Five Things We Learned From Kalani Sitake’s BYU/UCF Presser
Oct 21, 2024, 4:10 PM
BYU football head coach Kalani Sitake addressed the media to kick off UCF week. (Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah – BYU football travels to Florida this week to take on the UCF Knights in Orlando.
In preparation for the game, BYU kicked off another game week with a virtual press conference from head coach Kalani Sitake.
Sitake spent 22 minutes during his weekly Zoom call with the media on Monday to set the stage for Saturday’s Big 12 clash against the Knights.
Breaking down BYU’s lack of success stopping the run in the Oklahoma State win
BYU’s defense gave up 269 rushing yards last Friday in the win over Oklahoma State. Star running back Ollie Gordon rushed for 107 yards, but it wasn’t only him having success on the ground.
All six of Oklahoma State’s rushers in the game had an average of four yards per carry. For the night, BYU’s defense allowed 7.3 yards per carry.
It was an uncharacteristic performance for a BYU defense that, entering last week, had only given up 120 yards on the ground per game.
Kalani Sitake was asked what he learned from the film breakdown that caused issues for his defense in stopping the run against the Pokes.
“They did some things that we haven’t seen a lot on film, and the things that they were committed to doing, which is run the quarterback. We weren’t expecting that. We tried to make some adjustments.”
Sitake added, “The interesting thing is they had a bye week, so they had time to do that. We had a short week and on a quick turnaround. … This defense doesn’t usually give up very many big plays, but we gave up, I think, two big runs that cost us maybe 50 yards each. That’s 100 yards on two runs. But for the most part, I thought we kind of handled it pretty well. The mistakes that were made were missed assignments that we could fix, guys just doing their part, and then some of the fundamental issues, liked missed tackles and things like that.”
BYU looks to stop the UCF ground attack with RJ Harvey, QB Jacurri Brown
UCF has named former Miami transfer Jacurri Brown as its starting quarterback. Two weeks ago, the Knights benched KJ Jefferson and are moving forward with Brown, who was the third-string quarterback then.
Brown only passed for 62 yards in the Knights loss last week at Iowa State. But he did run for 154 yards.
You pair that up with UCF star RJ Harvey rushing for 196 yards. The Knights remind people how potent they can be on the ground despite being on a four-game losing streak.
Kalani Sitake is well aware.
“This is a new challenge; very similar [to Oklahoma State]. I think they can do a lot of the same things. We’ll see it coming, and we have to plan for it. So it’s gonna be a good game for us.”
BYU WR Kody Epps is “close” to a return
BYU wide receiver Kody Epps is off the depth chart for the third game in a row. Sitake was asked for an update on Epps.
“He’s close,” Sitake said on Epps. “I can’t really say for sure if it’s this week. But I’m pretty confident he’s going to be ready for the next game.”
BYU’s next game after UCF is against rival Utah on November 9.
“You have to be able to practice and practice at a high level. We can take advantage of him being ready later, but it’s just a close one right now. It’s probably too close for me to call at this moment, but we feel really confident with him returning for sure the next game.”
Since Epps has been sidelined with an injury, Keelan Marion, Chase Roberts, and Darius Lassiter have been in the starting lineup at wide receiver.
Connections to Florida through the First Lady of BYU football
Saturday will be the first time a Sitake-led BYU team plays in Orlando. BYU is making its second visit to the “Bounce House,” the first in 2014 under former head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
During Sitake’s three-minute opening statement on the matchup, he noted he has connections to the Central Florida area through his wife, Timberly Sitake.
“My wife’s a Florida girl. She’s from Polk County, from Haines City High, so I know the area really well. We’re in Orlando quite a bit,” said Sitake. “So I’m looking forward to seeing the in-laws and the family and everyone there. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
LJ Martin is back to his “normal self”
BYU sophomore running back LJ Martin had a career-high 120-yard rushing performance against Oklahoma State last Friday.
Sitake was asked if that type of performance was what he expected from the El Paso, Texas, native entering this year.
“Yeah, I think you guys have all seen that too from him. So he’s been able to do things like that. I think when you run into injuries, it causes a roadblock, and for us, it’s just getting him healthy. Now that he’s back to healthy, he’s back to his normal self, and we had to do that with him and Hinckley [Ropati]. I think Hinckley had a great game, too.”
With Martin on the BYU sideline, and RJ Harvey for UCF, this should be a good running back matchup on Saturday.
No. 11 BYU at UCF
Date: Saturday, October 26, 2024
Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. (MT)
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM) — Extended Pregame begins at 9 a.m.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
