BOULDER, Colorado — Prior to Saturday, BYU was 7-48 all-time after falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter.
Against Deion Sanders and Colorado, the Cougars changed that number to 8-48.
BYU rallied back from the early two-touchdown deficit to stun the Buffaloes, with Isaiah Glasker’s interception in the game’s final minute sealing the victory and 4-0 start for the Cougars.
3 takeaways
The Cougars clawed back. BYU’s defense was nowhere to be found early, surrendering 137 yards and two touchdowns on Colorado’s first two drives.
On the ensuing eight drives, however, Jay Hill’s unit adjusted to allow just seven points and 154 yards — an average of fewer than 20 yards per drive.
The Cougars refused to be rattled, even amid the boisterous Folsom Field atmosphere. Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier continued showing impressive poise and shouldered a sizable piece of the run game on his own — but more on that later.
In all, BYU put up 387 yards of offense, ran for 208 yards, went 2 of 3 on fourth down and won the possession battle by more than seven minutes.
It was a gritty, gusty win — one that the Cougars needed to experience following relatively drama-free nonconference results.
Isaiah Glasker played hero. BYU’s star linebacker stepped up when it mattered most in the fourth quarter — first with a third down sack to force a Colorado punt, and then with the game-winning interception in the final minute of play.
The handful of NFL scouts in attendance had to have been pleased with what they saw from both Glasker and his position-mate Jack Kelly, as the two combined for 10 tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss to spearhead BYU’s defensive effort.
Bear Bachmeier was excellent once again — especially with his legs. Much like the second half last week against East Carolina, Bachmeier was calm under pressure, largely accurate and made the plays BYU needed to win.
The true freshman QB went 19 for 27 passing with 179 yards and two touchdown throws to Chase Roberts. He wasn’t sacked once and still has yet to throw an interception or turn the ball over at all through four games.
But Bachmeier’s most valuable asset Saturday night had nothing to do with throwing the football.
With LJ Martin bottled up for a good portion of the night, Bachmeier responded by stepping up to fill the void in the run game.
The true freshman ran 15 times for 98 yards at 6.5 yards per carry, often providing a spark when the offense stalled and moving the chains with some first down runs at critical points in the contest.
Given the circumstances of facing Big 12 competition, a rowdy road environment and overcoming the early 14-point hole, Saturday was by far Bachmeier’s best outing of the season to date — and that version of Bachmeier is clearly good enough to keep the Cougars in the Big 12 title hunt.
