Breaking: BYU Coach Sends Strong Warning To Big 12 Football Freshers

When BYU, Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF were all invited to the Big 12 in 2021, there was widespread speculation that they would enter Big 12 football without Texas and Oklahoma and be among the top teams.

After one season in the Big 12, those teams were far from the league’s elite.

Only UCF, out of the four newcomers from previous year, made it to a bowl game. They finished the season with a 6-6 record.

BYU, Cincinnati, and Houston ended their first seasons as Big 12 members with losing records.

Second-year BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill saw it personally and believes nothing stunned the Cougars, who finished 5-7 last season.

“No. “I mean, football is football,” Hill told Hans and Scotty G of KSL Sports Zone. “So, was there anything that took us off guard? “Certainly not.”

Hill mentioned the league’s physicality, particularly at the running back position, in an interview with Hans Olsen and Scott Garrard on the KSL Sports Zone as something that surprised BYU.

Last season, BYU was ranked 109th in rush defense.

Rude awakening on the physicality of Big 12 football

The seasoned football coach, who became Weber State’s most successful head coach, warned the prospective Big 12 programs about the roughness. Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah, Hill’s alma mater, are among the conference’s new teams.

“These teams that are coming into the Big 12, I think they’re going to have a little bit of a rude awakening on how physical the Big 12 is,” Hill told the KSL Sports Zone last week.

The “Four Corner” programs will formally leave the Pac-12 and join the Big 12 on August 1.

Pac-12 football was never known for its physicality. Last year, the Pac-12 enjoyed a successful final season. Washington emerged from the group to reach the National Championship game, while Oregon won the Fiesta Bowl.

Both of those programs are now headed to the Big Ten.

Arizona was one of four Pac-12 schools to be ranked in the final College Football Playoff poll last season.

Many predictions for the Big 12 in 2024 involve Utah entering the conference and winning the championship. Arizona is anticipated to be a top-four team, but Colorado has superstar talent in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and all-purpose athlete Travis Hunter.

Nonetheless, Hill serves as a reminder that Big 12 football should not be ignored, despite the “Four Corner” institutions’ previous major conference experience.

Big 12 is the home of star running backs

“I believe we faced the country’s top running back five or six times. “It was like one guy leading it, then another, and so on,” Hill added. “The best back we faced last year [Jonathan Brooks at Texas] tore his ACL, and he remains the first back off the board this year. He tore his ACL four months ago and was still a second-round draft pick. This league has some elite backs. The fact that the running backs were so good probably surprised me the most.”

The Big 12 has some of the top running backs in college football this season.

Ollie Gordon of Oklahoma State is the defending Doak Walker Award recipient. Texas Tech possesses Tahj Brooks, who led the nation in rushing yards at different periods last season.

UCF returns RJ Harvey, who rushed for 1,416 yards last year.

West Virginia welcomes back Jaheim White and CJ Donaldson. Abu Sama returns to lead Iowa State’s young nucleus, which advanced to the bowl game last season.

Kansas has senior star Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw as major backups. Across the Sunflower State, Kansas State returns DJ Giddens and adds former Colorado transfer Dylan Edwards to their backfield.

“The teams are really good at avoiding sacks, so they don’t do much to injure themselves. “I was very impressed by Big 12 football,” Hill said. “Fans, stadiums, and atmospheres. There are no stadiums to pull into and expect a terrible crowd.”