The BYU defense will not be at full strength on Friday night as it opens the season at Connecticut.
Senior cornerbacks Jordan Johnson and Robertson Daniel were both left in Provo and did not make the trip out east, according to the Deseret News. Both were slated to start the opener.
The report from the Deseret News noted both had been practicing as backups during part of fall camp with rampant speculation that neither would play in the first game of the year. That news rang true late Thursday night after the team had made it to Hartford.
"I would love them both to be able to start," head coach Bronco Mendenhall told reporters on Monday. "I'd be leery of the two-deep and say, that's Monday's depth chart. I'm not promising that will be Friday night's depth chart. Anything that happens internally in the program, I don't always share. That's the way I plan to keep it."
True to his word, Mendenhall did not specify any reason as to why the pair would not be playing.
Johnson started 12 games as a sophomore for the Cougars but missed all of last season with a knee injury. Daniel was the starting corner for the team last year and tied for the BYU lead in interceptions with two.
Sophomore Michael Davis and freshman Jordan Preator are expected to replace them in the starting lineup on Friday.
BYU will also take the field against UConn without star running back Jamaal Williams, who was suspended for the game due to a violation of the school's honor code. He rushed for 1,233 yards in 2013 and was expected to be the focal point of the Cougars' rushing attack this season.
Given the issues the program had in last season's opener against Virginia, missing that many quality players is cause for concern for the BYU faithful on Friday night.
You can follow Bryan Fischer on Twitter at @BryanDFischer.
