The best description for this game might be that it was weird. Not all of that weirdness was bad, to be clear--BYU covered the spread and the outcome was never truly in doubt--but the Cougars played anything but a clean game against a Stanford team that will contend for the title of worst P4 program in the nation this year. There was a lot to like, but plenty to dislike, from BYU's performance. Overall, this BYU team feels like it's generally ahead of where last year's team was after game 2, and those Cougars went 11-2 and were a tiebreak away from the Big 12 title game, so BYU fans have some cause for optimism heading into an oddly-placed bye week. Here are some thoughts from the Cougars' 27-3 trimming of the Trees:
The Good:
Leading up to this game, I opined that anything less than a three-score win against this certifiably terrible Stanford squad would be disappointing. The Cougars did their job, winning by 24 in a game where the Cardinal never really posed a threat. That 24-point margin was mostly the work of the defense, which turned in an utterly dominant performance, particularly against Stanford's rushing attack. The Cardinal offense is pretty one-dimensionally focused on the run--it's really the only thing they're good at--and the Cougars held them to 19 rushing yards for the game. Factor in the -5 yards the defense allowed against Portland State, and through two games, Jay Hill's defense has given up a total of just 14 rushing yards. Yes, that's been against a pair of cupcakes, but it's still an exceptionally impressive figure. Jack Kelly and Logan Lutui both had great individual performances, but the star of the BYU defense in this game was, unquestionably, sophomore safety Faletau Satuala. Satuala was everywhere, allowing just one catch on eleven targets--and that catch was on a screen pass...in the end zone...which Satuala immediately blew up for a safety. He was one of the highest-rated defensive recruits in program history and has still found a way to exceed expectations through the first couple of games this year. His trajectory has 'NFL' written all over it.
BYU's special teams unit continues to be outstanding (with one exception that I'll address later). Will Ferrin made all four of his field goal attempts, stretching his BYU record streak to 22 consecutive makes. Tiger Bachmeier and Cody Hagen appear to have cemented themselves as the Cougars' go-to punt and kickoff returners (again, more on that later) after each posted an electric 44-yard return. Kelly Poppinga has his guys performing up to their usual standard of excellence.
The offense was...enough in this game. It wasn't spectacular, but it was competent. Bear Bachmeier made no major mistakes--he hasn't turned the ball over yet in two starts. He even had a couple of really nice throws in this game, including an absolute dot to Carsen Ryan that looked Zach Wilson-esque. LJ Martin still bizarrely doesn't have a touchdown yet this season, but he rushed for 110 yards on an efficient 18 carries against the Cardinal. One other important offensive standout in this game was Isaiah Jatta, who, through two weeks, is PFF's highest-rated offensive tackle in the nation. He is a worthy heir to BYU's incredible dynasty of left tackles, and is building a nice NFL resume for himself. Overall, I think it's worth pointing out that other than the one nifty "tornado reverse" against Portland State, ARod has kept the playbook pretty vanilla through the first two games of the season, and I expect that trend to continue until the Cougars face their first really solid opposing defense, which will probably be Utah in game 6.
The Bad:
This may be the first time ever that I've mentioned Fesi Sitake's receivers in my "The Bad" section. Possibly the most reliable single position group on the entire roster during the last nine seasons, the Cougars' wideouts have had a rough start to the season, to say the least. Just one wide receiver has caught a touchdown pass through two games (Chase Roberts caught the first offensive touchdown of the season against Portland State) despite the relatively weak secondaries the unit has faced so far. Roberts and Parker Kingston each had absolutely terrible dropped passes in this game, and Kingston also had another fumble on a punt return--his second in as many games--which led to Kelly Poppinga benching him in favor of Tiger Bachmeier. The wide receivers seem a little discombobulated to start this season, a situation not helped by the fact that Jojo Philips suffered what appeared to be a nasty shoulder injury in this game and is likely out for some time.
This game was largely defined by a strange series of offensive mistakes by BYU. The Cougars enjoyed great field position throughout, but scored just two offensive touchdowns while settling for four field goals. Far be it for me to begrudge Will Ferrin continued opportunities to extend his already incredible streak of successful kicks, but this BYU offense is too talented not to have scored more against a bad Stanford defense. Yes, again, that was partially due to ARod's extreme conservatism, but it was also the result of several incredibly silly red zone mistakes--dropped passes, untimely penalties, and miscommunications.
I'm going to do something that I haven't done since the 2022 Wyoming game, and specifically call out the officials. BYU had not one, but two touchdowns directly taken off the board by flagrantly bad calls in this game. A Parker Kingston touchdown run in the 2nd quarter was erased by an egregiously bad holding call against tight end Keayan Nead, who leveled a defender with a highlight-reel pancake block that somehow drew a flag. Then, midway through the 4th quarter, LJ Martin was called down at the 1-yard line on a play that wasn't even reviewed despite replay clearly showing that his entire body was in the end zone--a false start on the next play set the Cougars back, and they ultimately kicked a field goal. This game would have ended 35-3 instead of 27-3 but for those two absolutely baffling decisions by the refs.
Because the Cougars were essentially cheated out of two full touchdowns by the officials, and because ARod clearly didn't want to open the full playbook up against a vastly inferior non-conference foe, it's pretty difficult to be too upset about this result. BYU led wire-to-wire, controlled the flow of the game throughout, and comfortably covered the spread in the end. In a "blah" game like this, that's a pretty good result.
Next up for the Cougars, after a rather strange early-season bye, is an even stranger game 3: a road matchup against East Carolina. The Cougars and Pirates have met three times before; BYU won the first meeting and lost the next two in a pair of bizarre games that reflected the mediocre 2017 and 2022 seasons around them. I'll be honest--I would rather BYU have bought this game out than kept it on the schedule. The Cougars have absolutely nothing to gain from beating what will, in all likelihood, be a mediocre ECU team, but they have a great deal to lose if ECU somehow comes out on top.
I don't think that's likely, to be clear--BYU's defense is one of the best in the nation this year, and should keep the Pirates' offense under wraps. I expect BYU to win relatively comfortably. This team still has a lot to learn and many opportunities to improve, but it's an incredibly talented and well-coached group with an excellent locker room culture. BYU fans have every right to be very optimistic about where this season is headed.