Jakob Robinson, BYU defense take momentum into always-challenging Laramie

Two games into his final season at BYU, veteran cornerback Jakob Robinson looks around at his defense and likes what he sees.

“The pressure has changed,” the senior cornerback told BYUtv’s “GameDay” pregame show. “We have the defensive line getting back there super fast and the linebackers’ blitzes are getting through. That is the night and day difference.”

Just two games into the season, the defense is quickly establishing an identity that is much different from a year ago. Part of it is the familiarity with the scheme, in Jay Hill ’s second year as defensive coordinator. The other part is talented execution.

Robinson is running around a secondary that is as deep as BYU has had in years. The Cougars expect to add an additional weapon Saturday with Mory Bamba returning from injury.

With growing confidence, BYU pounced on SMU’s first two possessions. The Cougars harassed quarterback Preston Stone, sacking him twice and forcing punts on consecutive fourth-and-19s.

The Mustangs, who averaged 53.9 points during their previous nine-game home winning streak, inserted a second, more mobile quarterback and still couldn’t find the end zone. On a night where BYU’s offense sputtered, the defense saved the day.

“There are going to be games where (opponents) are going to score a lot on us and the offense will have to score a lot. It just depends,” Robinson said. “If the offense isn’t scoring as much, we have to back them up.”

The BYU defense certainly had Jake Retzlaff’s back in Dallas. The junior quarterback turned the ball over three times and put the Cougars in precarious positions. Robinson and the defense responded by forcing three turnovers, including his fourth-quarter fumble recovery at BYU’s 8-yard line.

The defense knows who it is, and it is getting better. The offense isn’t so sure, and it is running out of time. Saturday at Wyoming (7 p.m. MDT, CBS Sports Network) is BYU’s last opportunity to close the identity gap between the two units before the competition greatly increases in the Big 12.

For that reason, the trip to Laramie could be the most important afternoon of the season.

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com .