Outgoing seniors have experienced all the highs and lows of college football the past 2 seasons

Like many of the 20 seniors who will be honored before BYU’s regular season finale against Houston on Saturday, defensive end Logan Lutui didn’t start his college football career playing for the Cougars.
But Lutui is “eternally grateful,” he said, that he is finishing up in Provo, despite having sustained multiple knee injuries that kept him off the field as much as on it.
“I will always be thankful for my experience here,” said Lutui, one of eight outgoing defensive players. “It has been what I thought it would be, even surpassed my expectations. Seeing us come together as a team and have a really successful season has been icing on the cake.”
Lutui transferred in from Weber State, while offensive lineman Caleb Etienne transferred in from Oklahoma State and echoed Lutui’s sentiments.
“I took a chance coming here, because it was a different culture than I experienced at OSU,” said Etienne, one of 12 outgoing offensive players. “Here at BYU, you have guys who are more bought in than any other place I have ever been. I am glad I made this choice and am now a part of this place, this team, this school and community. I am a part of it, and it has changed me a lot.
“I am grateful for that. I know it is going to help me in the long run, and I am just thankful that I am here,” he continued. “It is something that I will always be happy to say I was a part of.”
The other seven defensive players who, along with Lutui, will be taking the LaVell Edwards Stadium field for the final time on Saturday (8:15 p.m., ESPN) are fellow defensive ends Isaiah Bagnah and Tyler Batty, defensive tackles John Nelson and Blake Mangelson and defensive backs Mory Bamba, Marque Collins and Jakob Robinson.
Along with Etienne, outgoing offensive players include quarterbacks Gerry Bohanon and Cade Fennegan (who served as a student-coach in 2024), offensive linemen Sam Dawe, Brayden Keim and Connor Pay, tight ends Mata’ava Ta’ase, Mason Fakahua, Ray Paulo and Keanu Hill, receiver Darius Lassiter and running back Hinckley Ropati.
Batty, Mangelson, Nelson, Fakahua, Hill, Keim and Pay spent their entire college careers playing for BYU; the other 13 began elsewhere, but head coach Kalani Sitake said Monday they are just as loved and admired as the originals.
“The program has been led by them, the seniors,” Sitake said. “All these seniors, they can be really proud with what they have done and how the program is going right now. It is because of them. I can’t say enough to show my love and appreciation for them. Man, they are awesome.”
There are two other players listed as seniors on BYU’s roster — linebacker Choe Bryant-Strother and offensive lineman Isaiah Jatta — but the UCLA and Colorado transfers, respectively, have another year of eligibility remaining and are expected to use it next year.
At least two redshirt juniors — standout receiver Chase Roberts and safety Micah Harper — have eligibility remaining beyond this year but have said that this is probably their last season at BYU and they plan to enter April’s NFL draft.
Sitake and redshirt junior quarterback Jake Retzlaff said the primary goal Saturday will be to send the seniors out as winners as the No. 21 Cougars (9-2, 6-2) attempt to recover from a two-game losing skid that has put their hopes of a berth in the Big 12 conference championship game in jeopardy.
“They mean a lot, man. They have helped us get to where we are. This is a special senior class. A lot of these guys had to fight through COVID and stuff like that,” Retzlaff said Monday, two days after the Cougars fell 28-23 at Arizona State to fall into a four-way tie for first in the Big 12 with the Sun Devils, Colorado and Iowa State.
“And they are just still here, still putting a good product on the field, leading the guys,” Retlzaff continued. “So I am just proud of these guys, the way they have led the team in so many ways, pushed us in the right direction at every turn.”
Sitake said he’s most proud of the way the seniors have grown during their time at BYU, mentally, physically and spiritually.
He said their legacy is the way they’ve promoted the culture of loving and learning, while also helping the program transition into the Big 12.
“They have become the men that their parents want them to become, and to be a part of that path and be a part of that transition for me is a huge honor,” Sitake said. “These guys have sacrificed quite a bit to be here, and given up a lot of their effort and energy to get this program to where it is now.
“They have helped usher us into a power conference like the Big 12, and they have done a great job representing us the right way. Are they all perfect? No, but they are to me. And the one thing that they are committed to is learning and becoming better, and I value them and trust them and love them.”
Some of the players, such as defensive tackle Mangelson, came to the program as walk-ons and eventually earned playing time and scholarships.
“They mean the world to me, and we are in a position now because of their leadership and because of what they have done in the last four or five years,” Sitake said.
The coach often talks about his own Senior Day experience and playing for the legendary LaVell Edwards at BYU. Making it to the Big 12 championship game is a huge goal, he acknowledged, but sending the seniors off “the right way” is just as important to him.
“We have to control what we can do here and not focus on anything else but what we have (on Saturday), and that is playing against Houston, the preparation against Houston,” he said. “We have something great going into this last week and we get to finish at home. We have to find a way to get one for the seniors, and find a way to get to double digit wins, get that in our column. So, really cool things to play for.”
Offensive lineman Pay and defensive end Batty have been mainstays for years, both having arrived at BYU prior to the COVID-altered 2020 season after church missions to Washington, D.C., and Spain, respectively.
Both considered jumping to the NFL draft last year after the Cougars went 5-7 and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2017, but they decided to stay and help right the ship.
Both have said they are extremely happy that they returned.
“We just hope our legacy is one of resilience and toughness, and that we represented BYU the right way,” Pay said. “That we carried BYU into the Big 12. We are a group that irregardless of how things were going, we always showed up. We never backed down when things were going crappy.”
The Cougars dropped their final five games in 2023, and prospects for better results in 2024 weren’t high. But the Cougars climbed as high as No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings before losing a pair of one-score games to Kansas and Arizona State, games in which they out-gained their opponents but came up short.
“Just the resiliency to come back from how tough things were last year and to try to help lead the team to where we are now (will be remembered),” Pay said. “I hope that is the legacy we can leave. Just resilience, toughness and we represented BYU the right way as we carried them into a Power 4 conference.”
Sitake said Monday that Batty turned down NIL offers from other programs to return to BYU.
“I don’t think it is a secret that people have been after other people’s players. He definitely could have gone somewhere else for money if he wanted to,” Sitake said. “He is all about legacy. And he is all about doing what he can to help this program. This is his home. You can see by the way he plays that he wants this place to succeed and we have done some great things because of him, and because of his teammates that are seniors.”
Houston (4-7, 3-5) at No. 19 BYU (9-2, 6-2)
When: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MST
Where: At LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL Newsradio 102.7 FM/1160 AM