PROVO – When it comes to describing the BYU football team’s 2024 season, many adjectives come to mind.

Perhaps the most pressing problem at the moment is “incomplete”.

The Cougars ended the 2024 regular season late Saturday night with a 30-18 victory over Houston in a way that has come to define the season: with an overwhelming defense, breakout play on special teams and an offense that far exceeded their expectations Find opportunities to fall short.

But with the help of ample scope to complete its 10-2 campaign, BYU (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) should be able to take a comprehensive look at what the program has accomplished over the past three months has.

No, the Cougars are not traveling to Arlington, Texas, for next week’s Big 12 Championship Game, a game that will feature Arizona State, a team picked to finish last in the Big 12 preseason media poll, and Iowa State .

But BYU’s 19th 10-win season in the last 100 seasons and third in the last five years deserves to be celebrated without having to deal with the baggage of what might have been.

“There are teams that didn’t get as many wins as everyone expected and people who thought we wouldn’t win as many,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake, whose team was picked to finish 13th in the Big 12 was won with an over/under of 4.5. “The problem is we thought we would get two more games. Because we didn’t make it through two games, we had to rely on the tie-break system.”

“This is a great lesson for us: you can’t keep making mistakes and trying to find ways out of them. You can be grateful that you are making ends meet. …But you can’t make this a thing every week. If we just do our job, minimize the mistakes, then I think we’re in a really good position.”

Here’s an example: The same Cyclones that ultimately eliminated BYU from contention for the Big 12 Championship won a tenth game at Iowa State for the first time in the 133-year history of college football, advancing to only their second Ever made it to a conference championship.

Sitake gives credit to defensive coordinator Jay Hill, who led a top-25 unit that led the nation with 20 interceptions to complement an offense that was averaging 30.8 points per game under not-so-shot-shy Jake Retzlaff often brought just enough, dual-threat signal-caller who completed just eight passes for 167 yards while running for 57 with two touchdowns.

The Cougars relied heavily on the ground game, which they did Saturday night with LJ Martin’s 87-yard rush and Sione I. Moa’s 6-yard score that helped turn a 7-0 deficit into a 14-10 lead, after Talan Alfrey returned an onside kick attempt 58 yards to the house.

BYU never trailed again, as the senior class of 2024 — as well as honorary seniors Chase Roberts and Ethan Slade, who opted for the honor while still eligible to play — were eliminated with the group’s third double-digit win.

But with due respect to the reconfigured schedule of the 2020 season, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2021 season, which included wins over five Pac-12 opponents before a 10-3 loss to UAB in the Independence Bowl , this is the latest achievement meets different.

“In a power conference like the one we’re in, that’s a huge deal,” said BYU linebacker Jack Kelly, who has 49 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, five sacks, two forced in the year since transferring from Weber Fumbles and an interception had state. “It’s not easy to achieve this and it really shows that everyone on this team was confident, that the coaches helped us find the right path and that everyone was ready to make it happen.”

A year after the Cougars went 5-7 in their first Big 12 season, the program relied on continuity and a new offensive line coach to help turn the program around and to a bowl game for the 18th time in 20 years to return. They’ll likely end up in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio or the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando – the program’s best bowl game since the Cotton Bowl in 1996 – after a top-four finish in the league.

“Even though we’re 10-2 here, my mind goes back to what could have been. But I have to hesitate and appreciate the journey we have been through and the things we have achieved,” said Sitake. “You can see that the culture works. But there are a lot of things we can do to get better as a program and I’m looking forward to that.”

“This is just the beginning. It’s the second year of the Big 12 and I’m proud we have seven wins in the conference.”