First Look At BYU As An Opponent For The Yellow Jackets In The Pop Tart Bowl

Although BYU didn’t make the College Football Playoff, the team had a strong performance in 2025. They made their first-ever Big 12 championship in 2025 and took a big step forward as a program, as one of the best teams in the Big 12. Unfortunately, they fell this season to Texas Tech twice by an average margin of 24.5. BYU only scored seven points in each contest against the Red Raiders.

Some good news for BYU is that they were able to retain their head coach, Kitani Sitake, to a long-term extension after his name was being linked to the Penn State job opening. He is 83-44 at BYU and, over the last two seasons, has guided the Cougars into a respectable program in college football. He has four double-digit victory seasons in his tenure with the Cougars.

After the departure of former BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, the Cougars leaned on true freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier to lead the team in 2025. He did an impressive job with the Cougars, guiding them to an 11-2 record and throwing for 2,708 yards and 14 touchdowns. He had his best game this season against Iowa State, throwing for 307 yards and two touchdowns.

When you look at the numbers offensively for the Cougars, they were ranked No.34 in scoring offense this season, averaging 31.9 points per game. They hit a season-high 69 points in Week 1 against Portland State. BYU also had one of the best red zone offenses in the country and is No.10 in the country. Of the 52 opportunities, BYU has converted 48 of those opportunities in red zone into scores.

On defense, BYU ranked as the No.28 total defense in the country and only 328.4 yards per game. The Cougars also rank No.19 in scoring defense, only giving up 19 points per game. They were led by Faletau Satuala who led the team with 77 tackles. Satuala also had three passes defensed, three interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Tanner Wall and Evan Johnson led the team with four interceptions this season.

BYU is 3-1 all-time against the Yellow Jackets with a 2-0 record at Provo and 1-1 in Atlanta. They have never met in a bowl game or at a neutral field. Georgia Tech comes in at 9-3 after another successful season on the Flats under head coach Brent Key. BYU is one of the better teams in the country and it will not be an easy game for the Yellow Jackets going against one of the best in Big 12.

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