Pressure is on these three BYU defensive ends to get more pressure on quarterbacks in 2024

BYU football players like to say that feeling pressure is a privilege, a thought that has been drilled into their heads by a cadre of coaches, sports psychologists and others on the support staff.
For several players in particular, the pressure to perform well this season seems especially intense.
That would be the defensive ends, who are taking a lot of the blame for the fact that BYU sacked opposing quarterbacks only 11 times in 12 games last year, a rate that put the Cougars tied for dead last in sacks in the country with Virginia.
“We have a defense that has been underperforming a bit the last few years,” senior defensive end Tyler Batty acknowledged the second week of preseason training camp. “We are all well aware of that.”
Defensive ends coach Kelly Poppinga has said on more than one occasion this month that the lack of sacks issue goes way beyond the defensive ends but agrees that the entire defensive line has to improve immensely for the Cougars to have a successful season.
Poppinga is so confident in the returning starters — Batty and fellow seniors Logan Lutui and Isaiah Bagnah — and the freshmen and backups from last year that he didn’t go out and plumb the transfer portal for better pass rushers.
Other defensive ends, or outside ends as BYU calls the position that includes Lutui and Bagnah, on the depth chart released Monday are sophomore Bodie Schoonover (DE) and freshmen Viliami Po’uha (DE) and Ephraim Asiata (OE).
“I am very, very confident in that group,” Poppinga said on his Coordinators’ Corner program Monday. “When you go with Logan, Isaiah Bagnah and Batty, you feel good. All those guys played a ton of reps for us last year. I feel deep at that position.”
Poppinga said the class makeup of the entire defensive line is optimal, because it includes a good amount of veterans and then “a group of younger guys that are just as talented, but maybe aren’t as experienced.”
Poppinga has said that Asiata has some of the same traits as two of the best defenders in school history — linebackers Fred Warner and Kyle Van Noy.
Other defensive ends, or outside ends, on the roster include freshmen Kini Fonohema, Carson Tujague and Orion Maile-Kaufusi; sophomore Sani Tuala; and junior Nuuletau Sellesin.
“You can only practice with so many guys. Those six guys (on the depth chart) will practice with the defense, while the other five guys will go over to scout team and go against the offense. There are some very talented players there as well.”
Poppinga said the defensive end depth “is as good as I have had as a position coach in my 16-year career. I am excited to work with these guys and see how they do.”
Obviously, Batty, Bagnah and Lutui will get the most reps — Bagnah and Lutui have the “or” designation between their names on the two-deep, meaning they are considered co-starters at outside end — but Poppinga said Schoonover should get some significant playing time because he’s earned it.
“Bodie might have had the most consistent and most improved camp of anybody on our entire defense. He’s physical, plays fast, knows what to do,” Poppinga said.
“He got in a little bit last year at the end of games. I am really excited to see what he can do. He’s gotten bigger (nearly 270 pounds) and is moving really, really good. He is super smart and has a little linebacker background to him, which shows that he can move around a little bit.”
Here’s a closer look at the top three rush ends:
Batty was an all-Big 12 second-team selection in 2023, and for good reason. He led BYU with 5.5 sacks and eight quarterback hurries. But too often than not BYU was a “one-trick pony” last year, according to Poppinga, because Batty didn’t get much help from his fellow defensive linemen.
“We have a really experienced team. A team …. that knows what it takes to be successful,” Batty said, “and so I think the biggest thing this year is guys have taken the experience of the past two seasons and said, ‘Hey, we are not doing that again. We don’t want to do that again, and so let’s get to work.’”
Batty is also decent against the run, having posted a career-high 57 tackles in 2023.
“We have really good depth on the D-line. We have a lot of experience. We have the five seniors, and then we have a bunch of underclassmen that are improving at a rapid rate, so we are stoked about that,” he said.
After suffering a season-ending ACL injury against Wyoming in 2022, Lutui got limited reps the first four games of the 2023 season. He got more snaps as the season wore on, then became a starter the last two games of the season, against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
The Weber State transfer is determined to make up for lost time this season, although he could end up sharing reps with Bagnah.
“I had a great offseason with our strength and conditioning staff. They really got me right,” he said. “I feel really good this fall camp. Actually, this is the best I have felt in any of the fall camps I have been in.”
Lutui is the son-in-law of BYU director of football relations Jack Damuni, famous for calling every player on the roster his nephew. Lutui said he is fairly certain that this season will be his last in Provo, although technically he’s got a medical redshirt year available from 2022.
“This year, we have had a way bigger emphasis on pass rush and urgency,” he said. “We are excited to showcase that.”
Bagnah displayed some flashes of brilliance last year, like when the Boise State transfer had a strip-sack against Texas. But for the most part he was too often a nonfactor.
Bagnah, from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, finished the year with 27 tackles and a sack, despite appearing in all 12 games.
Bagnah said he completely changed his diet in the offseason to add size and strength. Midway through fall camp, he weighed 250 pounds — about 10 pounds more than he did in 2023.
“I am as fast as I have ever been, as strong as I have ever been,” he said. “The strength staff has done a wonderful job with me.”
If anybody on BYU’s defense has the proverbial chip on their shoulder from listening to months of criticism, it is Bagnah.
“Absolutely,” he said. “You look at why my guy Batty came back, why I came back, why Logan came back, it is because we have a chip on our shoulder. We have something to prove. We know that we left a lot of production on the table last year.”