BYU football's historic 2024 season rewrote expectations for the Kalani Sitake era. In case you missed it, I recently published an article on exactly where I think it ranks all-time in the history of the program (hint: it's high). Following the 2022 season, I published my ranking of the top 10 wins of Coach Sitake's tenure; while the 2023 season was largely forgettable and didn't feature any games I thought should be included, the 2024 season was something else entirely. The Cougars had a number of significant wins which have forced me to re-evaluate this list. So, here you go: the top 10 wins of the Kalani Sitake era, updated after the 2024 season. (As a reminder, I also have a write-up on the best wins of the Bronco Mendenhall era.)
10. @ Tennessee, 7 September 2019 (29-26 2OT): While Tennessee wasn’t the most elite opponent the Cougars faced in 2019, this game makes the list for sheer entertainment value. It was an exciting, hard-fought win that showcased the Cougars’ grit and ability to perform in the clutch, and it took place in one of college football's most legendary venues, Neyland Stadium, against one of its most prestigious programs. The heroic late-game efforts of Zach Wilson, Micah Simon, and Jake Oldroyd to survive in regulation were the stuff of BYU football legend, and seeing Ty'Son Williams muscle his way into that iconic checkerboard end zone for the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime was an unforgettable moment. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
9. vs. #24 USC, 14 September 2019 (30-27 OT): Given how Kedon Slovis's career played out, particularly his time at BYU, it's a little crazy to look back on this game. At the time, Slovis was a star freshman quarterback at USC, and after thoroughly embarrassing Stanford in game 2, he had a Heisman campaign rapidly developing around him. But in this game, sophomore Zach Wilson stole the show and had the ESPN commentators laying on the Johnny Manziel comparisons thick. Slovis, meanwhile, watched his Heisman chatter dissolve as he threw three interceptions and looked a step behind the BYU defense all day. This was the first really big home victory of Kalani Sitake's career, and coming a week after the Tennessee game, it drew some serious eyeballs toward Provo. A rash of injuries and gradually worsening defensive gameplanning and execution led to the 2019 season being a bit of a letdown for BYU, but in the moment, the thousands of fans rushing the field after Dayan Ghanwoloku's game-sealing pick didn't know any of that. This game provided a glimpse of what the Cougars could have been in 2019 if they had stayed healthy—a really fun, exciting team capable of going toe-to-toe with bluebloods. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
8. vs. #19 Arizona State, 18 September 2021 (27-17): In what has to be among the greatest two weeks in BYU football history, the Cougars accepted a program-altering invitation to join the Big 12, beat Utah for the first time since 2009 (more on that later), and then played this game the following week. The Sun Devils had a talented but undisciplined team, and both of those attributes were on full display in this game. At times, they played the Cougars tough and made the game competitive on both sides of the ball. But at the end of the day, their sloppy offensive line couldn't handle the noise of LaVell Edwards Stadium and collected a mountain of penalties—mistakes which allowed BYU to get ahead early and keep the lead throughout the game. At this point in the 2021 season, it felt like the sky truly was the limit for the 3-0 Cougars. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
7. vs. #9 Baylor, 10 September 2022 (26-20 2OT): This game would be higher on this list if not for the fact that Baylor ended up having a pretty mediocre 2022 season—ranked #9 when the Cougars played them, the Bears collapsed after this loss and stumbled to a 6-7 record. Still, in the moment, this was an incredibly cathartic game for Cougar Nation. The 2021 matchup between these two teams had been a disaster for BYU—the Cougars' defense simply melted away and allowed the Bears to do pretty much anything they wanted in the run game, resulting in a 38-24 defeat that was even more lopsided on the field than it looked on paper. The Cougars took that loss personally, and it was obvious from the first kickoff of this game. The BYU defense in particular played at another level—this was possibly the best single-game coaching performance of Ilaisa Tuiaki's BYU career, which is ironic given that he was ultimately fired at season's end. Beyond the Cougars' titanic defensive effort, this game was also notable for the emergence of freshman Chase Roberts at wide receiver. Roberts, whose college debut had come just one week earlier, was thrust into the WR1 role by a perfect storm of injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. He responded with gusto, catching 8 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown while also throwing a touchdown pass to Jaren Hall on a trick play. This was an entertaining game with a nail-biting finish, and it marked BYU's first home win over a top-10 team since the Cougars beat #1 Miami in 1990. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
6. vs. #14 Boise State, 19 October 2019 (28-25): Boise State had a good team in 2019; they ran the table in the Mountain West and finished the season ranked #23 in the AP Poll with a 12-2 record. BYU...didn't have that great of a team in 2019. Zach Wilson was banged up all year—he didn't even play in this game—and the Cougars suffered a revolving door at running back after losing Ty'Son Williams to an ACL tear five games into the season. All of which served to set up peak drama on a miserable, sleet-soaked Homecoming night in Provo. With a third-string quarterback and a fourth-string running back leading the offense behind an offensive line missing four starters, BYU pulled off one of the most jaw-dropping upsets in program history. That third-string QB, Baylor Romney, found a connection with future NFL tight end Matt Bushman that worked over and over—nobody on Boise State's defense could cover Bushman, and all Romney had to do was keep throwing the ball in his general direction. Meanwhile, that fourth-string RB, Sione Finau, rushed for 8.1 yards per carry thanks to the heroic efforts of his cobbled-together offensive line. When future BYU fans look back at Kalani Sitake's tenure, this might well be considered his single most important game. Coming into this game, the Cougars had lost three straight—the most recent two at the hands of bad Toledo and South Florida teams—and Coach Sitake's seat was starting to warm measurably as the team consistently underperformed against inferior competition. Had BYU lost this game, the slide might have continued, and I find it highly unlikely that Coach Sitake would have kept his job with a losing record in 2019. This win arguably saved his career and led directly to all of the success the Cougars have seen since. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
5. @ #6 Wisconsin, 15 September 2018 (24-21): Injuries and inconsistent quarterback play derailed the Cougars’ 2018 season, but for a brief moment early on in their schedule, they vaulted themselves into national prominence with this expectation-shattering win over a top-10 opponent on the road. Granted, the Badgers didn’t live up to their preseason hype, finishing 8-5, but make no mistake—this win was an amazing achievement for the Cougars. The really incredible part is that they did it with virtually no passing game—Tanner Mangum finished the game with just 89 passing yards and a ghastly QBR of 88.53. Enter Squally Canada, who rushed eleven times for 121 yards (eleven yards per carry!) and a pair of TD's, keeping the BYU offense moving when it threatened to stagnate. Though BYU's 2018 season would be remembered more for injuries and bad losses than anything else, this game allowed them to bask ever so briefly in college football's spotlight. Highlights here (no recap because I was on my mission at the time).
4. vs. #13 Kansas State, 21 September 2024 (38-9): BYU's first Big 12 game of the 2024 season was not expected to go well—the Cougars were seven-point underdogs in their own Homecoming game. In the first half, that looked about right, as the BYU offense couldn't get anything going and the Cougars trailed 6-0 with a couple of minutes left before halftime. They were able to put together a somewhat successful drive and kicked a field goal with about a minute on the clock...and then insanity broke loose. DJ Giddens, Kansas State's star RB, lost a fumble which was scooped up by freshman BYU safety Tommy Prassas and returned for a touchdown. Two plays later, Kansas State QB Avery Johnson threw an interception to (of all people) defensive end Tyler Batty, and two plays after that, Jake Retzlaff dropped a dime to Chase Roberts for another touchdown and an astonishing 17-6 halftime lead for the Cougars. And the fun was just getting started. Two plays into the second half, Avery Johnson threw another pick, this time to linebacker Harrison Taggart, and it once again took just two plays for the BYU offense to cash in a touchdown and a 24-6 lead. On Kansas State's next possession, the Wildcats managed to avoid turning the ball over but went three-and-out and punted. As Parker Kingston dropped back to receive the punt, he muffed the initial catch and had to sprint towards his own goal line to scoop up the ball—then, he turned on the jets. Ninety yards later, after a sprint that left him exhausted to the point of vomiting on the sideline, he crossed the goal line to give his team an astonishing 31-6 lead after what might be the greatest 5-minute stretch of game time for a BYU team since the Miracle Bowl. The Cougars coasted from there, keeping Kansas State's talented offense out of the end zone in an incredibly impressive defensive performance. This was the game that proved to the nation how good the 2024 BYU team really was. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
3. @ SMU, 6 September 2024 (18-15): Because this is a list of the overall best, most impactful wins of the Kalani Sitake era, this game can't pass up the two ahead of it. In fact, bizarrely and a little unjustly, this game had very little effect on how BYU football was perceived over the course of the 2024 season. But if I were ranking these games purely on the basis of the best opponents BYU has beaten, this would probably be #1. The SMU Mustangs were really, really good in 2024. They went 11-1 during the regular season, largely dominating their ACC competition and earning an at-large bid to the inaugural 12-team playoff. And incredibly enough, that one regular season loss came at the hands of the BYU Cougars. In retrospect, there's a case to be made for this being the most impressive BYU football win of the entire post-LaVell Edwards era—the Cougars went on the road to play a legitimate playoff team and came away with a win. The BYU defense put on by far its best performance of the Sitake era, holding a dynamic SMU offense without a touchdown in the Mustangs' own stadium. That's a mind-blowing achievement—all the more so because it was defensive coordinator Jay Hill's first game back to full-time playcalling duties following a heart attack. To go from a near-death experience to orchestrating one of the great defensive masterpieces in BYU history in less than two weeks is borderline unbelievable. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
2. vs. #21 Utah, 11 September 2021 (26-17): I debated whether to put this game behind or ahead of the SMU game. SMU in 2024 was better than this Utah team, but I think this win was more significant for BYU fans, both at the time and in hindsight. Twelve years and nine games went by without a BYU victory in this most storied of rivalries. There were nail-biters, to be sure, but the Cougars always found a way to mess things up in the end. I was in fifth grade when BYU beat Utah in 2009—I was a senior in my final semester at BYU when this game happened. That's a really, really long time. And the way this win happened was just so satisfying. The Cougars beat the Utes at their own game, dominating the trenches completely on both sides of the ball, running the ball at will, winning the turnover margin, and using special teams precision to gain a field position advantage. It was a masterclass in Kyle Whittingham-style football put on by Whittingham's old protégé, Kalani Sitake. I will never forget the experience of rushing the field after this game—barely able to hear the postgame fireworks over the deafening roar of a crowd releasing more than a decade of frustration. It felt like the party on the field lasted all night (it was more like 30 minutes before they cleared everyone off, but you get the idea). BYU will win more important games in the future. The Cougars might even one day ascend once again to the national championship and Heisman Trophy heights they experienced under LaVell Edwards. But there might not ever be another BYU football win this emotional again. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.
1. Alamo Bowl vs. #23 Colorado, 28 December 2024 (36-14): Each of the top three games on this list could conceivably have been #1. The SMU game was the most impressive on-field result of Coach Sitake's career, and the Utah game was his most emotionally significant win. But we're ranking best wins overall, and considering every aspect of the game, Coach Sitake has never had a better, more impactful win than in the Cougars' most recent game at the time of writing—a dominant victory over #23 Colorado and Heisman winner Travis Hunter in the Alamo Bowl. This game had it all—the glitz, glamor, and prestige that came with two of the Big 12's best teams facing off in the most prestigious non-playoff bowl game. The largest TV audience in BYU football history tuned in to watch the Cougars take on Deion Sanders' star-studded squad, headlined by Hunter and QB Shedeur Sanders, both projected first-round draft picks. In a twist that was initially annoying and insulting but became rather funny as the game went on, the ESPN broadcast crew had prepared little to no material on BYU, with virtually all of their talking points focused on Colorado's star duo. This became a problem for the commentators as the game rapidly turned into a rout for BYU. The Cougars led 27-0 in the 3rd quarter before coasting to the win. Jay Hill's defense put on one last brilliant performance, silencing the dynamic Colorado offense completely outside of garbage time. Shedeur Sanders had a miserable outing, taking four sacks and finding himself constantly under pressure. It was quite entertaining to hear the broadcasters singing Sanders' praises during timeouts as highlight after highlight showed him getting obliterated by BYU's monstrous pass rush. It's still only been about a month and a half since this game happened, so its ripple effects are yet to be seen, but make no mistake—this was a historic win for the BYU football program. The Cougars cemented an 11-win record in their second-ever P4 season, and they did it by destroying a nationally prominent team in a heavily-watched primetime bowl game. The entire college football universe focused in on this game, and was treated to one of the most complete performances of the Kalani Sitake era. This is the kind of game that can directly lead to increased recruiting success and will create serious momentum for BYU going into the 2025 season. Highlights here and a link to my recap here.