No. 8 BYU kept rolling Friday night, knocking off Iowa State 24-10 to move to 5-0 on the season, and the win came with a few clear themes. Bear Bachmeier shook off last week’s passing struggles, Legend Glasker flashed again in a big way, and BYU still left points on the field with a series of fourth-down misses that kept the game closer than it might have been.
Bachmeier answered the questions hanging over him after a rough outing against TCU. He had completed under 50% of his passes last week, but against Iowa State he looked sharp and in control, topping 300 passing yards for the second straight year against the Cyclones.
BYU got him settled early with quick screens, and once he found a rhythm, he started hitting Kyler Kasper and Glasker. His only real miss came on a low throw behind Kasper.
Otherwise, it was a clean night through the air.
The Cougars still made life harder than they needed to. BYU is now 0-for-4 on fourth down this season, and three of those failed tries came Friday.
The first came in the second quarter from the Iowa State five-yard line, when BYU went pass-heavy and came away empty after an incompletion to Reggie Frischknecht on third down and then another missed connection to Glasker on fourth. With BYU already up 7-0, the field goal would have stretched the lead to two possessions, and ESPN analytics on the broadcast said to kick it.
The next miscue came on a 4th & 1 at the Iowa State 46, when freshman running back Journee Tonga was stuffed. It was another reminder of what BYU is missing without LJ Martin.
Then came the third-quarter sequence that summed up the night’s mixed execution. BYU initially settled for a field goal from Matthias Dunn, but Iowa State was flagged for offsides, and Kalani Sitake immediately waved the offense back out there. BYU lined up in shotgun on 4th & 1 and threw incomplete.
Even with the uneven fourth-down work, Glasker kept providing the kind of explosion that changes games. With BYU leading 14-3 in the third quarter, Bachmeier hit the freshman on a deep 75-yard touchdown that blew the game open and pushed the Cougars ahead 21-3.
It looked a lot like the 61-yard catch he made against Arizona four weeks ago in BYU’s last home game. Later, Glasker turned a shovel pass into an explosive nine-yard gain to help BYU move back near midfield after Iowa State had cut into the lead.
The former Lehi High star keeps looking like a player who can break a game open every time he touches the ball.
Special teams, meanwhile, were a mess without Cannon Devries. He was on the sideline in a boot, so BYU turned again to Tiger Bachmeier in the punt return game.
That didn’t go smoothly. He fielded one punt inside the five and had the ball hit the turf, forcing BYU to start a drive at its own one-yard line in the first half.
Then in the fourth quarter, with BYU up 21-3, he muffed another punt, giving Iowa State the ball near midfield. The Cyclones took advantage and scored a touchdown.
With LJ Martin sidelined, BYU mixed carries among Journee Tonga, Preston Rex, who got the start, and Devaughn Eka. But on this night, the biggest rushing presence was Bear Bachmeier.
He finished with more than 100 yards on the ground and reached the mark late in the fourth quarter on a 39-yard run. It was the first 100-yard rushing game of his career.
On defense, fifth-year tackle Keanu Tanuvasa turned in one of his best games as a Cougar. The former Utah transfer was a major problem for Iowa State all night, finishing with four tackles, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups. If BYU keeps getting that kind of production from Tanuvasa, the defense gets a whole lot nastier, and the edge rushers and linebackers get more room to work.
In Other News...
BYU Gets A Clear Warning From UCF Before Provo Showdown
UCF left Stillwater with a 42-28 loss to No. 18 Oklahoma State, and the result did more than just extend its road losing streak to 12 games. It also offered a glimpse of a team with enough pop to make things interesting, especially with quarterback Keyone Jenkins turning in his best performance of the season by throwing four touchdown passes.
The Knights will now have a bye week before hosting No. 8 BYU, and that stretch of time gives them a chance to clean up the kind of mistake that flipped the game in the fourth quarter. Linebacker Cole Kozlowski was back on the field after receiving an additional year of eligibility, another note of stability for a group that will need every bit of it when the Cougars arrive in Provo. [Read more 🡒]
BYU's Win Exposed Two Risky Problems Kalani Sitake Can't Ignore
BYUs 24-10 win over Iowa State came with the kind of clean result that can mask a few uneasy truths, and Kalani Sitakes staff has some film to sort through before the next kick. The Cougars handled enough business to keep moving, but the game also put a spotlight on two areas that felt less settled than the final score suggests: how aggressively BYU wants to live on fourth down, and how much field-position volatility comes with Tiger Bachmeier working in the punt return game.
There was also a different kind of pressure on the offense once LJ Martin was out of the running game, because the Cougars had to lean harder on Bear Bachmeier at quarterback to keep drives alive. Bear delivered enough to help BYU win, but the balance of the attack looked different without Martins presence, and that is the sort of thing a staff notices fast in a league where the margins shrink every week. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs National Standing Just Got More Real Before Its Biggest Test
BYUs place in the national conversation keeps getting harder to ignore as the latest AP ballot starts to separate the contenders from the pretenders. With Texas falling to Oklahoma and Georgia taking down Alabama, the top of the college football picture got reshuffled again, and teams like Miami, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Indiana also continue to shape how the race looks week by week. BYU sits right in that mix now, no longer just a feel-good note in the rankings but a team being judged alongside the sports biggest names.
The challenge, of course, is holding that position when the schedule stiffens and every week starts to feel like a referendum. The ballot also reflects how quickly other programs can climb or slip, with UCLA, Utah and Ole Miss part of the broader debate over who belongs where right now. For BYU, the next step is about more than just staying ranked. It is about proving the rise is real when the biggest test arrives. [Read more 🡒]