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Eight Takeaways From BYU Football's Drubbing of Colorado State

Takeaways from a dominant night in Fort Collins
Joe Wheat|
LJ Martin against Colorado State
LJ Martin against Colorado State | Jaren Wilkey/BYU PHOTO

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BYU Cougars

BYU rolled in and out of Fort Collins like a rocky mountain thunderstorm Saturday night in a game everyone involved probably wish just ended after the first drive of the 3rd quarter. No. 11 BYU beat an upstart Colorado State squad 41-23 in a game that never was as close as that score indicates. At the end of the day, BYU won and BYU covered, but the ending left a bitter taste in the mouth. So what should we take away from a mixed showing from the Cougars? Let's discuss.

BYU’s biggest flaws fortunately only show up when the team is up by 30

BYU defensive end Nusi Taumoepeau
BYU defensive end Nusi Taumoepeau | BYU Photo

Lets get the negative out of the way first, but as we do, we need to be clear on what matters versus what doesn’t. BYU pulling the starters up 30 does not matter. In fact, it was the smart move in any case. There is no sense in putting valuable pieces at risk in a game that’s not in question. Likewise, reps for the depth are valuable. If Colorado State scored two garbage-time touchdowns because their guys are better than our fifth-team players then so be it. What does matter is the sloppiness. Hitting the quarterback late. Holding penalties that wipe out touchdowns. Turnovers in the red zone. Those were all done by starters. The fact that they really only surfaced when BYU was up 30 shows it’s a lack of focus rather than a lack of ability. Fortunately, this is really the only flaw we’ve seen from BYU and it’s only manifest when BYU is up big. In truth, it’s probably more of an annoyance than a structural problem.

Will it matter down the line? Maybe. But probably not. I know we all want to emphasize style points in the playoff discussion, but that only matters if you don’t have a Notre Dame on the schedule. BYU wasn’t held out of the playoff last season because they only beat East Carolina by 21, just like they wont be kept out for only beating CSU by 18. They were kept out because in the only games they played against a playoff-caliber team, they did not belong offensively. BYU has a game in five weeks against a playoff-caliber team, and keeping guys healthy for that game is far more important than beating Colorado State 48-7. For purposes of BYU and the playoff, 41-23 against a good CSU offense is sufficient.  

LJ Martin is BACK

Now for the good stuff. That was probably one of the best games we’ve ever seen from a BYU running back. We knew Colorado State couldn’t stop the run and that LJ Martin was going to put up more than 150 yards. I did not expect that to come in the first half. Martin is the 13th BYU player ever to rush for at least 172 yards and 3 touchdowns in a single game and only one of three to do it averaging more than 10 yards per carry. He’s the only one to ever do it in a single half. Martin now ranks 10th in rushing yards nationally and 7th in yards after contact. He’s also done it in at least 12 fewer carries than the players ranked above him. If you were worried he was off to too quiet of a start, fear no longer.

No one on BYU’s schedule will stop this run game

BYU Photo
BYU offensive line against Colorado StateBYU Football | BYU Photo

More impressive still is the rushing attack did not suffer when he left the field. All five of BYU’s skill position players that had a rushing attempt had at least 6 yards per carry. A huge part of that was the offensive line, who generated 3.6 of those yards before contact. BYU’s offensive line has been unbelievable so far this season. In fact, I am ready to say there are very few, if any, teams that will be able to stifle BYU’s run game for four quarters because of how great they are. They are PFF’s highest-graded run blocking unit in the country and they rank third in line yards generated per play nationally. Some of that might be the quality of opponent, but until BYU plays one that can stop BYU up front, I have no choice but to believe the data.

I had no concerns with BYU’s offense, starters or backups

For all the struggles BYU had on defense in the second half, BYU’s offense never stopped rolling. BYU gained 559 yards of offense on 9.6 yards per play, gained 75% of their available yards, and had an offensive success rate of 66%. As has been the case all season, the only thing that really stopped BYU offensively was themselves as a false start, illegal formation and a holding penalty negated two first downs and a touchdown on BYU’s only drives that did not end in the end zone. Colorado State is not a great defense by any means, but BYU’s offense did everything you could possibly ask for on their first road trip.

Legend Glasker is one of the best receivers in the country. Hard Stop.

There’s just not enough good things you can say about Legend Glasker. He’s not only one of the best true freshman receivers in the country. He’s just one of the best period. Through three games, he ranks 25th in receiving yards, 15th in yards per reception, 13th in yards after the catch, and 1st in yards per route run. Yes, you read that correctly. Legend Glasker averages 6.92 yards per route run. Not per catch. Per route. The only flaw in his game is that he’s just not on the field enough. Now for the greatest stat of them all. Among P4 receivers with at least 12 targets, only 4 have a perfect passer rating when targeted: Charlie Becker (Indiana), Vernell Brown (Florida), Malachi Toney (Miami), and Legend Glasker. This kid isn’t just good for a true freshman or good for a Big 12 player. He’s already playing like one of the best receivers in the nation. With 130 yards Saturday, Glasker is on pace to shatter Austin Collie's true freshman receiving record (771) by over 300 yards. He must be protected at all costs.

BYU’s starting defense was also excellent against a potent CSU offense.

CSU starting QB Hauss Hejny leaving the game is going to put an asterisk on this defensive outing for some, but let's look at the production while he was in the game. On three drives, CSU scored 7 points, and outside of a 50-yard screen pass, averaged 3.6 yards per play. After he left it was more of the same. Colorado State's next six drives produced 110 yards on 3.3 yards per play and 0 points. There was a lot to like about the way the first-team defense played, particularly in the secondary where BYU allowed just 2 completions of 10 or more air yards all night long. In the run game, BYU held the nation's leader in yards per carry, Mel Brown, to just 3.1 yards per carry on 9 attempts.

Bear Bachmeier’s worst game of the season still yielded a pass efficiency rating of 181

BYU wide receiver Legend Glasker hauls in a one-handed catch against Colorado State
BYU wide receiver Legend Glasker hauls in a one-handed catch against Colorado State | BYU Photo

It feels weird to say on a night where Bear Bachmeier averaged 14.2 yards per attempt, but he did not have his best stuff. All four of his incompletions were sketchy. Two of them could have been picked and one of them was. Two of those were in the red zone as well. We will give him a pass as he was never able to get into a rhythm in the flow of the game, but BYU is going to need more from him as a dropback passer later on this season. The bright spot was he connected on another 60-yard bomb to Glasker for a second straight week. I find that far more encouraging than him forcing a couple throws in a game where his team was up by 30.

BYU is a legitimate Top 10 team

With no. 7 and no. 9 losing this week, no. 11 BYU will likely find itself ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll. After what I have seen through three weeks, I think that is indicative of the quality of this team, garbage-time struggles and all. Let's walk around the country for a second. No. 1 Texas was up 23-6 on UTSA late in the 4th. No. 4 Indiana failed to score 40 on Western Kentucky. No. 3 Notre Dame was in a one-score game with a middling Michigan State team at home late in the third. No. 9 Texas A&M lost to unranked Kentucky. No. 10 Alabama gave up 36 at home to a 1-2 Florida State team. I may be biased, but I thought BYU looked better yesterday than those teams. We will know for sure when Notre Dame comes to Provo in the coming weeks, but as things stand today, BYU is every bit as good as I thought they would be coming into the year and every bit as good as their ranked peers.

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Joe Wheat
JOE WHEAT

Joe Wheat has covered BYU since 2020. He specializes in passionate opinions fueled by statistics and advanced analytics. Joe’s goal in writing is to celebrate the everyday fan by understanding what they are feeling and giving them the data to understand why.

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