BYU’s Isaiah Kaufusi: We Play For Kalani

PROVO, Utah – Entering Saturday’s game against Boise State, there were more questions than answers about the BYU football program.

Is the program headed in the right direction? What is Kalani’s future? Should he remain head coach?

Beating No. 14 Boise State helped provide some answers. The win snaps a three-game skid for the Cougars and brings optimism heading into the back half of the 2019 schedule.

It’s a momentum builder. It brings faith back to a downtrodden fanbase, and reinvigorates a team that’s faced its share of hard luck.

But more than anything, it shows how badly these players want to succeed for Sitake.

“I don’t think people really realize and understand how much we love Kalani,” said linebacker Isaiah Kaufusi post-game. “He’s a great mentor, a phenomenal coach, I think people are quick to criticize and attack him. The whole team, we’re behind Kalani.”

Earlier this week, linebacker Chaz Ah You said that after Sitake took responsibility for the losses against Toledo and South Florida, it made him want to play harder for his coach, “As a player, it makes you want to step your game up even more. His job is on the line and for him to put himself under the bus like that and take the blame for how we are playing, that shows a lot of love. It makes me want to go out and work even harder for him.”

They had his back Saturday night, and the energy and excitement the team showed could last for the rest of the season. Kaufusi thinks that’s the case, “we play for him, regardless of if his job is on the line or not, you’re going to get 123 guys who are playing for Kalani.”

A win in the next game would be a statement. The Cougars play in-state rival Utah State in Logan – a team the Cougars haven’t beaten since 2016.

If they pull it off, it’ll be for Kalani.