On or off the field, these are hard times for the BYU football team.
The Cougars are 1-3, all four games being decided by no more than three points. The near misses might have been taken as a small consolation the first couple of games, but now it’s just a bad habit.
This schedule isn’t as bad as everyone feared — it’s worse. The Cougars still have games against Michigan State, Mississippi State, Boise State and Cincinnati.
For an independent trying to return to national prominence, the season is finished.
The passing game that was once their national identity, the singular thing that put them on the map and ahead of their time, has disappeared (the key numbers: seven interceptions to four touchdowns, 5.