It's been a whirlwind of a weekend for BYU's defense.
On Thursday, defensive coordinator Jay Hill drove home from practice prepared for the Cougars' season opener against Southern Illinois, and ended the evening in the hospital being treated for a heart attack.
He recovered fairly quickly thanks to quick and timely medical help, and called coach Kalani Sitake to inform him of the situation. He preferred to keep it under wraps, even amongst his own players.
Hill face-timed his players the night before the game to inform them what was going on.
"He's always telling us to be tough," said John Nelson postgame. "For him to have a heart attack and come back and coach the next game is pretty tough in my opinion."
Thankfully, Hill was dismissed from the hospital just a day later, and attended the game. He of course remained off duty and it was reported by BYU that Sitake would be assuming the role of defensive signal-caller. Sitake revealed postgame that he did not make the play calls and Hill wore a headset to monitor and even chime in during game time.
BYU's defense, having met Hill on the field pre-game, strapped in amid their emotions and ran out onto the field to try and deliver a season-opening win. The Cougars did just that, clobbering the Salukis 41-13.
Much improved last season, due in part to the hiring of Hill, BYU's defense was considered the strong point of this team. The Cougars had one of their best defensive recruiting classes ever, and experienced seniors like Tyler Batty and Jakob Robinson make this side of the ball a force.
Saturday was about what you would expect from an FCS opponent in Southern Illinois. The Salukis threw for just 108 yards and were held to 4 of 12 on third-down conversions.
Weber State transfer Jack Kelly led the team in tackles with five. The defensive line recorded two sacks courtesy of Nelson and Isaiah Bagnah.
Robinson continued to play lock-down coverage at corner, snagging the game's lone interception, the ninth of his career.
The one area exposed by SIU was the quarterback scramble. DJ Williams ran for two touchdowns and 121 yards, most of which came off of designed pass plays that eventually broke down.
"It's first game stuff a little bit," said Nelson. "I think we'll watch film and get better and practice it throughout the week."
Even though he wasn't on the sidelines, Hill's influence was apparent nearly every snap. The Cougars blitzed on third down and ran press cover zeros. There were QB hurries, sacks and TFL's that created havoc for the Saluki offense all game long.
Sitake expects Hill to be back to work on Monday for meetings and preparation for SMU.
For Hill and the rest of the defense, it's as if nothing even happened. Just a whirlwind of a weekend, a W in the win column and it is looking forward to Friday in Dallas.