BYU Football: 3 takeaways from blowout win over North Alabama

North Alabama was no test for BYU football in Week 12 as the Cougars improved to 9-0 on the season. What’d we learn from the blowout win?

The eighth-ranked team in the country is now 9-0 with one game left on the schedule and while that may seem like a positive, BYU isn’t in a conference nor the Power Five, so there’s no conference title to add to that playoff resume.

BYU took down North Alabama on Saturday afternoon in Provo, 66-14.

Zach Wilson and the Cougars look like one of the best teams in the country and while they have the most wins in the country, they have a lot to prove still. They have a lackluster schedule and it’s of no fault of their own — they can blame COVID-19.

Still, a win is a win and a 9-0 record is impressive regardless.

What’d we learn from BYU’s ninth win of the season?

3. The secondary struggled big-time

There wasn’t much BYU could do wrong on Saturday afternoon but one area that was a major letdown for the Cougars was the secondary.

In fact, BYU allowed 307 passing yards and a touchdown on 26-of-40 passing with one interception. The Cougars were unable to completely shut down both Rett Files and Blake Dever as they both had over 100 yards passing and completed over 50 percent of their passes.

Against an FCS team that hasn’t exactly put up big numbers of yardage against any of its previous three opponents, amounting to an 0-3 record, it was disappointing to see this.

Did BYU just assume it was going to dominate North Alabama and therefore it sleepwalked through its defensive effort? It sure seemed that way.