Bronco Mendenhall’s magic at Utah State and the underselling of Utah Ute and BYU Cougar defenses set the stage as the local college football season kicks off this weekend.
Utah travels to UCLA, BYU hosts Portland State and Utah State will open the Mendenhall era against UTEP on Saturday. It’s about time we get actual games and see these guys play against someone else.
Advertisement
Everybody loves a nice quarterback story this time of the year. They’re the faces of the program. Their roles are critical and their performances are scrutinized to oblivion.
Yes, the Devon Dampier story for the Utes is a tremendous storyline. What will he do? How can he use Jason Beck’s offense to lift Utah past its 2024 injury-plagued woes? Will he dash and dart his way to first downs and touchdowns behind a top-notch, respected O-line? Is he capable of executing the passing game at a high level with new receivers and backs so he doesn’t have to take a huge burden with his legs?
Oh, and this Bear story in Provo is intriguing as BYU starts a true freshman in Bear Bachmeier for Game 1 of the season. Never happened before. Is the gamble worth it? Is his offer sheet out of high school (Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Oregon, Stanford, Georgia) reflective of mind and athletic abilities?
All this QB stuff inside these Big 12 teams is captivating and tantalizing. No question it is the headline of August and September as teams enter the starting chute.
Advertisement
But let’s explore a different take on preseason week and chatter: Defense.
BYU led the Big 12 in defense last year and tied for the most forced turnovers in the NCAA. Jay Hill has assembled personnel more suited to what he needs to excel. And yes, that includes former Ute defensive tackle Keanu Tanavasa. The Cougar defense will take a step forward this season.
Utah’s defense had to shoulder far more than it should have in a disappointing 5-7 season in 2024. It didn’t receive the credit it deserved for what was asked after Cam Rising got hurt against Baylor and freshman Issac Wilson was thrown into the gauntlet.
This week, both Utah and BYU have the opportunity to shut out UCLA and Portland State. Both will deliver bad news to Big 12 offenses from beginning of the season to end and that may be a major factor in who makes it to Arlington. Let’s say these two defenses will have more to say about who the Big 12 champion will be than any other factor in the league.
Advertisement
Utah Utes
Arizona State running back DeCarlos Brooks runs away from Utah defensive end Logan Fano (0) and safety Tao Johnson (15) in the first half during an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz. | Rick Scuteri
At Utah, defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley became a bogeyman for Pac-12 offenses. More than capable of applying QB pressure with a four-man rush, his man defense coverages became elite through Kyle Whittingham’s philosophy. The Utes set a scary standard for physical play, literally kicking butt and intimidating opponents with their dominating front-seven play.
The Big 12 is more physical than the old Pac-12, so it will be a challenge in Year 2, but Utah is built for it and Scalley is the difference if his transfers pan out.
Utah needs tackles Dallas Vakalahi and Aliki Vimahi to step up. Scalley needs production from defensive ends John Henry Daley and Logan Fano. Linebacker Landon Barton and nickel back Smith Snowdon are huge keys in Scalley’s plans. He needs Elijah Davis and Blake Cotton to be lockdown corners and must get transfers (Auburn) JC Hart, and (Texas A&M) Donovan Saunders oriented and ready for reps.
Advertisement
Utah is missing some very talented defenders, but it’s a defense that regularly reloads and recognizes developmental prospects. The biggest challenge for Scalley is to fix missed tackles and get more turnovers than a year ago in the Big 12.
BYU Cougars
BYU safety Tanner Wall celebrates after making a tackle against Southern Illinois on Aug. 31, 2024 in Provo. | Aaron Cornia/BYU
In Provo, Hill is king of the hill.
His transformation of BYU’s defense in such a short time was amazing, and he did so with overachieving linemen who were not exactly built for his schemes. Now, he’s got more of what he wants in Tanuvasa, Oklahoma transfer Justin Kirkland and returning John Taumoepeau. He will still deploy multiple-look fronts.
His defensive ends are more capable of getting sacks now that his middle tackles are a threat to gobble up blocks. They include Bodie Schoonover, Logan Tuutui, Texas transfer Tausili Akana, Ephriam Asiata, Hunter Clegg, and Villiami Po’uha
Advertisement
BYU’s linebacking corps is deep and talented, maybe the best in the Big 12, with league TFL leader Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly on the outside and redshirt sophomore Siale Esera in the middle. With Ace Kaufusi and Choe Bryant-Strother holding off Miles Hall as backups, that trio could start on most Big 12 teams.
Corner Evan Johnson, the highest-rated defender a year ago, returns at corner with returning starter Mory Bamba. The safeties are experienced Tanner Wall, Raider Damuni, Tommy Prassas and Faletau Satuala.
Hill’s defense must be far better at stopping the run and has to be more efficient in stopping third-down conversions this fall.
Utah State Aggies
Utah Utes defensive end Van Fillinger (7) grabs the arm of Utah State Aggies quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) in Logan on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
In Logan, Mendenhall is doing what he is in the profession to do: To rebuild and fix.
Advertisement
There’s no bigger challenge before him than taking a newly assembled staff, coaching up 70 new roster players, and putting them on the field chasing Mountain West teams in hopes of a winning season and bowl berth.
On its face, this seems like the Battle of Thermopylae, the thousands of Persians against Greece’s 300 Spartans. And believe it, Mendenhall will bring that up often.
USU football isn’t the only Aggie appendage to lose key personalities to the transfer portal. On July 21, athletic director Diana Sabau left Logan for a post at Maryland. Back in Feb, USU president Betsy Cantwell left to be president at the University of Washington. Key figures who hired Mendenhall Dec. 6, 2024 are no longer there.
If this isn’t a chip on the shoulder for Bronco, what is? He dines on this kind of stuff.
Advertisement
USU’s defense was leaky last year and defensive coordinator Nick Howell will have his hands full converting that unit into stoppers. He’ll do so without All-MWC preseason corner Ike Larson, who was suspended for six weeks this summer.
Howell brought corners Noah Avinger, Bryson Taylor and safety Bobby Arnold with him from New Mexico and added P4 transfers, including safety D’Andre Barnes (Nebraska) to help.
Offensively, USU will be blessed with the return of Utah transfer and Pig Farmer Bryson Barnes, who did not have a full season but threw for 12 touchdowns and averaged eight yards per carry.
Offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven hauled in running back Javon Jacobs from New Mexico, and added Carlos Orr-Gillespie (Illinois), receiver Brady Boyd (Texas Tech), and quarterback Anthony Garcia (Arizona) to push Barnes.
Advertisement
Mendenhall’s biggest challenge falls within his wheelhouse — to build a winning culture, a fighting attitude to a program that has had three head coaches in three years and lost administrators en masse this past year.
Can he do it? The opener against UTEP at home will give us the biggest clue.
