BYU’s first road trip of the season brings the Cougars into Fort Collins for a rivalry game with Colorado State, and the matchup comes with plenty of familiar names on BYU’s sideline.
The history between the programs runs through the current staff. Coordinators Aaron Roderick and Kelly Poppinga, head coach Kalani Sitake, special teams coach Justin Ena and running backs coach Harvey Unga all played for BYU in the years when the Cougars met the Rams every season. That part of the storyline still lingers, even if the game itself hasn’t been played since 2010.
What has the staff’s attention now is the challenge Colorado State presents on offense, starting with quarterback Hauss Hejny. The native Texan has already thrown for nine touchdowns this season, while piling up 539 passing yards and 124 rushing yards, including a score on the ground. Poppinga made it clear the Rams’ quarterback is the centerpiece.
“Their quarterback is a problem. He’s a very good player,” Poppinga noted.
“(He has a) quick release, (he’s a) gunslinger, (and) throws the ball really well. Has a very accurate arm.
His passer rating is really high right now because he’s throwing a lot of touchdowns, little interceptions, and he runs the ball really well. He reminds me a lot of the guy we played last week.”
That comparison points straight back to Arizona quarterback Noah Fifita, who gave BYU some trouble with his legs and arm before the Cougars settled in and tightened things up in the second half. Poppinga sees similarities, but also one clear edge for Hejny.
“I would say (Hejny is) a better runner as far as speed goes, but Fifita probably has a little bit more savvy because he’s played a little bit more,” Poppinga observed. “But this guy, when I turned on the film … he got my attention quickly along with the speed that they have around him … I think those guys (have) three really good receivers. They got guys.”
Colorado State’s skill talent doesn’t stop there. Mel Brown has been efficient on the ground, rushing for 228 yards and two touchdowns on only 17 carries. At receiver, Jackson Harper, Terrance Smith and RJ Vick all bring nearly matching production, which means BYU will have to keep track of several threats snap after snap.
The good news for the Cougars is that the defensive turnaround they showed after halftime last week wasn’t, in Poppinga’s view, the result of a dramatic overhaul. It was more about cleaning up execution.
“If you watch the film, there really wasn’t any halftime adjustments,” Poppinga said. “There was a couple things that we did a little bit different, but it was really just us executing and making plays at the end of the day.
There’s not a call I would have taken back from that first series when they went down there in droves. It was really a little lack of execution and really a lack of playmaking.”
On offense, BYU is also looking to keep feeding LJ Martin after a second-half push against Arizona. Martin carried it 16 times after halftime last week, compared with just four rushing attempts in the first half.
“I think he averaged 18 (touches) last year and we’d like to be around 20 a game,” Roderick explained. “I didn’t mean for him to only have four at halftime.
We just didn’t have the ball, you know? We had 24 plays in the first half-pretty low.
And (that was) partly our own fault. We had two three-and-outs in that half, and … Arizona did a nice job staying on the field.
But at halftime, it was a big priority to get LJ the ball, get him going, and we’ll keep doing that all year.”
If BYU can pair that kind of run-game balance with the defensive finish it found late against Arizona, and keep getting strong play from quarterback Bear Bachmeier and his receivers, the Cougars will give themselves a chance. But Colorado State has enough firepower to make this a real test, and BYU’s first game away from home should tell a lot about where this team stands.
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