BYU spent August calling linebacker its deepest room. Colorado State gets to audit that claim.
Kalani Sitake said Monday that Siale Esera is “more than likely” to miss Saturday’s game after leaving the 28-17 win over Arizona on the Wildcats’ opening touchdown drive. Sitake called the undisclosed injury non-season-ending. Esera is absent from this week’s depth chart.
That news does not leave BYU searching the student section for a rover linebacker. Isaiah Glasker moves into the listed starting spot, Kansas State transfer Jake Clifton backs him up, and Cade Uluave remains at Mack. The Cougars have veteran names available.
The hard part is making those names fit against a Colorado State offense that has created 13 explosive plays in a game, scored 14 points in 99 seconds and used quarterback Hauss Hejny as both a passer and runner.
This is not a test of whether BYU has another linebacker. It is a test of whether the defense can replace Esera’s assignment without moving three other jobs out of shape.
Esera’s box score understates the missing work
Esera’s first two game files are short. He recorded two solo tackles, one sack and one tackle for loss against Utah Tech. He left the Arizona game before recording a statistic.
That is not much production to replace on paper. It is also a bad way to measure what disappeared.
A rover has to fit the run, carry traffic through the middle and survive coverage decisions created by formation and motion. The job changes with the call. One snap can ask for downhill contact. The next can leave the linebacker sorting a receiver in space.
BYU’s Arizona response showed why the whole structure matters. After allowing 240 yards before halftime, the Cougars held the Wildcats to 87 in the second half and minus-2 rushing yards. Our Arizona recap traced that correction through the run fits, fourth-down stop and late pressure.
Esera was no longer on the field for it. BYU still found an answer because the remaining front seven and secondary stopped asking one player to rescue every snap.
The finalized WMT file gives a useful snapshot of the linebackers who finished the job:
| Linebacker | Arizona tackles | Other verified production |
|---|---|---|
| Isaiah Glasker | 8 | 1 quarterback hit |
| Cade Uluave | 6 | 1 interception, 17-yard return |
| Nusi Taumoepeau | 2 | 1 quarterback hit |
| Jake Clifton | 1 | 1 solo tackle |
| Siale Esera | 0 | Left on opening touchdown drive |
Glasker and Uluave handled the volume. Uluave created the first-quarter takeaway. Clifton appeared in the final total but did not inherit a starter-sized statistical load.
That last point matters. Clifton’s presence makes the depth chart look comfortable, but Saturday would be his first chance at a larger BYU defensive role. His two-game WMT line is two tackles, one in each game. The roster has depth. The game still has to prove how much of it is ready at once.
The chart is a plan, not a snap guarantee
BYU’s new depth chart lists Glasker at rover and Clifton behind him. Nusi Taumoepeau appears at both field backer and Sam, with Braxton Lindsey and Ace Kaufusi behind him. Uluave remains the starting Mack.
Read that as a menu rather than a promise.
Glasker has the production and experience to absorb more responsibility. He made eight tackles against Arizona and has 140 career tackles in the site’s WMT-backed player record. Moving him inside one label does not mean BYU has to play the same three-linebacker picture all afternoon.
The Cougars used three cornerbacks for much of the Arizona game, according to the Deseret News, with Evan Johnson working from the slot at times. That personnel choice helped BYU answer a mobile quarterback and Arizona’s spread looks without asking a linebacker to cover every patch of grass.
Colorado State presents a different version of the same math. Hejny has thrown nine touchdown passes in two games. He also ran for 85 yards against Southern Utah, including a 75-yard touchdown. Mel Brown added 171 rushing yards on nine carries. The Rams can punish a slow fit with Brown or pull a second-level defender away from the box with Hejny.
BYU therefore has at least three sensible options:
- Keep Glasker and Uluave on the field most often, then use nickel personnel to handle spread formations.
- Give Clifton a larger rover rotation so Glasker can keep some of his previous alignment and pressure work.
- Use Taumoepeau’s flexibility to change the picture without making every substitution announce the call.
None is automatically correct. Colorado State’s formations, down-and-distance and early success will decide which one survives.
The mistake would be treating Esera’s absence as a simple name swap. If Glasker moves, somebody inherits part of Glasker’s old job. If Clifton plays more, BYU has to trust his communication after two games with a small defensive stat line. If the Cougars lean into nickel, the box has to tackle Brown before his runs reach the secondary.
Depth solves injuries only when the replacement keeps everybody else from playing worse.
Colorado State will test the edges of the adjustment
The Rams’ 58-24 win over Southern Utah came with a warning label. Colorado State gained 678 yards and scored 48 first-half points, but it also allowed 442 yards and 11 explosive plays. This is an aggressive team, not a flawless one.
Its offense can make a new linebacker arrangement reveal itself quickly. Hejny hit Caleb Ross for a 68-yard touchdown on Colorado State’s second offensive play. A forced fumble gave the Rams another short field, and two plays later Hejny found Terrance Smith Jr. for 38 yards and another score.
Those bursts put stress on communication before a defense settles. A missed run fit, a late handoff in coverage or one defender following motion too far can become seven points rather than a teaching clip.
BYU had the opposite experience against Arizona. The Wildcats kept the defense on the field for more than 12 minutes in the first quarter. Sitake said the workload tested BYU’s conditioning and that the Cougars could have rotated more players.
Now rotation is not optional. Even if Glasker and Uluave take most of the important snaps, BYU needs Clifton, Taumoepeau or another piece of the room to keep them functional into the fourth quarter. Colorado State has already shown it can attack immediately and answer after an opponent pushes back.
The Colorado State game center lists the permanent matchup details, while the football schedule has Saturday’s 5:30 p.m. Mountain kickoff at Canvas Stadium on CBS. The dedicated watch guide will arrive when the game enters the 48-hour window. The football question is already here.
Clifton does not have to become Esera in one week
Clifton arrived from Kansas State with Big 12 experience and a strange calendar. He started games against Texas, Baylor and TCU in 2023, then served a two-year church mission in Nicaragua before joining BYU in January.
Defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga told the Deseret News before the season that Clifton returned ready to play and would be a starter if Glasker and Uluave were not in front of him. Clifton described his expected role more modestly: give the veterans a break, contribute on special teams and make plays when his turn comes.
His turn may be larger Saturday. It does not need to become a one-man audition.
If Clifton gives BYU sound snaps, communicates the motion and tackles the play that reaches him, Glasker can remain the proven playmaker rather than becoming an emergency patch. Uluave can keep attacking the ball instead of checking every neighbor’s assignment. Taumoepeau can move because the call wants him to, not because the room is scrambling.
That is the real value of a deep position group. The next player does not replace every trait. He keeps the defense intact long enough for the best traits around him to matter.
Esera had already supplied a sack in the opener and earned a starting role in a crowded room. BYU will miss him if Sitake’s Monday expectation holds. Pretending otherwise would turn depth-chart optimism into denial.
The Cougars also have a credible way through it. Glasker just made eight tackles. Uluave just intercepted Noah Fifita. Clifton has played Big 12 football before, even if his current BYU sample is two tackles.
Saturday will tell us whether that is genuine depth or merely a reassuring list of names. Colorado State is fast enough to collect the answer early.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: Colorado State game week for BYU’s official game-week media hub and matchup confirmation.
- Deseret News: Esera likely out against Colorado State for Sitake’s directly reported injury update, the depth-chart movement and BYU’s Arizona personnel context.
- KSL Sports: BYU’s Colorado State depth chart for the published linebacker order, kickoff, network and radio listing.
- Deseret News: Jake Clifton’s place in BYU’s linebacker room for Clifton’s Kansas State history, mission return and preseason comments from Clifton and Poppinga.
- WMT Statistics: finalized Arizona game and player statistics for BYU’s defensive split and the linebacker table.
- WMT Statistics: finalized Utah Tech game and player statistics for Esera’s sack and the two-game Clifton sample.
- Colorado State Athletics: Southern Utah recap for the Rams’ 58 points, 678 yards, explosive-play count and Hejny/Brown production.
- BYU Athletics: official Colorado State event record for the Sept. 19 date, 5:30 p.m. Mountain kickoff, Canvas Stadium and away-game status.
