BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (Photo by BYU Athletics)
BYU and Utah lead the way in the first full week of college football in the Beehive State!
#8 BYU 1-0 (0-0 in the Big 12)
Opening day in Provo went well for BYU, with a small exception. In the Cougars 63-7 drubbing of Utah Tech, they lost star safety Raider Damuni for an extended period of time for this season. Reserve running back Sione Moa also got dinged up. Still, BYU exploded with over 500 yards of total offense, 63 points, and forced four turnovers. Bear Bachmeier accounted for four touchdowns, and freshman sensation Legend Glasker scored three times in his first game as a BYU Cougar. BYU has a big one this week when they welcome an Arizona team that it took them two overtimes to beat last year to Provo on Saturday.
#17 Utah 1-0 (0-0 in the Big 12)
The U cruised to a 66-14 win over FCS Idaho on Thursday. Utah did just what you want to in a warm-up game. Morgan Scalley is a defensive-minded coach, so Utah had to be thrilled to have their offense put up over 600 total yards and score nine touchdowns. They gave a lot of their players meaningful reps, including key backups. This was exactly the start Utah needed, especially with Arkansas coming to town next week.
Utah State 0-1 (0-0 in the Pac-12)
USU opened their Pac-12 Era with an infamous home game against Idaho State in Logan. It was ugly for the Aggie offense as their two quarterbacks threw a total of four interceptions. They had 407 yards of total offense but only 17 points to show for it. Utah State’s defense was much better, holding ISU to 239 total yards. They also held ISU to two touchdowns and forced five field goals. It just wasn’t enough for their offense, and its turnovers. It doesn’t get any easier as USU will visit the Big Ten’s Washington Huskies and the Big 12’s Utah Utes before Pac-12 play starts.
Weber State 1-1 (1-0 in the Big Sky)
The Wildcats opened their season with a conference win over Northern Colorado. The first game of the Eric Kjar Era was a 30-29 win that went down to the wire. Northern Colorado was an extra point away from sending it to overtime, but a miss gave the Wildcats the win. Former Ohio State quarterback and Utah native Devin Brown led Weber State to victory with over 200 yards of offense and two touchdown passes.
Unfortunately, in the win, Brown broke a finger. So, when they went to Cedar City to play Southern Utah, the Wildcats were starting a new quarterback for their second straight game. Despite their quarterback change, Weber State played a heck of a game in their rivalry game with Southern Utah. Both the Wildcats and the Thunderbirds scored over 40 points and had over 450 yards of offense. More on that game in a moment.
Utah Tech 0-2 (0-1 in the Big Sky Conference)
Utah Tech’s opener was at home in beautiful St. George, but it was an ugly night on the football field for the Trailblazers. Tech had to welcome the defending FCS National Champions and #1-ranked Montana State Bobcats to Greater Zion Stadium. Montana State started their title defense with a huge 54-0 win at the expense of Utah Tech.
Things didn’t get any better in their second game of the season when they had to go up to Provo to play at BYU. They gave up 63 to the #8-ranked Cougars. They did get their first points of the 2026 season against BYU’s third and fourth string in the third quarter. A BYU pass interference helped get the Trailblazers to the goal line. Being outscored by Montana State and BYU 117-7 indicates it may be a long year for Utah Tech, but by the same token, Montana State and BYU are both looking pretty great this year, and there’s a lot of football left to be played in St. George.
Southern Utah 1-1 (0-1 in the Big Sky Conference)
The Thunderbirds had a rough opening week in college football’s Week 0. They went north and battled the #3 Montana Grizzlies in Missoula. Southern Utah hung around with their new conference opponent all game. The Thunderbirds even tied the game 21-21 in the fourth quarter. Alas, the Grizzlies showed why they are a top team in the FCS and won, 28-21.
Despite both now being in the same conference, the rivalry matchup between Southern Utah and Weber State wasn’t a Big Sky game. As mentioned above, there was a lot of offense in this edition of the Beehive Bowl. Both schools wore their home jerseys in a clash between the purple and the red.
Southern Utah’s prestigious running game was just as good as when they had 2,000-yard rusher Joshua Dye last year. Quarterback Will Burns had 146 passing yards and two touchdowns, and tore it up in the running game with 148 rushing yards and two more touchdowns. It was, Floyd Chalk who stole the show for the Thunderbirds. Chalk, the transfer from Grambling and San Jose State had 24 carries for 183 yards and three touchdowns rushing the ball. Chalk led Southern Utah to the 47-42 win!
Hall-Roberts Player of the Week
Chalk is the player of the week in the state of Utah. He led the way for Southern Utah to get their first Beehive Bowl victory since 2017 and their first win in Cedar City against Weber State since 2014. Chalk and SUU will have their work cut out for them to do this week in and week out in the Big Sky. Especially with the likes of Montana, Montana State, and UC Davis in this deep conference. But if they can run the ball with Chalk and have burns be the dual threat like they did this week, watch out.
Writer’s Note: All FBS team rankings referenced are from the College Football Power Rankings here at TheForkball.com. All FCS rankings are from the FCS STATS poll.
