Eight BYU players are out against TCU. That number sounds like a crisis. The names make a more precise argument.
BYU’s initial Big 12 availability report lists cornerback Jonathan Kabeya, safety Raider Damuni, running back Sione Moa, linebacker Siale Esera, offensive linemen Caden McKee, Andrew Gentry and Ethan Thomason, and kickoff specialist Brody Laga as out. Cornerback Kevin Doe is probable.
The Cougars are not losing eight fresh starters between the bye and Saturday. Several absences were already built into the September rotation. The new stress is concentrated in three places: a young right tackle beside a returning guard, the kickoff job Laga has quietly made boring, and a defense that must keep functioning without Esera and Damuni against TCU’s passing game.
That is still plenty to solve. It is just more useful than treating every name as the same loss.
BYU-TCU initial availability report
| BYU designation | Player | Position | Immediate football question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Out | Jonathan Kabeya | Cornerback | How much secondary and special-teams depth remains? |
| Out | Raider Damuni | Safety | Can the current safety rotation hold up against TCU’s explosives? |
| Out | Sione Moa | Running back | Does BYU keep the reserve carries stable behind LJ Martin? |
| Out | Siale Esera | Linebacker | Can the adjusted second level contain Jaden Craig without exposing deep coverage? |
| Out | Caden McKee | Offensive line | How thin is the emergency tackle inventory? |
| Out | Andrew Gentry | Offensive line | Can two freshmen preserve the right side of BYU’s offense? |
| Out | Ethan Thomason | Offensive line | Who is available if the tackle rotation needs another answer? |
| Out | Brody Laga | Kicker | Who takes the kickoff job, and can the replacement avoid return stress? |
| Probable | Kevin Doe | Cornerback | Is BYU comfortable using him beyond reserve and special-teams work? |
These are the conference designations published Wednesday night. The Big 12 requires another report 90 minutes before kickoff, so the final list can change. Fans should use the permanent BYU-TCU game center and the conference’s final filing rather than turning an initial designation into a Saturday guarantee.
TCU has its own crowded report. The Horned Frogs listed seven players out and defensive linemen Zach Chapman and Perry Cole Jr. questionable. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram identified linebacker Michael Short, TCU’s third-leading tackler with 16, among the outs. Neither team gets to play the clean-roster version of this game.
The three offensive-line outs are not three missing starters
Gentry is the offensive-line loss that changes the first five. He started all 14 games at right tackle in 2025 and the first three this season before undergoing surgery after the Colorado State game. BYU’s official TCU notes replace him with redshirt freshman Siosiua Latu-Finau or true freshman Bott Mulitalo. Neither has started a college game.
McKee and Thomason matter differently. They are part of the tackle inventory, but neither appears in BYU’s listed starting five for TCU. Counting all three as equal first-line losses inflates the immediate damage. Ignoring the two reserves would miss the other problem: BYU has fewer exits if the first answer fails.
Offensive line coach TJ Woods told reporters that Latu-Finau and Mulitalo will rotate. That is a reasonable plan. It also means BYU is entering a Big 12 road game expecting to learn which young tackle handles the assignment better while the game is happening.
The useful good news is next door. Starting right guard Kyle Sfarcioc is not on the report after missing Colorado State, and KSL Sports reports that he will return to the lineup. A veteran guard cannot take Gentry’s snaps, but he can make the new tackle’s job smaller. Protection calls, twists and inside movement are easier to sort when only one place on the right side is changing.
Our earlier right-tackle analysis focused on the hidden price of helping that spot. A tight end kept in protection is one fewer route. A running back asked to chip reaches the checkdown late. A quick-game call protects the edge but gives the secondary a shorter field to defend.
Saturday’s best-case outcome is not a spotless tackle box score. It is BYU keeping its normal menu. If the Cougars can still run either direction, release Walker Lyons and Roger Saleapaga into routes and call a normal dropback on third-and-medium, Latu-Finau and Mulitalo have done enough. If every obvious passing down needs a second body attached to the right edge, the cost will show up even when TCU does not record a sack.
That question gets sharper if Chapman is cleared. TCU listed the senior edge as questionable after he missed the first four games. BYU cannot assume he will remain out, and it should not design four quarters around one defender’s Wednesday status.
Esera and Damuni are absences BYU has already carried
Esera left on Arizona’s opening touchdown drive. Damuni has been sidelined since the Utah Tech opener. BYU then held Arizona scoreless after halftime and beat Colorado State 41-23.
That does not make either player expendable. It does mean Saturday is a continuation of an adjustment rather than the first snap without them.
Without Esera, Isaiah Glasker, Cade Uluave, Nusi Taumoepeau, Jake Clifton and Braxton Lindsey have absorbed the linebacker work. The defense’s job against TCU is awkward because Craig can punish aggression. He has thrown for 1,213 yards in four games, including three 300-yard performances, while TCU’s official game-week material credits the offense with 19 completions of at least 20 yards.
BYU therefore needs pressure without turning every snap into a race to the quarterback. Esera’s absence reduces one experienced option for fitting the run, sorting underneath traffic and arriving as a rusher. The answer cannot be sending an extra defender on every passing down. Craig is too productive downfield for the safeties to live without help.
Damuni’s absence pushes more of that burden toward Faletau Satuala, Cannon DeVries and Tommy Prassas. The current production is encouraging. Deseret News reports that DeVries is tied with Uluave for the team lead with 14 tackles and Prassas has nine. Satuala made seven tackles with one for loss against Arizona after returning from a summer foot injury.
Those numbers are a receipt, not immunity. TCU just threw for 310 yards at UCF even while scoring only 13 points. Jordan Dwyer had 100 receiving yards. The Horned Frogs lost because four turnovers and 11 penalties swallowed useful offense, not because they were unable to move the ball.
BYU’s adjusted defense has already survived two games. Fort Worth asks whether it can survive a quarterback who creates explosive throws while the Cougars are still missing a starting linebacker and safety.
Laga is the absence most likely to hide until it hurts
Brody Laga is not BYU’s field-goal kicker. He owns kickoffs, and he has produced touchbacks on 22 of 23 attempts this season, according to KSL Sports.
That is 95.7 percent of his kickoffs ending without a return. The percentage matters because touchbacks remove blocking, tackling and field-position variance from the play. Laga has let BYU move directly from a scoring possession to the next defensive series.
The initial availability report does not name his replacement. BYU’s game notes list Matthias Dunn at placekicker, but a placekicker listing does not automatically assign kickoff duty. Until BYU puts another player on the tee, the honest answer is that the job is open publicly.
This can remain a minor note. The replacement may drive the ball through the end zone and make the question disappear.
It can also become a hidden tax. A returnable kick asks BYU’s coverage unit to win in space. One missed lane can give Craig a shorter field, and a shorter field reduces the number of snaps BYU’s adjusted defense must survive before TCU has a scoring chance. That is a poor trade in a road game against a defense allowing 12.5 points per game.
Watch the landing point of the opening kickoff. If it clears the end zone, fine. If TCU starts returning kicks from inside the 5, the absence has moved from a Wednesday list to Saturday’s field-position math.
The return list keeps eight from becoming the whole story
Availability reports naturally pull attention toward the names in capital letters. The players absent from the report can matter just as much.
Sfarcioc, Saleapaga and Tiger Bachmeier are expected back after missing the Colorado State game, according to KSL and Deseret News. Their return gives BYU help exactly where the offense needs flexibility.
Sfarcioc steadies the right side beside the freshman tackle rotation. Saleapaga gives Aaron Roderick another tight end who can help an edge, release into a route or change the formation without advertising the call. Bachmeier restores receiver and return depth.
That does not cancel Gentry, Esera, Damuni or Laga. Roster math is not that polite. It does keep BYU from entering Fort Worth with every injury arrow pointed in the same direction.
The Cougars also face a TCU team missing pieces of its own. Short is out at linebacker. Two defensive linemen are questionable. The matchup may be decided less by which list is longer and more by which staff can keep its call sheet intact after accounting for the missing jobs.
What the report changes Saturday
The BYU-TCU watch guide already identified the central matchup: BYU wants to run without becoming predictable, while TCU wants Craig’s passing production without forcing him to carry another game alone. The availability report tightens that argument.
BYU’s right tackle rotation has to keep the offense out of protection mode. The adjusted linebacker and safety groups must make Craig finish drives rather than gifting an explosive. The kickoff unit has to preserve the field-position calm Laga supplied through three games.
Those are three observable tests. They are better than staring at the number eight.
No. 10 BYU and TCU kick off Saturday at 5 p.m. Mountain on ESPN at Amon G. Carter Stadium. The football schedule has the remaining assignments, and the game center will retain the same URL through the pregame, live and postgame phases.
The final availability report arrives 90 minutes before kickoff. Until then, Wednesday’s list says BYU has real depth pressure, especially at tackle and on kickoffs. It does not say the Cougars are missing eight starters, and it does not tell us whether TCU can make the replacements expensive. That part requires the game.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: official event 24743 and TCU game-week hub for the stable event record, start, venue and official game materials.
- BYU Athletics: official TCU game notes for BYU’s current depth chart, season statistics, player roles and matchup data.
- KSL Sports: initial BYU-TCU availability report for the conference designations, Laga’s 22 touchbacks on 23 kickoffs, the Latu-Finau/Mulitalo rotation, returning players and TCU list.
- Deseret News: BYU injury report at TCU for independent confirmation of BYU’s eight outs, Doe’s probable designation and the 90-minute final-report timing.
- Deseret News: Faletau Satuala’s return for the current Damuni absence, Satuala recovery context and the DeVries/Prassas tackle totals.
- Fort Worth Star-Telegram: TCU availability report for opponent-side confirmation of TCU’s outs, questionable defensive linemen and Short’s team tackle rank.
- TCU Athletics: official BYU game-week page for Craig’s passing production, TCU’s defensive scoring rate and current team context.
- TCU Brand Central: university color for the purple, black, white and gray palette used in the original matchup art.
- BYU Sport Nuts: right-tackle depth analysis, Esera linebacker analysis, BYU-TCU watch guide and permanent game center.
