Cougars croak in 44-11 loss at TCU

Can you say 'disaster?'

Everyone knew BYU would be subject to typical Power 5 growing pains in the program's inaugural Big 12 campaign, but what the Cougars suffered at TCU Saturday was anything but expected or standard. Truthfully, it was a failure in every sense.

The Cougars fell 44-11 to the Horned Frogs, though the score may lead one to believe the game was closer than it truly was. It's a miracle TCU didn't lay 50-plus on BYU. The Frogs — despite coming off consecutive losses and playing with a freshman quarterback making his first career start — looked more similar to an NFL squad than their truthful identity as a reeling collegiate program.

The Cougars were manhandled and downright throttled. Aside from a nice day from receiver Chase Roberts, BYU's offense managed less than 100 total yards. Jay Hill's defense — missing its best tackler in Ben Bywater and top safety in Tanner Wall — was gauged for 447 yards and allowed 12 Frogs first downs in 19 tries.

'It can't get any worse,' head coach Kalani Sitake told ESPN's sideline reporter following his team's 14-0 first quarter deficit.

Sitake must have forgot to knock on wood. The Cougars responded to their coach's claim by surrendering another 17 points in the next 15 minutes. It could, and did, get worse.

Did I mention that this BYU team was fresh off a bye week?

Such inadequacy makes it hard to accept the Fort Worth wash as anything less than one of the worst showings in the Sitake era at BYU. The Cougars went from hoping to snag their first Big 12 road win in history to now just trying to scrape by for another conference win, let alone bowl eligibility.

BYU will host a fellow underwhelming league foe in 3-4 Texas Tech this Saturday in Provo for a chance to get back on track.