Brigham Young University

BYU was led this past 2022 football season by Head Coach Kalani Sitake finishing the season 8-5. The team underperformed in the first half of the season until a victory in the first weekend of October.  They were able to come back and win their final four games, just two games short of the 2021 total.

An original member of the Western Athletic Conference in 1960, the BYU football program has been an FBS Independent football program and before spending 11 years with the Mountain West Conference.

After their last independent run this past season, Coach Sitake said they are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with membership in the Big 12 Conference.

“I mean this is something that we’ve been dreaming of for a while, speaking as a fan,” he said. “No wthat we’ve been given this platform, I’m excited for the opportunities that we have”.

Sitake talked about the struggle being an independent program for so long and how the transition to a 14-team conference will look like for the program.

“This isn’t going to be easy and we know that,” said Sitake. “That’s why independents, I told Tom [Holmoe–director of athletics] find as many (teams) as you can that people don’t want to play; I want to play them all, with the thought that possibly this could be the goal.”

BYU was expected to go farther last season after being named one of the most experienced teams in college football and having star quarterback Jaren Hall. Fortunately, the team had one last trick up their sleeve in the postseason in their appearance in the 2022 New Mexico Bowl vs SMU.

The Cougars took down the 7-6 SMU Mustangs 24-23. The Cougar’s defense came in clutch to secure the one-point win. SMU’s Rhett Lashlee decided to go for two on the line with eight seconds remaining. Head Coach Sitake was pleased with sophomore Jakob Robinson’s tackle on SMU quarterback Tanner Mordecai at the 1-yard line to secure BYU’s bowl win.