Cougs Daily

Top Performers from BYU's Dominant Win Over TCU

Casey Lundquist|
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier scores a touchdown against TCU
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier scores a touchdown against TCU | BYU Photo

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BYU Cougars

On Saturday night, no. 12 BYU dominated TCU to improve to 9-1 on the season. Most importanly, the Cougars maintained control of their own destiny to the Big 12 championship game. In this article, we will highlight the top performances from BYU's convincing win.

1. Bear Bachmeier

Bear Bachmeier was in complete control of this game from start to finish. The true freshman delivered strike after strike, moved the chains on critical downs, stressed the defense with his legs, and never put the ball at risk.

It was perhaps the best performance of the season from Bachmeier in what has been an oustanding true freshman campaign.

He finished 23/33 for 296 passing yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions, and he added 59 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

2. Keanu Tanuvasa

Keanu Tanuvasa was disruptive throughout the night. He played probably his best game in a BYU uniform. While Tanuvasa's impace extended well beyond the box score, he finished with two tackles, one sack, and one TFL.

Tanuvasa forced various incompletions by blowing up the pocket, and he never let Josh Hoover get comfortable.

3. LJ Martin

Everything changes for the BYU offense when LJ Martin gets 20+ touches. Martin looked like the pre-injury version of himself against a stingy TCU run defense. He finished with 88 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. He also had 34 receiving yards.

4. Faletau Satuala

TCU was hanging around in this game until Faletau Satuala intercepted Josh Hoover and gave BYU the ball in TCU territory. Satuala made an excellent play on the ball, showing off his abilities as a wide receiver. Satuala was a two-way star at Bountiful High School.

Satuala also had five tackles, including one of the best run stops of the night.

5. Carsen Ryan

BYU tight end Carsen Ryan impacts the game in so many ways. When he is catching passing and getting yards after the catch, that is just the cherry on top. Besides springing multiple run plays for big gains, Ryan also had a great night as a receiving tight end. He finished with four receptions for 79 yards and a touchdown.

6. Tausili Akana

BYU has a young group of defensive ends that is starting to show a lot of promise. Texas transfer Tausili Akana is one of them.

Akana has started to get better and better every week. He played his best game of the season against TCU. He was credited with 0.5 sacks, 2.5 TFLs, and a quarterback hit that forced Hoover's first interception. One of his tackles for loss came on third down. Hoover called his own number on a quarterback draw and Akana met him immediately.

Akana is a future starter for the BYU defense.

7. Parker Kingston

Parker Kingston continues to put up big numbers at wide receiver. Kingston finished the night with 5 catches for a team-high 80 yards. He also had BYU's first touchdown of the night on a jet sweep.

8. Nusi Taumoepeau

If Tausili Akana doesn't headline the young group of talented defensive ends, then it's Nusi Taumoepeau. The true freshman is just one month removed from being cleared to play after suffering an Achillees injury in Fall Camp. The youngster is getting better and better, and he played the best game of his young career agains TCU.

On TCU's first drive, it was Taumoepeau that flushed Josh Hoover from the pocket and forced an incompletion. On TCU's last drive, it was Taumoepeau that ended the game with a sack. It was the first sack of his career.

9. Tanner Wall

You can't get a pick-six and not make our list. Tanner Wall added some style points in the fourth quarter when he took an interception back 68 yards for a touchdown. Wall dove for the pylon and picked up a chunk of grass on his way to the score.

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Casey Lundquist
CASEY LUNDQUIST

Casey Lundquist is the publisher and lead editor of Cougs Daily. He has covered BYU athletics for the last four years. During that time, he has published over 2,000 stories that have reached more than three million people.

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