100 Facts About the 2022 BYU Football Roster

100 Facts About the 2022 BYU Football Roster

1. Freshman Micah Harper (No. 1) will return to BYU defense this fall; Harper suffered an injury during spring camp last season that kept him out for the entire 2021 season
2. Sophomore linebacker Ben Bywater changed his number from No. 33 to No. 2 that season
3. Starting quarterback Jaren Hall (No. 3) has thrown for 3,003 yards, 21 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 17 games for the Cougars
4. BYU added four P5 transfers this offseason: Christopher Brooks, Houston Heimuli, Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Kingsley Suamataia
5. Junior tight end Dallin Holker changed his number from No. 32 to No. 5 this season
6. Senior running back Lopini Katoa has 6 touchdowns and 19 rushing touchdowns during his BYU career
7. In his first three seasons at BYU, running back Jackson McChesney averaged 7.9 yards per carry (394 total yards) on 50 attempts.
8. Of the 118 players on the BYU Spring roster, 8 are from Arizona
9. BYU has lost nine players to the transfer portal since the end of last season; Three of those players have ended up on FBS rosters
10. The average height of BYU wide receivers is 6ft 1.5
11. Senior cornerback Kaleb Hayes, a former transfer from Oregon State, had 11 PBUs last season
12. Vanderbilt transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally made 50 tackles for the Commodores last season
13. Junior linebacker Jackson Kaufusi changed his number from #38 to #13 this season
14. 14 players in the roster have single digits: Kody Epps, Jakob Robinson, Micah Harper, Keanu Hill, Christopher Brooks, Ben Bywater, Chaz Ah You, Jaren Hall, Caleb Christensen, Lopini Katoa, Dallin Holker, D’Angelo Mandell, Hinckley Ropati and George Udo
15. 15 Class of 2020 Scholars will return from their missions this year – that is more than the number of Scholarships available on the 2022 list; Some of these players will be called upon to gray shirt this season (see video at the top of this article).
16. 16 seniors were listed on BYU’s spring list
17. Freshman quarterback Jacob Conover (No. 17) threw 10 passes last season; he was 5/10 for 45 yards
18. BYU wide receiver Keanu Hill had 18 receptions last season; he averaged 19.1 yards per reception
19. Of the 49 freshmen on the list, 19 are offensive or defensive linemen; 10 newcomers are listed along the line of defense
20. Junior wide receiver Brayden Cosper changed his number from No. 85 to No. 20 this season
21. The players on BYU’s spring roster came from 21 different states
22. There were more defenders (22) on the list than in any other position group
23. BYU punt returner Hobbs Nyberg (No. 23) has averaged 8.45 yards per punt return over the past two seasons
24. BYU punter Ryan Rehkow (No. 24) has averaged 47.16 yards per punt over the past two years
25. Freshman defenseman Talan Alfrey (No. 25) will return to BYU defense this fall; Alfrey suffered an injury prior to fall camp last season that kept him out for the entire 2021 season
26. Redshirt freshman defenseman Ethan Slade changed his number from No. 35 to No. 26 this season
27. Of the 22 starters in the 2021 opener against Arizona, 6 of the 22 (27%) started all 13 games for the Cougars
28. BYU defenders are expected to add some reinforcements ahead of fall camp; The Cougars signed four play-first defensemen as part of the 2022 class
29. BYU DB Former No. 29 Shamon Willis announced his plans to get away from football and focus on his career
30. Freshman defenseman Quenton Rice (No. 30) is the son of former BYU defenseman great Rodney Rice
31. BYU linebacker Max Tooley (No. 31) has 162 tackles in 41 games at BYU
32. 30 sophomores were listed on the spring list
33. Junior tight end Dallin Holker has caught 33 passes averaging 13.2 yards per catch during his BYU career
34. Josh Wilson (No. 34) is the younger brother of former BYU quarterback Zach Wilson; Josh is joined by his younger brother Micah, who signed with the Cougars as part of the Class of 2022
35. Senior wide receiver Gunner Romney has averaged 35 receptions per season over the past three seasons
36. 36% of the players on the list are not from Utah or California
37. BYU safety Malik Moore has intercepted five passes in his BYU career
38. 38 players on BYU’s 2021 roster played a redshirt season last year; 36 of the 38 were freshmen
39. Of the 118 players in BYU’s spring roster, 39 (33%) were upper class players
40. Real freshman linebacker Michael Daley is home from his mission and attended spring camp; Daley led Utah State in sacks as a senior at Lone Peak High School
41. Junior linebacker Keenan Pili (No. 41) totaled 31 tackles in just 3 games last season before suffering a season-ending injury
42. The average height of BYU defenders is 6″1
43. In his first season at BYU, Washington transfer Puka Nacua had 43 receptions for 805 yards and 6 touchdowns
44. Cal transfer running back Christopher Brooks has rushed for 1,734 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career
45. Pepe Tanuvasa (No. 45) has played 25 games for the Cougars in the past two seasons; He has totaled 66 tackles and 4 sacks
46. The only running back on the BYU roster listed under 200 pounds is Austin Bell; Bell weighed 195
47. No player wore number 47 at the Spring Ball
48. BYU defenseman Lorenzo Fauatea has appeared in 34 games and completed 42 tackles
49. Linebacker Payton Wilgar (No. 49) has a total of 168 tackles during his BYU career, including 16.5 tackles for loss
50. 49 newcomers were listed on the spring list; More freshmen will join the program before the fall camp
51. Senior defender Alden Tofa (No. 51) has played 35 games over the course of his career
52. Senior offensive lineman played in 12 games for BYU last season and started in 9 games
53. Sophomore defenseman Jakob Robinson made 12 appearances last season after transferring from Utah State; Robinson caught three passes in 2021, including two interceptions against Georgia Southern
54. Placekicker Jake Oldroyd has made 54 field goal attempts in four seasons with the Cougars; He has made 76% of his field goals
55. Puka Nacua’s longest reception of the 2021 season was 55 yards against South Florida
56. Freshman defenseman Logan Fano (No. 56) was a standout player during spring camp before suffering a season-ending knee injury
57. Senior defenseman Chaz Ah You has 81 tackles, 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 5 PBUs during his BYU career
58. Freshman defense lineman Aisea “Ice” Moa (No. 58) was a four-star recruit graduating from Weber High School
59. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Burke Parker changed his number from No. 50 to No. 59 this season
60. Of the 118 players in BYU’s spring roster, 60 are from Utah
61. Cade Fennegan (No. 11) was transferred from Boise State to BYU; Fennegan prepared at Woodrow Wilson High School, where he was the winningest quarterback in school history
62. Junior defensive tackle Atunaisa Mahe has 48 tackles and 3.5 sacks during his BYU career
63. D’Angelo Mandell (No. 5) has appeared in 47 games for the Cougars and has 72 tackles
64. Isaiah Herron (No. 11) has appeared in 34 games for the Cougars and has 48 tackles
65. Seven specialists are included on the BYU list: Ryan Rehkow, Justen Smith, Jake Oldroyd, Dalton Riggs, Austin Riggs, Britton Hogan and Cash Peterman
66. Freshman offensive lineman (No. 66) signed with Utah State after high school before joining BYU after his mission
67. Freshman offensive lineman Brock Gunderson (No. 67) signed with BYU as part of the class of 2019; Gunderson held eight competing FBS bids
68. Only four players in BYU’s spring roster are from Idaho: Morgan Pyper, Hayden Livingston, Dalton Riggs and Austin Riggs
69. Seth Willis (No. 69) appeared in 12 games for BYU last season, mostly on special teams
70. Sophomore offensive lineman Connor Pay (No. 70) appeared in all 13 games for BYU last season and started 10 games
71. Blake Freeland (No. 71) started all 13 games in left tackle for BYU last season; The Herriman, Utah junior is attracting interest from the NFL
72. No player wore number 72 at the Spring Ball
73. 26 players played in all 13 games for BYU
74. Sophomore Campbell Barrington (No. 74) was named a freshman All-American by Maxwell Football Club after playing eight games for the Cougars last season
75. Sam Dawe (#75) is a transfer from the state of Idaho
76. Harris LaChance (No. 76) missed most of the 2021 season through injury but started four games for the Cougars’ offensive line
77. Head coach Kalani Sitake has coached 77 games for the Cougars, playing 48-29 in those games
78. Kingsley Suamataia (No. 78), an Oregon transfer and former Five-Star recruit, played on first-team offense all spring; Suamataia is expected to start along the offensive line for the Cougars
79. Junior defender Alema Pilimai (No. 99) has appeared in just one game since moving from tight end to defensive end
80. BYU is returning 80% of its offensive production this season, which ranks 28th nationally
81. No player wore number 81 at the Spring Ball
82. BYU offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia had 33 scholarship offers from Orem High School
83. Sophomore tight end Isaac Rex (No. 83) has 15 touchdowns over the past two seasons
84. Deep snapper Austin Riggs (No. 84) featured in 12 games last season
85. The average weight on the offensive line in the spring was 301 pounds
86. The average weight on the defensive line in the spring was 273 pounds
87. Wide receiver Maguire Anderson (No. 87) is the only Florida player on the roster
88. Freshman wide receiver Terrence Fall (No. 88) is the only international player on the roster; Fall was an exchange student in California when he was identified by BYU staff on the recruiting lane
89. Wide receiver Kade Moore (No. 89) was a member of the scout team last season
90. BYU listed 20 offensive lineman on the spring list
91. Senior defender Earl Tuioti-Mariner (No. 91) has appeared in 42 games
92. Tyler Batty (No. 92) has 7.5 sacks in 16 games played
93. 13 newcomers have been added to the spring list, with more signers to be added ahead of fall camp
94. BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts (No. 27) is listed at 6’4 — he’s expected to play a role on BYU’s offense this season
95. Caden Haws (No. 95) is the only Arkansas player on the roster
96. Of the 118 players on the BYU spring roster, 16 are from California
97. BYU’s defense is returning 97% of its production in 2022 — by a wide margin, the highest in the country (Florida State ranks second for defense production return at 90%).
98. Defensive lineman Gabe Summers (No. 98) has 47 tackles in 25 career games
99. Ammon Hannemann (No. 22) is the younger brother of former BYU defense attorneys Micah Hannemann and Jakob Hannemann
100. This BYU roster takes on USF in 100 days