Takeaways From Stanford's Loss to BYU

On Saturday night, the Stanford Cardinal traveled to Provo, UT to take on the BYU Cougars for a Week 2 matchup. BYU came in as the heavy favorite, but Stanford, who is known for their signature upsets, kept it fairly close for the first half.

Before the game, the biggest storyline was the starting quarterback situation. With Bear Bachmeier originally committed to Stanford, transferring to BYU during spring camp, his play would be heavily looked at. His brother, Tiger, a wide receiver, was also looking to have a big game against his former team. Stanford was having their own quarterback questions heading into this one, too.

At the end of the game, the fans in Provo were enthralled as the Cougars took down the Cardinal 27-3. Here are some quick postgame takeaways following the contest:

QB play needs to change

After a poor Week 1 performance, Ben Gulbranson was on the hot seat going into BYU. However, head coach Frank Reich made the decision to keep him as the program's QB1. In Week 2, Gulbranson was arguably worse, and couldn’t get the offense moving at all until the final drive, which also resulted in an interception.

He finished 17/32 for 142 yards, two INTs, two fumbles (one lost), and has yet to record a touchdown in two games.

Heading into Week 3, Stanford has to move on. While Gulbranson has experience, he's completing roughly 50% of his passes, and Stanford hasn't had much of a passing game to speak of. If they're not able to move the ball through the air, then that impacts how well they can run it, as we saw on Saturday. Micah Ford and Tuna Altahir combined for 18 rushes and 41 yards.

O-Line needs work

In Week 1, the offensive line looked great, especially in the run game. Despite the great Week 1 performance, Saturday night was almost the opposite. They had a tough time in the pass and run games when it came to blocking, and even allowed BYU defenders to hit Gulbranson untouched at times. The room has potential, and needs a bounce back next week against Boston College.

Defense looks amazing

If you just look at the score, you would think Stanford was dominated defensively. But watching the game, the defense was consistently put in very tough positions, and often limited points. In the first half, a Gulbranson INT started BYU on the Stanford 18, and the defense was able to hold them to three points.

The very next offensive possession for Stanford ended on a sack and a fumble, with Gulbranson coughing up the ball on the Stanford five yard line. They actually pushed the Cougars back seven yards on that drive. If you take those six points off the board, it's a 21-3 loss which looks a whole lot better.

Defensive lineman Clay Patterson was the highlight on that side of the ball, but in the linebacker room, Hunter Barth, Tevarua Tafiti, and Matt Rose all had great games. Also, the Stanford defensive back room continues to prove how great of a room they are, with Collin Wright, Mitch Leigber and Scotty Edwards all playing well.

Overall, it was a poor performance for the program. Stanford had a tough time moving the ball offensively, and the defense could only do so much to limit BYU when they were being given the ball deep in Cardinal territory. Like Week 0 at Hawaii, lots of good came out of the game. At the same time, the bad was exposed.

Most importantly, Stanford lost the game.