BYU Runs all over Portland
BYU came out and had the season opener that a ranked team should have against an FCS opponent at home. There were some early hiccups, but BYU overcame them easily. It’s better to have those in a Week 1, 69-0 win, like the Cougars had against Portland State, where they ran all over the Vikings, and got the tenth season of the Kalani Sitake Era started right!
Run the Darn Ball
This one was over very early. BYU put 606 total yards of offense on their way to the 69-0 victory. 468 of those yards were rushing, and 49 of those points were in the first half. In the second half, BYU purposefully ran on almost every play and bled the clock as much as possible, and they still put up another 20 points. You try not to put too much stock into a big Week 1 win over an FCS opponent, but you can’t help but be happy with how this game turned out.
LJ Martin
It was obvious coming into this season, especially with the changes at quarterback, that BYU would need to rely on star running back LJ Martin heavily. Martin looked ready to put this team on his back, if necessary. However,the rest of the offense looked good enough that they will take plenty of that weight off of LJ’s shoulders.
The more the rest of the offense can do that as this season goes on, the more LJ Martin can have one of the all-time great seasons by a BYU running back. Before this season is done, I believe he’ll be up there with Luke Staley and Tyler Allgeier. Martin had eight carries for 131 yards and a reception for another 12 yards.
History Made at Quarterback
For the first time in BYU history, a true freshman started the season opener at quarterback. Bear Bachmeier made his debut for BYU, and he lived up to the hype. Being responsible for five touchdowns certainly does that! Bachmeier was 7 of 11 for 97 yards and three touchdowns passing the ball, and had five carries for 32 yards and two touchdowns rushing the ball.
Bachmeier had touchdown passes to tight end Carsen Ryan, tight end Noah Moeaki, and wide receiver Chase Roberts. The level of difficulty will be turned up a notch for Bear Bachmeier and BYU’s offense when they host Stanford next week.
Kicking Cougs
Will Ferrin, the best kicker in BYU history, got his season off to a good start. He was a perfect 11 of 11 in his attempts, with two field goals (one of which was a school record 56 yards) and nine extra points. Punter Sam Vander Haar only needed to punt once and only saw the field after that to hold for extra points. Having an excellent kicking game could pay off more for the Cougars this season than it did last year, and that says a lot.
New Stars
Carsen Ryan, Bear Bachmeier, and Noah Moeaki were already mentioned, but some other names we hadn’t heard much from were called in this win too. Wide receivers Cody Hagen and Dominique McKenzie introduced themselves with touchdown runs of 57 and 41 yards, respectively. Next week, BYU will take on Stanford from the ACC.
