Fresh off a 4-0 dominant start, Kalani Sitake’s BYU Cougars are turning up the heat this season. And their 24-21 victory against Colorado just kicked off their conference play with a satisfying win. Now, under Friday night lights, they are back for another Big 12 clash against West Virginia, who has won against the Cougars the two times they have ever played against each other. But this time things look different, as West Virginia is now sitting at a 2-3 record, dropping back-to-back games against Big 12 teams. It looks like they might also fall short against BYU, as the Cougars’ massive 4th down move just added more to the Mountaineers’ misery.

At 4th & 6, with around ten minutes still left in the third quarter, the Cougars appeared to line up to kick a 53-yard field goal. But instead of the play going as expected, the punter Sam Vander Haar #35 picked up the ball and ran it straight ahead for a first down with a gain 11 yards. A bold move that worked flawlessly, as the mountaineers’ defense was busy looping around the line to get to the kicker as fast as possible. Even though the Cougars could not score a touchdown and instead had to settle for a field goal eventually, such plays serve as motivation for the whole team.

Meanwhile, Vander Haar has recorded 30 punts, averaging 38.5 yards per punt. He also placed the ball 11 times inside the other team’s 20-yard line. This level of excellence comes being trained at the renowned Prokick Australia program, which produces exceptional college and NFL punters. Big names like Jordan Berry and Michael Dickson are all products of it.

But this isn’t the first time BYU has played a trick of this sort. Last year they did the same against UCF. While playing against them in the first quarter, BYU had a fourth down with five yards to go at UCF’s 28-yard line. Now it looked like BYU would go for a field goal, but instead, they amazed everyone. As Vander Haar didn’t hold the ball for a kick. Instead he threw it straight to Will Ferron who gained 8 yards, enough for a first down.

Meanwhile Bear Bachmeier went 18 for 25 for 351 yards for one touchdown and an interception. WRs Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston popped off for 161 and 111 yards respectively. The defense was on fire, clamping down the Mountaineers for most of the first half.

Kalani Sitake’s history with Rich Rodriguez

West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez and BYU’s Kalani Sitake met for the sixth time this Friday night, and that history dates back to the 1998 Liberty Bowl. Back then Rod was Tulane’s interim HC, who led them to a 41-27 win against BYU, and interestingly, Sitake was a player back then who caught five passes for 77 yards against them. And years later, he finally took his revenge in 2008 when he was a linebackers coach at Utah and helped them beat Rodriguez’s Michigan with a 25-23 margin.

But that’s just the beginning. When Rodriguez moved to Arizona, his team dominated Sitake’s Utah team from 2012 to 2015. Sitake was the defensive coordinator during that period. Talking of that time, Sitake said, “When he was out here in the West, I competed against him. I coached against him. The guy makes his mark anywhere that he goes and finds ways to get things going.”

Rodriguez’s offensive mind had an instant impact on Sitake, which even influenced him. “He’s an innovator, so he’s going to do things differently, and the guy knows football. He knows how to put points on the board,” Sitake said. Now the BYU coach has changed the narrative as he smacked a massive win against the Mountaineers with a score of 38-24, while racking up 516 yards. Yet some mistakes could have ended their game with a loss, like BYU’s two fumbles that pushed West Virginia’s TD drive to 3 yards and 22 yards. That’s something they need to focus on with that win. BYU now sits on a 5-0 record and are leading their conference.