BYU’s convincing win over Southern Illinois showed these kids might be all right in 2024

With apologies to The Who and their 1966 hit, BYU’s 41-13 season-opening win over Southern Illinois on Saturday night at sold-out LaVell Edwards Stadium showed the kids are (probably) going to be all right.
Suddenly, everything appears to be OK again in Cougarville — or at least things are headed in that direction.
That five-game losing streak with which BYU ended the 2023 season? Forgotten, at least for now.
Concerns that BYU couldn’t run the ball effectively? Gone, after LJ Martin (67), Hinckley Ropati (57) and Miles Davis (24) combined for 148 of the Cougars’ 179 yards on the ground.
Credit to the starting offensive line of Connor Pay, Caleb Etienne, Weylin Lapuaho, Sonny Makasini and Brayden Keim for making it happen.
It’s a start, a far better result than last year’s opener against similarly talented Sam Houston when BYU rushed for a meager 112 yards in a 14-0 win.
“It was just go out there and play,” said Martin, who also caught a touchdown pass. “If (Ropati) got tired, I would go in, and if I got tired, he would go in.”
Martin answered any lingering questions about his offseason shoulder injury, returning to the form he first started displaying in last year’s opener when he was a true freshman. Speaking of which, eight true freshmen took the field Saturday might, mostly defensive players.
And junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff answered some doubts as well, making solid decisions and distributing the football to 10 different pass-catchers.
He added 16 net rushing yards to his career-high 348 passing yards and was especially clutch on fourth down on the opening drive, finding Chase Roberts on short passes both times to keep the tone-setting touchdown drive alive.
“I love going for it on fourth down,” Retzlaff said. “The guys love it, too, because it just shows coach (Aaron) Roderick’s belief in us. It is a lot of fun to have a coordinator who believes in you like that and a team who can perform like that.”
Of course, Southern Illinois quite likely will be the easiest opponent on BYU’s killer schedule in 2024 — although Houston’s 27-7 loss at home to UNLV and Wyoming failing to put up a fight in a 48-7 loss at predicted Big 12 cellar-dweller Arizona State were puzzling turns of events.
So the jury is still out, in a lot of ways. It is a long season, and everyone remembers what happened last year after that 3-0 start.
Friday’s game at SMU, which pounded Houston Christian 59-7 Saturday night in Dallas, will really start to tell the tale. The Mustangs (2-0) showed some vulnerability when they needed 16 fourth-quarter points to beat Nevada 29-24 in Reno in Week Zero but still figure to be one of BYU’s biggest tests of September.
Nevada stopped a late two-point conversion try to beat Troy 28-26 Saturday night in Alabama, so maybe the Wolf Pack is better than expected.
As for BYU, the Cougars did have some hiccups against FCS SIU, particularly in the special teams department. Will Ferrin missed a 36-yard field goal try (he later made amends with a career-high 50-yarder, the longest BYU field goal since Jake Oldroyd made one against San Diego State in 2020).
Head coach Kalani Sitake said there’s room for improvement in all three phases but especially special teams.
“We could have had more opportunities there (on returns),” Sitake said. “We didn’t catch the ball and get it secured, which really hurt our opportunities to get returns, but I know we will get that taken care of. Coach (Kelly) Poppinga is a really good coach and he’s got those guys trained.”
About the only thing to complain about defensively was that BYU couldn’t contain SIU quarterback DJ Williams’ rushing ability, as the Murray State transfer picked up 137 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He was sacked twice, as John Nelson and Isaiah Bagnah caught him behind the line of scrimmage.
“We had some runs get away from us,” Nelson acknowledged. “There were times when they ran their quarterback and we had three defensive linemen (and dropped eight). We need to do a better job of knowing when the draw is coming so we can contain it.”
Weber State transfer Jack Kelly led the defensive effort with five tackles and a quarterback hurry, while cornerback Jakob Robinson made his ninth career interception and is now tied with his position coach, Jernaro Gilford, for third-most career interceptions at BYU since 2000.
Isaiah Glasker, Bagnah, Kelly, Logan Lutui and UCLA transfer Choe Bryant-Strother made tackles for loss.
Taking over defensive play-calling duties because defensive coordinator Jay Hill was recovering from Thursday’s heart attack, Sitake was mostly satisfied with the defensive effort.
“I think we had opportunities to get more turnovers and get more sacks and more disruptive plays,” Sitake said. “I can think of a couple we would like to have back. … For the most part I thought the defense was able to hold their own. It was a good first step for a defense to get where we want to be overall.”
BYU (1-0, 0-0) at SMU (2-0, 0-0)
Friday, 5 p.m. MDT
At Gerald J. Ford Stadium
Dallas, Texas
TV: ESPN2
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM