury

Apart from that 75-yard touchdown pass, BYU also allowed explosive plays on the ground. The 52-yard drive for Iowa State in the second quarter. The Cyclones managed to rush past a whopping 28 yards after a no-huddle shotgun. To make things worse, Iowa State again got a first down, owing to a 24-yard pass by Rocco Becht. If not for an interception on the third play, the score would have been something else. Adding more concerns to this is the injury to BYU’s leading rusher.

Running back LJ Martin was rushed to the medical tent against Iowa State and left for the locker room with trainers. Now, head coach Kalani Sitake has relayed some optimism regarding his injury. Although he remained cautious about the RB’s ‘speedy’ recovery. “Preston was able to step in, and Enoch was able to step in. Hopefully, LJ’s ready to go by the time we take it take the field next. But I can’t tell about I can’t tell on that right now,” said Sitake.

The absence of LJ Martin can make matters truly worse for BYU. The El Paso, Texas native has rushed for 789 yards so far this season and is an X factor in BYU’s success. Not just that, he is also dependable in receiving situations and has accumulated 3 touchdowns in the air, too. Thankfully, the Cougars have a bye week before facing Texas Tech to manage any injury issues. But we can’t expect Martin to successfully recover and make a comeback. Given the nature of LJ’s injury, it is still unknown.