BYU football 2022 season prediction, preview, awards, 2022 bowl game

BYU football has been a stalwart among independents but can the Cougars end that run strong before moving to the Big 12?

It’s the final year before BYU football becomes a new member in the revamping Big 12 but the Cougars don’t appear keen on letting their relative dominance as an independent program under head coach Kalani Sitake.

After capturing double-digit victories last season and now coming into the 2022 campaign with a healthy roster and high hopes yet again, BYU isn’t going anywhere as a nationally prominent program this season.

Coming in at No. 26 on FanSided’s Preseason Top 50 Rankings, the BYU Cougars!

BYU football 2021 season in review

If not for the CFP run that Cincinnati went on a year ago, BYU would’ve been lauded for what they were doing as a Group of 5/Independent program. They dominated the Pac-12 with a 5-0 record against the conference and finished 5-1 overall against Power 5 competition, including a victory over in-state rival and Pac-12 champion Utah.

On the whole, the result was a 10-2 regular season that was made even more impressive thanks to the fact that the Cougars were forced to navigate a litany of injuries across the board.

The only negative mark for BYU football a year ago was their upset loss to UAB in the bowl game but a 10-3 finish remains nothing to scoff at. More importantly, though, the team that was able to secure such a successful campaign is largely back in the fold for the 2022 season.

Previewing BYU Cougars offense for 2022 season

Returning starters (8): QB Jaren Hall, WR Puka Nacua, WR Gunner Romney, TE Isaac Rex, LT Blake Freeland, IOL Connor Pay, OG Clark Barrington, RT Harris LaChance
Notable Newcomers: RB Christopher Brooks (Cal), OT Kingsley Suamataia (Oregon)
Impact player: Blake Freeland

There is a ton of returning talent on the BYU offense but the notable absence of running back Tyler Allgeier, now suiting up for the Atlanta Falcons (bless his heart). The good news is that Sataki landed Cal graduate transfer Christopher Brooks to fill that void as the starter in the backfield and he proved more than capable against Pac-12 competition in his career to this point.

Jaren Hall’s primary objective should be staying healthy because, when he was last season, the fifth-year senior was an electric playmaker with a dual-threat component to his game that made everyone more dangerous. And if he stays healthy, the experienced group of pass-catchers around him are primed to make plays.

As for the line, that’s experienced as well and adds a stud transfer from Oregon and Kingsley Suamataia. Blake Freeland is the leader of the group and the tone-setter for what could be one of the better lines in the country as he has first-round pick aspirations for the 2023 NFL Draft.

Previewing BYU Cougars defense for 2022 season

Returning starters (9): DE Tyler Batty, DT Earl Tuioti-Mariner, NT Caden Haws, LB Keenand Pili, CB/S George Udo, LB/S Payton Wilgar, S Chaz Ah You, S Malik Moore, CB D’Angelo Mandell
Notable Newcomer: CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally
Impact player: Tyler Batty

It’s a bit of a mixed bag for the Cougars defense coming into 2022. While there might only be nine listed returning starters, the injuries that ran through this group mean that they return 15 of their 16 leading tacklers from last season, which makes BYU one of the most experienced defenses in the country this year.

Having said that, that experience needs to result in better performance. Sataki’s defense conceded 25 points per game a year ago and a large reason for that was the lack of push up front. The linebackers, especially now healthy, should be a huge boost for BYU this season but they need Tyler Batty, who led the team with just 3.5 sacks a year ago, to step up and deliver a consistent pass rush if the Cougars want to achieve their highest expectations.

BYU football players awards watch for 2022 season

Several BYU football players made preseason awards watchlists but these three stand out as potential winners to keep an eye on for the 2022 season.

Jaren Hall, Walter Camp Player of the Year/Maxwell/Davey O’Brien

The Jaren Hall hype is real after the quarterback threw for 2,583 yards, 20 touchdowns and just five interceptions to go along with 307 rushing yards and three more scores in only 10 games last season. Now back to full health, big things are expected from the veteran leader at the helm of the offense and he could make a case for any of these awards.

Blake Freeland, Outland

Given the hype entering this season, there’s a case to be made that Blake Freeland is a leading candidate to win the Outland Trophy for the best lineman (offensive or defensive) in college football. He’s an outstanding blindside protector with the chops to dominant any matchup. Should he follow through with that, he’ll make a case for some hardware.

Payton Wilgar, Bronco Nagurski/Butkus

It was an unfortunate 2021 season for Payton Wilgar as he dealt with injuries throughout the entire campaign. Now that he’s back, though, he figures to reach triple-digit tackles this season and could be a huge part of the defense delivering a substantially better overall performance in 2022.

BYU football biggest game on 2022 schedule

Never shy about putting his team to the challenge, Sataki’s got a bear of a schedule ahead with games against Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arkansas and Boise State on the schedule. That’s before you also include some potentially tricky matchups at Liberty and Stanford and even the season-opener against USF.

With that said, welcoming Baylor to Provo on Sept. 10 is too massive to ignore. The Bears are one of the favorites to win the Big 12 this season, so not only could the Cougars send a message to their future conference with a win in that matchup, but it could spell out how things could go moving forward.

Many around the sport believe that the changes that Baylor will have to undergo are being a bit overlooked and BYU can counter that with their vast experience. Moreover, if the Cougars start off at 2-0 with a win before going to Eugene, that puts them in a far more advantageous position as a 1-2 start with dates against Notre Dame, Arkansas and Boise State still looming if they want to have a chance at getting to 10 wins again in the 2022 season.

BYU football best-case scenario

Despite how good BYU can be, there’s no denying that the tough schedule that they’ve put forth for themselves this season. But if Hall is healthy and takes a natural step forward in his second year as the starter while the defense also harnesses their experience to make a leap, then there is undoubtedly a world where the Cougars are still able to successfully navigate this tough slate.

We’re chalking the opener at USF along with games against Wyoming, Utah State, Liberty, East Carolina, Utah Tech and Stanford up as wins simply due to the fact that BYU looks far more talented and experienced than each of those teams. That puts us at seven wins as we look at what happens in the tougher parts of the schedule against Baylor, Oregon, Notre Dame, Arkansas and Boise State.

Even with how good the Cougars can be, I don’t see them going better than 3-2 in that stretch, even in the best-case scenario, with losses at Oregon and against Notre Dame in Las Vegas on Oct. 8 as the most likely spots where they falter. Even still, another 10-2 regular season is nothing for the fanbase in Provo to scoff at.

BYU football worst-case scenario

The good news about the tough schedule is that BYU football, as mentioned, does seemingly have a set of games where they should punch their ticket to bowl eligibility pretty smoothly. That group of seven games that we gave to the Cougars in the best-case scenario travels to the worst-case scenario as things would have to get legitimately awful for this team to lose any of those games, to the point where I truly don’t view it as realistic.

With that said, the five-game stretch against four Power 5 teams and Boise State is more difficult to navigate. In the worst-case scenario, I truly believe that Sataki has done enough with this program to warrant faith that they won’t get swept by that group, but a 1-4 run through that part of the schedule is far from out of the question. But if we’re talking worst-case scenario, than they fall short in all of those games.

That would leave BYU football going a hard-nosed 7-5 on the season, which still isn’t all that bad for the worst-case scenario.

BYU football 2022 season prediction

It’s only fitting looking at the best and worst-case scenarios for this team to say that the reality will wind up somewhere in the middle.

Everything comes down to that aforementioned five-game set for BYU and I think they have a good advantage in several of them. Getting to play Baylor early in the season is an advantage for the Cougars, as is playing in Provo. I’m going to give them the win over the Bears before a loss at Oregon. Arkansas I’m actually quite worried about as their emphasis in the trenches on offense plays right against the Cougars’ biggest question mark, so I’m thinking that the Razorbacks get that matchup, as does Notre Dame in the Las Vegas game.

That leads us to Boise State and, just point blank, I think BYU is a better, more well-rounded team than the Broncos this season. So while the Cougars won’t get another 10-win regular season, I still have them finishing at 9-3 with a chance to get a bowl win and then pick up a second straight 10-3 finish overall.

BYU football 2022 bowl game prediction

College Football News has the Cougars projected to play in the Myrtle Beach Bowl in a clash of Group of 5 titans against Appalachian State. Meanwhile, Bill Bender of Sporting News projects BYU to end up in the New Mexico Bowl in a battle against Colorado State.

Up next: No. 25: Texas Longhorns

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