BYU’s defense has spent much of this season living in the passing lanes. The Cougars are tied for third in the nation in pass breakups, and nobody has more over the last five games.
But the interceptions that came so easily early on have vanished, and that’s left the No. 10 Cougars searching for answers as Baylor comes to town Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The numbers tell the story. BYU opened the 2026 season with six interceptions in its first four games.
Since then, the Cougars have gone five straight without one, even while going 3-2 in that span. That slide has dropped them to 71st nationally in total interceptions.
“It’s just one of those things,” defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga said Wednesday, grimacing as the Cougars kept working through Baylor prep.
The strange part is that the ball keeps getting touched. BYU has 47 pass breakups overall, tied with Clemson and one behind Utah for the national lead.
In the last five games alone, the Cougars have piled up 34 PBUs. Poppinga said the defense is doing the hard part - it just hasn’t finished the job.
“We work our turnover circuit every single week, and yeah, we’re getting our hands on the ball better than anybody in the country right now, especially in the last five games,” Poppinga said. “We got to finish them and honestly get the right (breaks).
We got to get lucky bounces too as well. … The ball has just got to bounce your way, especially those tipped balls at the line of scrimmage.”
Opponents have picked off BYU nine times and broken up 27 passes against the Cougars. Injuries have also thinned the secondary.
Starting safety Raider Damuni went down in the opener and missed a bunch of games, and all-conference corner Evan “Schmev” Johnson was hurt in the 39-31 loss at UCF. Johnson still hasn’t returned and is listed as doubtful for Baylor.
Mississippi State transfer Jayven Williams has stepped in and made his presence felt. He has five pass breakups over the last two games, though he has also been flagged twice for defensive pass interference, once against ASU and once against Utah. Those calls left BYU’s defensive staff frustrated.
“I have no answer (to why the interceptions haven’t been there), but I know they are coming,” Williams said. “We are getting PBUs, we’re getting our hands on balls, we’re getting strip sacks and things like that. … I will just say that they are coming, for sure.”
Williams did not comment Monday on the third-and-8 penalty that extended a Utah drive and led to Devon Dampier’s 3-yard touchdown run one play later, but cornerbacks coach Lewis Walker said Wednesday that the call should be questioned.
“We talk about collision and vertical routes and being able to stop vertical charge, and it is not the NFL,” Walker said. “We can get our hands on (receivers) past 5 yards.
He wasn’t holding (the receiver). He literally collisioned on a dig (route) and funneled him inside and the ball was overthrown.
“But that’s not my discretion,” Walker continued. “I tell the guys, ‘Hey, it is over.
They called the (penalty). We can’t take it back.
Go on, play the next play.’”
Walker praised Williams, saying he had been “tremendous for us,” and noted that he was helping even before Johnson’s lower leg injury. He also pointed to Tre Alexander, who has turned in another solid season and was especially effective against ASU’s group of pass catchers.
“I just love the physicality that (Williams) brings, just the enthusiasm, the passion, the positivity that he brings,” Walker said. “And then the leadership of Tre had to step up as well.”
The interceptions have come from a spread of defenders: Alexander, Johnson, backup corner Matthias Leach, linebacker Cade Uluave, safety Faletau Satuala and defensive end Hunter Clegg. Walker said his message to the secondary is simple - keep working.
“Keep chopping wood,” he said, and the picks will come.
He also said the front seven deserves plenty of credit for the PBUs, with pressure helping force throws into traffic. Defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa has five pass breakups, second on the team, while Williams leads the Cougars with nine.
“At some point we are due to start turning those into interceptions,” Walker said.
Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway has been careful with the football this season, throwing just four interceptions in nine games. That’s a sharp contrast from last year, when the Florida transfer threw 14 interceptions in 12 games for the Gators, tied for second-most in the nation.
Poppinga said Lagway is more than capable of making a defense pay.
“He doesn’t have the experience that Dampier has, but he is very capable of making guys look silly,” Poppinga said. “Look at what he did to UCF and what they did last week against Iowa State. He’s a very dynamic player.”
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