BYU football: Will BYU quarterback Kedon Slovis be benched?

AUSTIN, Texas — Facing a top-10 team and potential Big 12 champion on the road Saturday, the BYU Cougars knew they would need a big-time performance from veteran quarterback Kedon Slovis to hang with the No. 7 Texas Longhorns.

They simply didn’t get it.

Slovis couldn’t spark a BYU offense that has been sluggish all season and committed three turnovers — two interceptions and a fumble while being strip-sacked — in BYU’s 35-6 loss in front of 101,670 fans at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium and a national television audience (ABC).

Cries for head coach Kalani Sitake to give backup QB Jake Retzlaff a chance when the offense obviously needed a jolt rang out on social media, but the eight-year coach says he never considered making a change.

“I think everybody thinks the easy answer is just to get another quarterback in there. How about let’s just protect for him first? And you know, give him a chance,” Sitake said when he was asked if either he or offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick talked about making a change.

“When he is getting hit, that’s not his fault. That’s a protection (issue). We had issues with the protection breaking down,” Sitake said. “He was managing the game the way we wanted him to.”

In fairness, neither interception was totally Slovis’ fault. On the first one, his pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage. On the second one, receiver Darius Lassiter got his hands on the high ball but it skipped off them and a Texas linebacker snagged it.

“We just weren’t converting on plays. Again, Texas had a say in that,” Sitake said. “They have a really good defense and they made things difficult on us.”

Slovis did make some good throws, such as one that Lassiter hauled in despite getting interfered with, drawing a flag. He finished 24 of 39 for a passer rating of 93.7.

“I believe in our players. I believe in Kedon. I believe in our guys. We just didn’t make enough plays,” Sitake said. “When people are looking for sparks and things like that, you lose your players once you start looking for sparks all over the place.”

Slovis didn’t take the loss on his shoulders, as he did in the 44-11 loss at TCU two weeks ago. He praised BYU’s defense, saying that unit kept it reasonably close and gave the offense plenty of opportunities to get going.

“They gave us a chance, kept us in the game,” Slovis said. “We have to make the most of it when we get the opportunities.”

The Cougars were 2 of 13 on third down and 2 of 3 on fourth down, once again falling behind the chains time and again and putting Slovis in tenuous third and long situations.

“I want to be aggressive,” Sitake said. “… If the offense isn’t progressing down the field, if we are not scoring points, it is an 11-man problem. It is not just one guy.

“It is also a problem with us coaching getting our guys in the right spot,” Sitake continued. “So (let’s) address the issues and the deficiencies — let’s make it better — and not make something up when it is not even there.”

Crew Wakley’s first half interception and return to the 10 seemingly put the Cougars in excellent shape, but Max Tooley was flagged for a block in the back and BYU lost 50 yards of field position.

Wakley and Slovis both said the final score isn’t a good reflection of how competitive the game was.

“If you look at the score and you didn’t watch the game, it looks like we got our butts kicked more than we did, I feel like,” Wakley said. “But there is no panic mode (in this team) by any means.”

Said Slovis: “I think at times we had a lot of success. I don’t think the score necessarily reflects it. We were in the game late with a chance. Kind of one play in a drive killed us. … And really they are a great team.”

Although he was sacked twice and pressured several other times, Slovis praised BYU’s offensive line, saying it “did a good job handling them” and called the Texas defensive line “one of the best I’ve been around, if not the best.”

So what was the problem? Why can’t this team move the football and score more points?

Sitake said the Cougars aren’t doing the little things needed to win.

Slovis said the team’s unity will pull it through.

“This team has done a great job sticking together through adversity. There is no finger-pointing. I love these guys. We love each other,” he said. “Defense, offense, regardless of who is having their day, this teams sticks together for the most part.”

And Sitake is sticking with his starter — at least for the time being.