Sunday Morning Notebook After BYU’s Gritty Win Over TCU

It's time to introduce a brand new series here at BYU On SI: the Sunday morning notebook. In this series, I look back at BYU's prior game and give my thoughts, including the impact to BYU's season and the Big 12 race.

BYU's win over TCU was a prime example of the complementary style of football that has allowed BYU to win so many games over the last three seasons. Let's dive into the notebook.

The injuries are far more concerning than the performance itself

Some wins are flashier than others. This win over TCU was about as ugly as wins get. I am not concerned about BYU's offense based on what they showed against the Horned Frogs.

We have a solid sample size of how BYU handles games in the rain. The Cougars used a similar, conservative style against Arizona in 2025 and Oklahoma State in 2023. When it rains, BYU is going to error on the side of protecting the football. TCU's defense is the best BYU has faced so far this season, but the weather played as big of a role in BYU's performance as TCU did.

After the game, Bear Bachmeier found Jaden Craig and both quarterbacks talked about how difficult it was to grip the football in the rain. Not only was it wet, it was also very humid. BYU's passing attack is going to be just fine.

Bear Bachmeier waited on the field until after the TCU alma mater to make sure he had the chance to speak with Jaden Craig.

He said “I just wanted to shake your hand.” He also talked about how hard it was to grip the ball in the weather, for what that’s worth. pic.twitter.com/ro9fRRqybD
— Melissa Triebwasser (@TheCoachMelissa) October 4, 2026

The injuries are far more concerning than the statistical output against TCU. Six BYU starters have missed time and their return timelines have not been announced: Raider Damuni, Andrew Gentry, Siale Esera, LJ Martin, Isaiah Glasker, and Cannon DeVries.

BYU's offense needs LJ Martin to beat the best teams on the schedule. The Cougars can survive against the likes of Iowa State, UCF, Kansas, and Arizona State without Martin in the backfield. However, they will need him to beat teams like Notre Dame and Utah.

BYU's offensive line has been a strength thrhoughout the season. The right tackle position is now a major question mark without Andrew Gentry. Bott Mulitalo and Siosiua Latu-Finau are future starters for BYU - their potential is sky high. However, they lack experience and BYU is just two weeks away from facing Notre Dam's front seven.

The injuries are far more concerning than the performance against TCU.

BYU may have played two of the four best defenses it will face

In case you missed it, Arizona dominated Cincinnati in the late window in a 34-7 win. The Bearcats were scoreless until the final minutes of the game in garbage time. In non-garbage time, Arizona shutout a Cincinnati offense that had scored at least 31 points in every other game this season.

Excluding the 28 points Arizona allowed against BYU, the Wildcats have not allowed more than 20 points (Washington scored 24 on Arizona but one of those touchdowns was a pick-six).

TCU, meanwhile, has allowed more than 20 points just once - the Horned Frogs allowed 21 points on the road against UCF. However, in that game, TCU had four turnovers and one of UCF's touchdowns came on a short field.

There is a very real chance that BYU has already faced two of the four best defenses it will face this season. The only defenses as good or better than TCU and Arizona appear to be Notre Dame and Utah.

Bear Bachmeier has the clutch gene

History suggests that if BYU is in a one-score game in the fourth quarter, Bear Bachmeier is going to find a way to win. With the win over TCU, Bear Bachmeier improved the 16-2 as BYU's starting quarterback. In his only losses, Texas Tech held comfortable leads over BYU in the fourth quarter.

Bachmeier has played in eight games that were one-score games in the fourth quarter. He is 8-0. Bachmeier has found multiple ways to win games. Against Arizona earlier this year, Bachmeier made two clutch throws to give BYU a two-score lead. Against TCU last night, Bachmeier took the game over with his legs.

In 2025, Bachmeier used his arm to take down Iowa State and his legs to take down Arizona in two road wins. Against Utah, he used a combination of his arm and his legs before his iconic touchdown run.

Bachmeier has the clutch gene. BYU would not have the record it has without Bachmeier's ability to win games in the fourth quarter.

There is already some separation in the Big 12 standings

There is already some separation in the Big 12 standings. 11 out of 16 Big 12 teams have already suffered at least one loss in conference play, and two of the unbeaten teams (Utah and Oklahoma State) have only played one conference game. Texas Tech, BYU, and Baylor are tied for first place in the standings.

The Big 12 is going to beat itself up once again in 2026. That's why wins like BYU's road win over TCU are so important. Ugly or not, a win is a win, and the difference between contending for championships or not comes down to winning ugly games. When Texas Tech dominated the league last year, that was the exception not the norm. The team that wins this league will have to win one-score games.

Big 12 standings below; BYU is 11-1 in its last 12 regular season conference games. pic.twitter.com/N400DClJ8o
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) October 4, 2026

Journee Tonga and the BYU run game without LJ Martin

No updates have been provided about LJ Martin's injury. As we mentioned, BYU needs Martin to beat the best teams on its schedule. If BYU is going to be without Martin, it might be time to turn to Journee Tonga. He is a true freshman and you never want to put too much on a true freshman. Remember, Tonga joined the program right before Fall Camp. BYU may have no other choice. Depth was a concern at running back heading into the season, and BYU is already deep into the depth chart after four games.

Preston Rex has only been a running back for one year. While Rex does a lot of good things in terms of his assignements and passing catches out of the backfield, he has limited experience running between the tackles.

Journee Tonga didn't get as many carries as Preston Rex, but he was BYU's second-leading rusher behind Bear Bachmeier. Tonga looks like BYU's best option behind LJ Martin. Fellow true freshman Devaughn Eka is another option for BYU.

Games that look like they're going to be harder than we thought

Every year, there are one or two games that turn out to be more difficult than anticipated in the preseason. In 2024, it was a road game at Arizona State that turned out to be the game that decided the Big 12 championship. In 2025, Arizona turned out to be much better than preseason expectations.

In 2026, Baylor looks like the team that will be much better than anticipated. The Bears dominated Arizona State in Tempe on Saturday in a 55-19 win. The Bears are 4-1 and they are one yard away from being 5-0. Baylor out played Auburn in their season opener, but catastrophic turnovers doomed the Bears on a game where they came up just short of a game-winning, two-point conversion.

Baylor is much-improved on defense and their offense is explosive. Baylor will face TCU, Kansas, UCF, and Iowa State before traveling to Provo to take on BYU. There is a non-zero chance that Baylor will be 8-1 and ranked inside the top 20 for that game.

National pundits don't understand BYU's complimentary style

It's been three years, but national pundits still haven't figured out that BYU's complimentary style is the primary reason why BYU has won 27 of its last 31 games. BYU wins games by playing complimentary football. It's not flashy, but it's impossible to argue that it's not effective.

BYU is comfortable winning ugly games. When it rains and BYU's defense is playing well, Aaron Roderick would rather play conservatively than risk catastrophic mistakes.

It's our opinion that many national pundits miss the mark when they discuss BYU. BYU wins aren't going to look like Miami wins and they aren't going to look like Alabama's wins. Frankly BYU wins aren't going to look like Utah wins, either. We don't blame the national pundits. After all, it's hard to feel confident in BYU's offense after watching that TCU game.

Playing complimentary football is BYU's secret sauce, and national pundits still haven't discovered the secret. It's harder to replicate than it looks. On average, college football coaches are proud people. Kalani Sitake has established a culture where Aaron Roderick doesn't have to fear for his job when it's raining on the road in Fort Worth. Instead, Roderick can call plays that put BYU in the best position to win games. That's a rare culture that Sitake has established for his staff and it can be the difference between wins and losses.

In fact, if we were pressed to single out one reason for BYU's success under Kalani Sitake, that is what we would point to: he has created a culture where mistakes aren't shamed and fingers aren't pointed. In that environment, everyone is on the same team and the only thing that matters is winning.

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