One of the least talked about aspects of No. 7-ranked BYU’s surprising success this season (knock on wood) has been the overall good health of the undefeated team through nine games.

Very few players have been lost to injury and no season-ending injuries have been publicized since the campaign began.

So when starting right tackle Brayden Keim limped off the field Saturday’s rivalry matchup with Utahan eventual 22-21 BYU victory, there was naturally some fear that the Cougars’ run of good luck was over. It didn’t look good.

However, head coach Kalani Sitake said Monday in his weekly press conference that the 6-foot-9, 315-pound redshirt junior “definitely won’t be out for the season.” Sitake said medical staff are “still looking at it” and that Keim could possibly return this week.

“He’s a tough guy,” Sitake said. “But we’ll take a look at it. We’ll see if he can go this week.

“If not, it has to be next.”

On Saturday, the next player was Colorado transfer Isaiah Jatta, a 6-6, 320-pound senior from San Diego.

“Unfortunate that it happened. I think he got rolled up under pressure (during) a sack,” Sitake said of Keim. “He has done incredible things for us. If you can go, great and it’s hard. If he can leave, we will get him back and he can ride this weekend. If not, I know he can give us the role that Connor Pay did for us when Connor was away.”

Pay has been an on-field coach, often advising backup center Bruce Mitchell on the ins and outs of the position. Mitchell has been fantastic at center, although, the third player when the season began, he had a couple of blown plays against the Utes and a false start.

Right guard Austin Leausa has also been hit from time to time; Sitake said the SUU transfer is ready to face Kansas this weekend if necessary.

As for Pay, the 6-5, 315-pound senior is “really close” to returning for the first time since breaking his foot in the Baylor game.

“I think I could have pushed him, maybe, against Utah, but I think we did the right thing (in holding out),” Sitake said. “We hope to get Connor back this week. …Today and tomorrow there will be a little more measurement if we are able to do it. But we feel good about it.”

Kickoff of the BYU-Kansas game is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. MST and the rematch of last year’s Jayhawks’ 38-27 victory in Lawrence will be televised on ESPN. Kansas (3-6, 2-4) is coming off an impressive 45-36 win over Iowa State and is 2-0 all-time against BYU, having defeated the Cougars 23-20 in the Aloha Bowl in 1992.

Also on Monday, it was announced that the Cougars’ Nov. 23 game at Arizona State will begin at 1:30 p.m. MST and will also be televised on ESPN in Tempe, Arizona.

The BYU-KU game will mark the return of Kansas assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Jeff Grimes to Provo; Grimes was BYU’s offensive line coach from 2004 to 2006 and its offensive coordinator under Sitake from 2018 to 2020. Former BYU running backs coach AJ Steward is also on Kansas coach Lance Leipold’s staff as an offensive analyst .

“I think it will help both sides. “He knows a little bit about our plan and we know a little bit about his background,” Sitake said of Grimes’ return. “…With what we do offensively, we adapt it to the talent we have on the team, and I think Grimes does the same thing. We’re definitely familiar with each other, but when it comes down to it, the players, the guys on the field, they’re the ones who make the plays.”

Kansas boasts one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Jalon Daniels, and one of the best running backs, Devin Neal, who broke the school’s all-time rushing record when he ran for 116 yards against the Cyclones.

Neal now has 3,951 career rushing yards.

“He’s talented, man. The guy can run, he can shoot and he’s a veteran,” Sitake said of Daniels, who was the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year before suffering a season-ending injury last year. “It is a difficult confrontation. And (Neal) is one of the top running backs.”

Other topics Sitake addressed Monday were the exciting rivalry win over Utah, the Cougars’ special teams standouts playing under coach Kelly Poppinga, thousands of BYU fans welcoming the team to Provo after the team’s second straight win over the Utes and No. 9 BYU. ranking in the inaugural 2024 College Football Playoff rankings.

A new set of rankings will be released Tuesday night. Sitake said it is I’m not the least bit worried about where BYU will land.

“I wasn’t worried about where BYU had landed in August, so I’m not going to worry about that now either,” he said. “I’m very focused on making this team better and better, and even on myself. When I say this team (needs to improve), it starts with me. What can I do differently? How can I improve from last week? There is a lot of room for improvement, from last week to now.

“So I’m focused on that, on what we can do and what we can control with this team, and I’m not worried about distractions, whether they’re in our favor or not,” he continued. “We just have to get to work and try to find a way to win Super Bowl No. 10.”