BYU survives against ASU (Photo by BYU Athletics)
The BYU Cougars are now 7-1
#5 BYU 27, Arizona State 20
BYU got things off to a good start when Nusi Taumoepeau got a strip sack on Arizona State quarterback Jake Fette. The turnover allowed BYU to start at the ASU 29-yard line. In six plays, BYU would finally get a touchdown after the Big 12 refs had an Entmoot about the play where Bear Bachmeier fumbled the ball, and Sione Moa picked it up and got a touchdown.
ASU’s next drive would get them into BYU territory before a Faletau Satuala tackle for a loss and a sack from Miles Hall would force an Arizona State third-and-long. Keanu Tanuvasa would break up the third-and-18 pass and get the ball back to the BYU offense. They’d promptly go three-and-out after a conservative series.
A rough series looked a lot like last week. Missed tackles would allow ASU into the red zone, where BYU would force a field goal attempt, but another mental mistake would crush BYU. Satuala would get called for roughing the snapper, giving ASU a first down and goal to go at the BYU four-yard line. But the Cougs found it in them to hold ASU to another field goal attempt, this time with no penalties to give them another chance.
Another three-and-out put the defense back on the field. BYU’s defense got the ball back again, but all the Cougs got from it was a field goal. The defense would give the offense another chance, though, and this time they’d start at the ASU 48 thanks to a 33-yard return from Cannon DeVries. The interior running game has struggled without LJ Martin, and BYU wouldn’t lean on it in the same way they had been on this series. Throwing first on this drive helped, and that opened up the scrambling for Bear Bachmeier. That opened up the passing game, and Bear Bachmeier would thread the needle to Kyler Kasper for a 13-yard touchdown pass. BYU would lead 17-3 at the half.
Second Half
BYU would get the ball to start the second half and go three-and-out for the third time in the game. ASU would answer with a 13-play, 81-yard touchdown drive that would take 6:16 off the clock. BYU’s offense would continue to falter. BYU fumbled a catch that would have been a third-and-ten conversion. It would give ASU the ball in BYU territory, and the momentum was with Arizona State.
ASU would ride that momentum and convert two fourth downs on a touchdown drive to tie the game 17-17. BYU would continue to struggle to find consistency. Their interior rushing game continued to not be there, and BYU would settle for a field goal, making it 20-17 BYU. The defense would force a punt, and BYU would get the ball at their own five-yard line. The situation would again be familiar to how it was in Orlando last week.
Finishing
This was where BYU would learn from that loss and do things differently. They would run the ball on their first two plays, as they did against the Knights. Third down was where they would change things. Against UCF, it was a running play up the middle. But against ASU, they called a pass play. Bachmeier scrambled and got within inches of the sticks. That was when Kalani Sitake would lean on his titanium spine. On fourth and inches, Bachmeier would keep it and get a huge first down. That’s when BYU would go for it all. Bachmeier would hit Legend Glasker for a 53-yard pass into ASU territory. Five plays later, Sione Moa would score his second touchdown of the game and give BYU a 27-17 lead.
ASU would go down the field and quickly get a field goal to cut the lead to 27-20. The deciding onside kick would be covered by Faletau Satuala, and BYU would run out the clock for a win, to be 7-1 heading into the biggest game of the year next week.
Up Next, at Utah
In my rankings, the Holy War next week will be a top five matchup. With Utah #2, hopefully the second-ranked team goes down for the fourth straight week. BYU won’t stand a chance unless they improve their rushing attack. They had 47 yards on 30 carries against a below-average ASU rushing defense. If they only get 1.6 yards per rush, Utah will murder them. BYU will need an aggressive passing game to open up the run. They’ll need more from their wide receivers other than just Legend Glasker to do that.
