BYU Football: 4 Things the Cougars Need to Improve During Their Bye Week

For the first time in six years, BYU has started the season with an impressive 4-0 record. The Cougars moved up to the 20th spot in the AP Poll this week and could potentially make another jump with losses from the teams ahead of them. 

With a bye week ahead, the Cougs will have the chance to make needed adjustments and improvements. Despite being undefeated, there is still a lot of room for refinement.

But what do Bronco Mendenhall and his staff need to work on? Here are four things that the Cougars need to improve during their bye week.

BYU's secondary has been streaky all season, but it was definitely exposed against Virginia. Despite averaging 203 passing yards per game before their trip to Provo, the Cavaliers racked up 327 against BYU.

The Cougars rank 101st in the FBS in passing yards allowed and will continue to struggle until changes are made. There is no doubt that the secondary is physical and talented, but they have not performed at the level that has been expected.

With veteran players including Jordan Johnson, Robertson Daniel and Craig Bills, we can only hope that the secondary will step up.

BYU (once again) leads the FBS in penalties and penalty yards per game, with an average of 11 for 105 yards. Penalties are preventing the Cougs from capitalizing on scoring opportunities and have kept opponents in the game.

Far too often, plays that could be momentum-shifters have been erased because of penalty flags. To keep an undefeated season a realistic possibility, penalties need to be drastically limited. 

BYU has consistently struggled to get pressure on the quarterback, and through four games, has only come up with seven sacks. But when the Cougs manage to get in the backfield, they haven't succeeded in containing the QB.

Virginia's Greyson Lambert played less than three quarters against BYU because of an injury, but he still managed to rack up 188 passing yards.

His offensive line was giving him plenty of time in the pocket, but he ran for 49 additional yards. Lambert had -3 rushing yards on the season before the BYU game.

For a Cougar defense that has consistently been solid at pass rushing, it is shocking to see a Bronco Mendenhall team struggle this much. They will definitely need to make some adjustments before the Utah State game next week.

There is no doubt that the BYU offense has struggled to score at some points, and despite having the momentum in its favor, it has struggled to capitalize. Play-calling has definitely been questionable at times, and an improvement there could lead to more points on the board.

Running on third-and-27 or back-to-back rushing plays up the middle won't do much for you. This has absolutely killed momentum this season for BYU, and when combined with a high amount of penalties, it is impressive that the Cougs are averaging over 37 points per game.

If BYU can figure out how to keep things rolling after big plays, they will have more success in the upcoming weeks.