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BYU football: 3 reasons the Cougars should win the Big 12 in 2023

By John Scimeca

WACO, TEXAS - OCTOBER 16: Tyler Allgeier #25 of Brigham Young Cougars scores a touchdown against safety JT Woods #22 of the Baylor Bears in the first half at McLane Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
WACO, TEXAS - OCTOBER 16: Tyler Allgeier #25 of Brigham Young Cougars scores a touchdown against safety JT Woods #22 of the Baylor Bears in the first half at McLane Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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WACO, TEXAS – OCTOBER 16: Wide receiver Gunner Romney #18 of the Brigham Young Cougars carries the ball against the Baylor Bears in the second half at McLane Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
WACO, TEXAS – OCTOBER 16: Wide receiver Gunner Romney #18 of the Brigham Young Cougars carries the ball against the Baylor Bears in the second half at McLane Stadium on October 16, 2021 in Waco, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

3. BYU’s road loss to Baylor

You build experiences based on tough losses. You often remember the pain of a gut-punching setback more so than the joy of winning — and that works beyond sports, too. We are psychologically built that way.

None of that is to say that BYU should remember a ton of positives from its 38-24 loss at Baylor in 2021, but there are a couple of important takeaways.

First, the Cougars now have a measuring stick for what it takes to be a Big 12 champion. Baylor would go on to win the Big 12 after this midseason home date with BYU. After Oklahoma State couldn’t punch it in from a yard out after four tries, the Bears ended the 2021 calendar year with its first league title since 2014, when it technically split the honors with TCU (Baylor had won the previous year’s league crown outright).

The Bears dominated the trenches against BYU, outrushing the Cougars 303 to 67 yards. Gargantuan, athletic defensive linemen like Salt Like City native Siaki Ika make Baylor a formidable foe to run against, and running back Trestan Ebner was one of six Bears who would go on to hear his name called in the 2022 NFL Draft. Against BYU, Baylor averaged 6.4 yards per carry en route to a convincing home win.

BYU had its positive moments, however. Quarterback Jaren Hall completed 22-of-31 passes for 341 yards and a touchdown to seven different receivers, proving that his impressive season exploits were not just achieved against lesser quality competition.

Hall finished the season with 2,583 passing yards, 20 touchdowns, and only five interceptions to go along with 307 rushing yards and three scores on the ground as a sophomore — and these numbers came after missing three games due to injury.

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