BYU’s offensive line has become one of the defining reasons the Cougars could turn last season into a 12-2 run and a trip to the Big 12 championship game, even if the spotlight didn’t always land on the big men up front.
That group helped freshman Bear Bachmeier settle in, kept LJ Martin moving upward, and gave Chase Roberts and Carsen Ryan enough room to produce their way into NFL conversations. Martin said it plainly last spring: “Without them, we do nothing.”
Now the attention shifts to 2026, and the questions are bigger. BYU opens Sept. 5 against Utah Tech at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and the schedule ahead includes Notre Dame, Utah and Arizona. The real test for this line is whether it can hold up against that level of front-seven talent after getting pushed around twice by Texas Tech a year ago.
Five linemen who logged major snaps last season are back: Bruce Mitchell, Sonny Makasini, Andrew Gentry, Kyle Sfarcioc and Trevin Ostler. Add in Washington transfer Paki Finau at left tackle, and the Cougars suddenly have a group that looks seasoned, heavy on experience and still trying to get even better.
After Saturday’s scrimmage, Kalani Sitake liked what he saw.
“Yeah, we feel really good about our group, especially in the two-deep,” he said. The offense, helped by the line “getting some knock back on our defensive line,” controlled the action over 102 scrimmage plays.
“There are a lot of guys that have played a lot of reps. … I thought the offensive line was really physical today.”
TJ Woods, entering his third season coaching the unit, sounds encouraged too. He also sounds like a coach who knows there’s still work to do.
“I think we’re ahead in terms of the guys understanding the O line system,” he said. “...
We run a lot of cool plays. We run some plays that everybody else runs, too.
But I think the big thing is our system, our calls, our adjustments, the tools that we have in our tool belt. A lot of these guys now going into Year 3, they have a lot more (knowledge).
They’re far better equipped to handle all the stressors that they see on the field.”
The starting picture is pretty clear. Makasini is at left guard, Mitchell at center, Sfarcioc at right guard and Gentry at right tackle. That left Woods focused on getting Finau up to speed after two seasons at a Big Ten school.
Ostler remains a valuable piece because he can line up all over the place. Woods called the 320-pound redshirt senior from Bountiful High “a 1B, if that makes sense.”
This might be the oldest offensive line in college football, or close to it. Makasini, Mitchell and Gentry all served two-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling, and all four of those projected starters are seniors. Woods said the big priority has been chemistry, especially with Finau joining the mix.
“We are obviously a veteran group, so the chemistry piece was something that we wanted to try to make sure that we were developing and that we were really investing into and leaning into,” Woods said. “These guys have played a lot of ball together already. … That’s really been the big focus, getting Paki (comfortable) and gelling with these guys.”
Woods and three assistants, including former BYU standout Connor Pay, feel good about the top six or seven linemen. The challenge now is sorting out the rest of the travel group.
“As we all know, two years ago we got down to that number (due to injuries to Pay, Isaiah Jatta, Weylin Lapuaho and Brayden Keim),” he said. “And we didn’t miss a beat, and played really well. So that’s kind of our challenge here for the next couple weeks of camp.”
Tuesday’s practice view gave a small glimpse of the competition behind the starters. Trevor Pay worked at center with the first unit, and Stanford transfer Zak Yamauchi took reps at right guard. Woods said Sfarcioc and Mitchell were out only because of “just part of the routine,” not because of anything serious.
The rest of the backup battle includes Bott Mulitalo, the four-star recruit from Lone Peak High; Ethan Thomason; Joe Brown; Jr Sia; and Siosiua Latu-Finau, who played in three games last year. Yamauchi, who was banged up a bit in spring camp, is also in the mix.
“We have a lot of pieces,” Woods said. “We needed to find out who seven, eight, nine are, the guys that we can throw in there and we’re not going to miss a beat.”
Latu-Finau’s path has been unusual, since he didn’t play football his final two years of high school in the Oakland-Fremont area of California. Woods said that makes his development a little more of a grind.
“He’s doing a heck of a job. For Siosiua, it is a little bit of a crash course. ...
He just needs reps. He just needs the experience.”
As for Mulitalo, Woods said the approach is simple: the best players will play.
“We say this all the time in our room: ‘If you are good enough, you are old enough.’ That’s how it works,” Woods said.
“We are going to play the best players. We’re excited about Bott.
He’s very talented. A lot of things come real natural to him.”
And that’s really the story of this line. BYU likes its starters, likes its depth, and likes the experience already in the room. But Woods keeps coming back to the same truth.
“There’s no microwaving an offensive lineman. That’s the way it works.
You gotta smoke them. It’s a long, slow burn a lot of times with those guys.”
In Other News...
BYU Freshman Is Forcing His Way Into A Key Backfield Battle
Fall camp is bringing a little clarity to BYUs running back room, but not enough to close the book on the depth chart. LJ Martin remains the established starter, and the Cougars are sorting through the group behind him with Sione Moa, Preston Rex, Devon Eka and newcomer Journee Tonga all in the mix as the staff tries to settle on reliable options before the season tightens.
Tonga has been the newcomer drawing attention, and he has already shown enough in practice to make the battle worth watching. In live work, he turned a short screen into a 10-yard gain after making multiple defenders miss, the kind of play that can quickly change how a freshman is viewed in August. Even so, the competition is still open, and Aaron Roderick has made it clear the running back pecking order is not finished taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Kalani Sitake Just Raised The Pressure On BYU's 2026 Season
BYUs outlook for 2026 comes wrapped in the usual mix of promise and uncertainty, and this offseason has only sharpened both. The Cougars are being viewed through the lens of preseason rankings, key departures and the lingering question of how much of last years momentum can carry over after a difficult stretch of roster turnover and broader financial concerns around the program.
Kalani Sitake has added another layer to that conversation by putting the spotlight squarely on what comes next, and on how much pressure the Cougars will have to handle when the season arrives. The same glare is landing on Utah, where Morgan Scalley is taking over for Kyle Whittingham after his move to Michigan, leaving both programs with major coaching and personnel questions to answer before they can justify the expectations building around them. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Enters The Big 12 Debate With A Frustrating New Reality
Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire is already framing the Big 12 race as one of the leagues toughest recurring tests, noting how rarely anyone has managed to repeat as conference champion since 1996. That backdrop makes the latest round of league projections especially interesting for BYU, which is getting a strong vote of confidence from Stewart Mandels preview as the program most likely to rise to the top in a conference that also figures to keep Houston and Texas Tech in the mix.
The other twist for BYU fans is how much the leagues pecking order could shift around it, especially with Utah entering a new era under Morgan Scalley and expected to face a bumpy year. Mandels outlook has the Utes heading toward a 7-5 finish, a reminder that one of the Big 12s most familiar powers may be dealing with a frustrating new reality just as BYU tries to carve out its place near the top of the standings. [Read more 🡒]