BYU Football Has Experienced Ups and Downs After Bye Weeks Under Kalani Sitake

Casey Lundquist | Oct 8, 2024

Oct 14, 2023; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; TCU Horned Frogs wide receiver JP Richardson (7) attempts but cannot catch a pass as Brigham Young Cougars safety Crew Wakley (38) defends during the game at Amon G. Carter Stadium. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The nationally ranked BYU Cougars are coming off a bye week as they prepare to take on the Arizona Wildcats on Saturday. Under Kalani Sitake, BYU has had mixed results after bye weeks. BYU is 3-4 after bye weeks under Kalani Sitake. Today, we're looking back at how BYU has fared after bye weeks under Kalani Sitake.

2023 - Loss at TCU

BYU was downright dreadful coming off a bye week last year. The Cougars were dominated by the TCU Horned Frogs 44-11. TCU got out to a 24-0 lead in this game and never looked back.

2022 - Win against Utah Tech

In 2022, BYU played 10 games in 10 weeks before finally getting a bye week before Utah Tech (oh the joys of independent scheduling). BYU beat Utah Tech 52-26 - that game was the second win in a four-game winning streak to close out the season.

2021 - Win at Georgia Southern

Like 2022, BYU played 10 games in 10 weeks before getting a bye week in 2021. The Cougars hit the road after the bye week and beat Georgia Southern 34-17.

2020 - No traditional bye week

BYU had multiple weeks between multiple games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. BYU had three weeks between the season-opener against Navy and the second game against Troy. They had two weeks off before facing North Alabama and they had two more weeks off after that before taking on Coastal Carolina.

2019 - Loss at USF

BYU suffered a discouraging loss on the road at USF following a bye week in 2019. Jaren Hall made his first start in that game, but he didn't finish the game after suffering a head injury. The game turned after Hall was sidelined.

2018 - Loss vs NIU

Zach Wilson's second career start came after a bye week against NIU. The Cougars failed to score a touchdown in this game and lost to NIU 7-6.

2017 - Loss at Utah State

Bo Hodge started for BYU at Utah State coming off a bye week in 2017. Hodge infused some life into a very bad BYU offense in that game, but the Cougars stalled when Hodge suffered an injury. BYU fans might remember this game as the Koy Detmer Jr. game.

2016 - Win at Cincinnati

A veteran BYU team hit the road and beat future conference foe Cincinnati (who would guessed that at the time?) after a bye week. The BYU defense was great in this game, holding Cincinnati to just 3 points in a 20-3 win.