BYU has spent most of 2026 proving two things at once: the Cougars are good, and they still haven’t fully figured out what kind of good they are.
That tension is what makes the final stretch so interesting. With three regular-season games left, BYU sits at 7-2 and has already banked a signature win, the 28-24 upset of then-No.
2 Notre Dame. It has also taken some hard knocks lately, including a 39-31 double-overtime loss to UCF, a narrow escape against Arizona State and a frustrating collapse at Utah, where the Cougars wasted a 20-14 halftime lead and turned it over four times on the Utes’ side of the field.
Now comes the part of the season that will tell the real story. Baylor visits LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday, and after that BYU still has Kansas and Cincinnati ahead.
The Cougars have established themselves as a legitimate team. The question is whether they can climb back into the category they flashed against Notre Dame and Utah, or drift into the pack in the Big 12.
“We are getting into the last quarter of the season,” said head coach Kalani Sitake on Monday. “… I am excited to see our leadership step up and see our guys improve from (the Utah loss) to this game. I want the team to move on and reach its potential.”
Sitake’s recent November track record adds another layer to the conversation. Since 2024, BYU is 5-4 in November and 25-2 in September, October and December. That contrast hangs over the Cougars as they enter the closing month of the schedule.
Senior kicker Matthias Dunn said the response inside the locker room starts with the group itself.
“What gives us confidence is that we are a very close team. We have really strong bonds with one another,” said Dunn, who is 9 of 10 on field goals and 33 of 33 on PATs.
“That’s going to be really important going into this week. There’s not a lot of people who believe in us outside of the building, and we’re totally fine with that.
“I think what carries us through over the next three games is we just got to bond together and attack and give our best, regardless of whatever the outside noise might be,” Dunn concluded.
The season has shown BYU at its best and at its most vulnerable. The Cougars can beat anyone on the schedule, as the Notre Dame win showed, and they went toe-to-toe with Utah on the road, out-gaining the Utes 391-330 and finishing with 11 tackles for loss to Utah’s none. But they have also played down to opponents, including the loss to 5-4 UCF and the shaky win over TCU on a rainy night in Fort Worth.
That inconsistency is part of why ESPN’s FPI gives BYU a 42% chance of winning its next three games and only a 35% chance of making the College Football Playoffs.
Center Bruce Mitchell said the fix is simple in theory: get back to the habits that fueled the best wins.
“It is kind of what it has been all season, man,” Mitchell said. “We have to go 1-0 this week.
We have to focus it all on Baylor. We have to put the loss behind us, like we would put a win behind us, and focus on being our best selves, having a great week of preparation, understanding the game plan, the call sheet, and then just going out there and executing.”
So how should the first three-fourths of the season be judged? Not as a disappointment, not yet.
A 7-2 start is still a strong place to be, especially for a program that won 23 of its previous 27 games heading into a highly anticipated season. But if BYU stumbles again before November ends, that conversation changes fast.
“We feel really good about all three phases, but we want to be great,” Sitake said. “That means we need to improve in all three phases.”
The defense has largely been the backbone. BYU is tied for 32nd in scoring defense at 19.78 points per game and 21st in total defense at 302.0 yards per game.
The issues are harder to ignore, though: the Cougars have gone five games without an interception, and tackling has been a problem, especially in the two losses. BYU is tied for 74th in turnover margin, with 11 takeaways and 12 giveaways.
Offensively, the Cougars have not always had the burst to separate, outside of the long-ball production from freshman receiver Legend Glasker. His 39 catches for 703 yards put him on pace for the best receiving season by a freshman in BYU history. Austin Collie’s 2004 freshman line of 53 catches for 771 yards and eight touchdowns is the benchmark.
BYU ranks 53rd in total offense at 397.1 yards per game and is tied for 49th in scoring offense at 31.0 points per game. Injuries along the offensive line have mattered, but the Cougars have still done one thing exceptionally well: they lead the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed per game at 1.89 and have allowed the fourth-fewest sacks per game at 0.56.
That matters even more with the level of defenses BYU has already faced, including TCU, Utah and Notre Dame, all ranked among the nation’s better units.
“The season comes down to which teams are going to be in the (Big 12) championship game,” Sitake said. “Every week, teams are going to be eliminated and the picture will become clearer as we go along.”
BYU’s own picture should sharpen soon enough. The next three games will decide whether this season is remembered as a strong one, or something bigger.
In Other News...
BYU Could Be Getting Two Key Starters Back At The Right Time
BYUs depth chart for the Baylor game offered a welcome bit of movement, with running back LJ Martin and cornerback Evan Johnson both appearing for the first time since injuries knocked them out. Martin already eased back in last week with limited touches, and his presence now points to a bigger workload as the Cougars try to settle back into a rhythm on offense. Johnsons return to the chart is just as notable on the other side of the ball, especially after he missed the last two games.
There is still some uncertainty layered into the update, though, because tight end Roger Saleapaga is also listed despite his recent injury. For BYU, the timing matters as much as the names themselves, with the Cougars heading into a matchup where reinforcements at key spots could help stabilize both the ground game and the secondary. The only question now is how much each player can actually handle once the game starts. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Became Part Of A Brutal Utah Milestone
BYUs latest trip through the rivalry left it on the wrong side of a significant Utah moment, as the Utes moved up to No. 2 in the AP Top 25 after beating the Cougars. It is the highest ranking in Utah program history, and it comes with the kind of momentum that can reshape a season in a hurry, especially when the team at the center of it is still trying to keep its focus on the week-to-week grind.
Morgan Scalley said the message inside the Utah program remains the same: treat every opponent the same and keep working on the parts of the game that still need cleaning up. The next test is a road date with No. 22 Arizona, which gives the Utes another ranked matchup and another chance to prove this climb is about more than one big win over BYU. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Freshman Bruce Branch Is Drawing An AJ Dybantsa Question
Kevin Youngs ability to land elite talent has already changed the conversation around BYU mens basketball, and the latest name drawing attention is freshman Bruce Branch III. Branch, a top prospect who reclassified to 2026, has started to show more in recent games, and Young has pointed to the kind of defensive upside that can make a young player valuable long before the offense fully catches up.
The comparison naturally brings up AJ Dybantsa, the one-and-done star BYU secured in December 2024 before he went on to lead the nation in scoring and become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. Young has even described Branchs style in similar terms, which only adds to the intrigue around how he develops the freshman early and how quickly that progress might show up in a BYU rotation built around high-end recruits. [Read more 🡒]