No. 11 BYU left Fort Collins with a win, but the Cougars also left plenty on the field.
The score line says 41-23 over Colorado State, and the first half looked every bit like a runaway. BYU rolled into halftime with a 31-7 cushion after an opening 30 minutes in which the offense was ripping off explosive plays and the Rams had no real answer. By the end, though, the second half had turned messy enough to take some shine off what had been a dominant start.
The Cougars’ offense was at its best when the starters were still driving the game. BYU averaged 13.5 yards per play, not counting a kneeldown in the first half, and the explosive plays came in waves. The Cougars hit five explosive pass plays and four explosive runs before halftime, then finished with 559 total yards.
The ground game was especially punishing. BYU piled up 331 rushing yards at 8.1 yards per carry, and there were multiple snaps where ballcarriers reached the second level untouched.
The offensive line controlled the line of scrimmage and made the night easy on the backs. On Preston Rex’s touchdown run, the hole was so wide open that Rex could have driven a truck through it.
LJ Martin was the headliner early. He scored three rushing touchdowns before the end of the first quarter and finished with 176 yards and 3 touchdowns on 11.7 yards per carry. His first half was one of the best of his BYU career.
Legend Glasker also turned in a breakout-type night. The true freshman posted a career-high 131 yards on 5 catches, added 3 carries for 21 yards, and scored a rushing touchdown.
He kept showing why the ball feels dangerous anytime it goes his way. In the first quarter, BYU took a deep shot to Glasker, and even with a defender holding his right hand, he still pulled it in with one hand.
He also popped another explosive play later in the game, and after the catch he kept looking like a player who can take it the distance at any moment.
The ugly part came when the game should have been settled. BYU’s second half got sloppy in a hurry, and penalties kept dragging drives and possessions off track.
True freshman Braxton Lindsey was flagged for roughing the passer when BYU’s defense was close to getting off the field. Tausili Akana drew a roughing-the-passer penalty too, and the hit was described as unnecessary.
The defense also handed Colorado State a first down with a holding penalty deep in BYU territory.
The offensive penalties were just as costly. Journee Tonga had a touchdown run erased by a holding call on Andrew Gentry.
And it wasn’t only a second-half problem; in the first half, the only thing slowing BYU’s drives was flags. Every clean drive ended in a touchdown.
There was another defensive lapse when Colorado State faced second-and-long in BYU territory and Hunter Clegg shoved Hauss Hejny out of bounds, giving the Rams a free first down. It was the kind of mistake that can loom larger in tighter games.
That’s the concern for BYU coming out of a game like this. This was the second straight week the offense has been stalled by penalties, and against stronger opponents those mistakes can swing a game. The bye week now has a clear task: clean up the fixable stuff.
The Cougars also had a chance to make a bigger statement. Colorado State has a path to bowl eligibility, and BYU could have used the kind of finish that sticks in voters’ minds. Instead, the sloppy stretch in the second half blunted some of the impact from the first-half surge.
That matters because the AP Poll matters, too. The last two years, the College Football Playoff Rankings have been nearly identical to the AP Poll, and some voters were probably locked in on BYU’s game while others may have been watching LSU-Ole Miss and checking the box score later. BYU missed a chance to leave a stronger impression, and in a season like this, every positive one counts.
There was also an ugly scene before kickoff. The Colorado State student section began chanting derogatory remarks about BYU’s faith before the game even started, something that has become a recurring problem in road games for BYU.
Afterward, Colorado State released a statement apologizing to BYU: "Mocking anyone's faith has no place at CSU," the statement read. "It runs counter to our community's values and to who we are.
BYU's players, coaches and fans deserved better. We are addressing this with our students."
In Other News...
BYU Now Faces The Quarterback It Nearly Brought To Provo
Colorado States offense will come to Provo with a familiar face under center, one BYU spent part of the transfer cycle trying to land. Hauss Hejny, who began his college career at TCU and Oklahoma State before moving on to Colorado State, is now the Rams starting quarterback and the player BYU once targeted before turning its attention elsewhere.
The Cougars eventually signed Bear Bachmeier after Hejny committed to another program, but the connection never fully disappeared. Former BYU assistant coach Matt Mitchell, now on the Colorado State staff, was part of Hejnys recruiting path, which adds a little more intrigue to a matchup that already carries the usual conference stakes. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Just Showed How Overwhelming This Team Can Be
BYU kept rolling with a 41-23 win over Colorado State, and the early script made the game feel out of reach before it had a chance to settle in. LJ Martin set the tone immediately, punching in three first-quarter touchdowns and finishing with 176 yards on just 15 carries, the kind of burst that lets an offense dictate everything else around it.
Colorado States night got even tougher when quarterback Hauss Hejny went down with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Ksaan Farrar, a change that clearly affected the Rams offensive effectiveness. For BYU, the result was another reminder of how overwhelming this team can look when it gets momentum early, the running game is humming and the opponent is forced to chase the game on unfavorable terms. [Read more 🡒]
BYU Revives A Rivalry That Still Means More Than Fans Admit
A familiar road game is putting an old connection back in the spotlight, with BYU set to face Colorado State in Fort Collins for the first time since 2010. The matchup restores a rivalry that has stretched across changing conference homes and shifting eras of college football, even as both programs have spent years navigating the broader realignment churn that has altered so many annual games around the sport.
For BYU, the matchup carries a little extra weight because some of the current coaches were on the field for earlier meetings and remember what those nights meant. The programs have changed around the rivalry, but the interest has not really gone away, especially with financial realities and conference politics continuing to reshape who plays whom and how often. [Read more 🡒]