In BYU's season-opener against Utah Tech, the Cougars cruised to a 63-7 victory. While the on-field product matched the lofty preseason expectations, there were two critical injuries that put a damper on the night.

BYU back running back Sione Moa and safety Raider Damuni left the game in the first half with injuries and did not return. Moa suffered a torn MCL and PCL and underwent surgery this week. Damuni's injury appeared to be a severe leg injury, but fortunately for the Cougars, Damuni avoided a season-ending injury.

On Wednesday, BYU defensive coordinator Kelly Poppinga shed some light on Damuni's return timeline.

"There's a timeline there that we'll have to be patient on that we have no control over, but it's way better than an ACL and him being out for the season," Poppinga said. "We'll shoot for the middle of October and see if he can get himself ready to roll by then. If not, we'll have him before the season ends."

A mid October return would put Damuni back in the lineup for the Notre Dame game. Poppinga continued, saying Damuni is hopeful to get back after the bye week. BYU has bye week in week four after the Colorado State game. In that best-case scenario, Damuni could be back in the lineup in early October against TCU.

"I know [Raider] wants to be back as soon as possible. He's thinking after the bye week he's going to be back, and I would hope for him that would be the case—that would be great. But I think probably middle of October, later October, we'll have something ready for him," Poppinga said. "[I'm] just happy for him and for our team that he can get back on the field for us this season."

Damuni played 17 snaps before leaving the game with an injury. On Monday's depth chart, third-year safety Tommy Prassas was moved to the starting lineup. Poppinga noted that Kennan Pula and Jarinn Kalama could also get snaps at safety behind starters Faletau Satuala and Tommy Prassas.

The BYU secondary faces a major test on Saturday against veteran quarterback Noah Fifita.

On facing Fifita, Poppinga said, "I think he's a hard guy to scheme to be honest with you. The guy can run, he can throw, he can get out of the pocket and run...but I just think he's a really good player and we're going to have to play really good defense. And that's basically the way that you stop him is you got to play sound football and everybody's got to do their job and be disciplined in doing their job. And if we do that at a high level, we'll give ourselves a chance on Saturday."

Fifita was a first-team All-Conference selection going into the season. He is one of the two or three best quartrebacks BYU will face in 2026.

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