‘Intellectual brutality’? Here’s why this former BYU star thinks Cougars’ defense has it

Derwin Gray knows a good defense when he sees one and the way he saw BYU stuff SMU has him beaming about his favorite side of the ball.
“The defense was very physical,” the former BYU star told the “Y’s Guys” podcast this week. “They came in with some intellectual brutality. I loved it. They were disciplined. I didn’t see many blown coverages. I didn’t see many blown assignments and they were fast. They were running around with relentless effort.”
SMU averaged 53.9 points in their previous nine-game home winning streak, but the Mustangs could only muster field goals in the 18-15 defeat. In addition, the BYU defense forced three turnovers and held SMU to just three of 16 on third-down conversions.
“What that tells me is the guys are bought in. It tells me that they are being very well coached on the defensive side of the ball, and it tells me that they are taking pride in what they are doing,” Gray said. “It was one of the best defensive performances that I’ve seen from a BYU team in a long time.”
It’s been over three decades since Gray pranced around as a safety in BYU’s secondary, but his footprints remain in the record books. His 14 interceptions are tied for fourth in program history. The 22 tackles he made against Penn State in 1991 remain No. 2 all-time.
During his four years (1989-92), the Texas native won 36 games, including a victory against No. 1 Miami. His teams claimed four WAC championships and his quarterback (Ty Detmer) won the Heisman Trophy.
Watching BYU’s defense corral the Mustangs reminded him of the past and has him feeling optimistic about the future — including Saturday.
“I was so happy because you could tell Kalani (Sitake) and his staff really worked hard to upgrade the roster,” Gray said. “Our guys look like Power Four players. Our defensive line looked like a Power Four defensive line. Jack Kelly was running around like an SEC linebacker. (Isaiah) Glasker, if he stays healthy, could be a second-round draft pick or higher.”
Gray, a fourth-round NFL draft pick by the Colts in 1992, is also fixated on the offense. BYU struggled to move the football against SMU and quarterback Jake Retzlaff’s three turnovers made the night even more challenging.
“I knew after the first series that Jake was rattled,” he said. “What the coaches did in the third and fourth quarters is we basically went to a run-pass-option offense. In my mind, if we are going to run RPO, why not put in (Bohanon) who is 6-3 and 230 pounds and actually run it — if that’s what we are going to do?”
Retzlaff remained in the game and engineered a late drive to set up the winning field goal. The junior will start again on Saturday when taking care of the football will be his top priority. Gray wants to see more poise.
“Our defense has the ability to win eight or nine games. No question,” Gray said. “The reality is we need a quarterback who can manage the game and not turn the ball over. That requires poise. Turnovers are gangrene to the soul of a football team.”
The Cougars are 10-point favorites Saturday night at Wyoming (7 p.m., CBS Sports Network). BYU is 22-3 in their last 25 games staged under the lights. No. 14 Kansas State will play in Provo in the Big 12 opener next week.
“I think it’s important for us to keep, not a chip on our shoulder, but the Wasatch Mountains on it because we are already at half of the number of games (2-0) people said we would win,” Gray said. “So, we need to go into this Wyoming game and not even allow them to think they have a chance. We must go into it with intensity and fire.”
Gray took his own intensity and fire into all four of his games against Wyoming and went 4-0, including 2-0 in Laramie, where he grabbed one of his 14 prized interceptions.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com.