BYU came into the game 44th in the nation in running the ball, with 175.4 yards per game, and had only 119 yards on the ground against Utah. They came into the game 77th in passing yards per game with 222.5, and put up 272. The Cougars' total offense was 56th with 397.9 yards per game, and their total against Utah was very near that with 391 yards of offense. Turnovers were brutally high. The team had been averaging one a game and had 8 the whole season and had 4 in the loss. Like with the defense, scoring was a particularly sore spot. BYU was 44th entering the Utah game with 32.4 points per game and scraped together only 20 in the loss.
The running game for BYU is now averaging 169.1 yards per game, only the 51st best in college football. The Cougars' passing game is ranked 78th with 228 yards per game. The total offense for BYU is 397.1 yards per game. That’s only 53rd in the FBS. Scoring offense has fallen to 49th in the nation with only 31 points per game.
What the Offense Needs to Improve On
A lot of BYU’s success in 2024 and 2025 could be attributed to their levelheaded play. They’ve struggled with that more this season. It showed up with 11 huge penalties for 80 yards against Utah. It is also prevalent in their struggle to understand that they’re not the team they were before LJ Martin’s injury, and won’t be until his health is at 100%, which it wasn’t against Utah. That means you have to make some big changes to your offense. All of those changes involve placing significantly more trust in your sophomore quarterback. Which brings me to my next point.
BYU needs to do better at coaching their quarterback at the position itself. Bachmeier has struggled with his accuracy this season. Earlier in the year, it looked like he had improved from his freshman year, but since the Notre Dame game, his passing ability has regressed so much that it looks no different than early 2025.
On every single interception Bachmeier threw, he made only one read. He locked in on his target every time and never took his eyes off of who he was throwing it to. His first throw was a decent read. If the ball is lower, Kyler Kasper makes a good catch. The second interception: he follows one route across the middle as it develops. The receiver is covered, and Bachmeier locking in on him allows another defender playing underneath, whom Bachmeier never sees, to make the pick. The third one is the worst of the bunch. His receiver is open on the slant into the end zone, and Bachmeier throws it just a little bit higher or leads the receiver a little more; it’s a touchdown. The fourth and final interception was again him locking in on one target and throwing a prayer to the end zone.
The interceptions on pass to open receivers are the worst, because while making reads has been a struggle, on those plays he’s making the correct one and just not getting the ball there correctly. For a player with his ability to hit receivers in stride like he did Legend Glasker, that is entirely on coaching, or lack thereof in this case. The interceptions where he stares down a receiver, failing to read his progression, are also things that should be happening less with proper guidance from his quarterbacks coach.
What the Offense Did Right
The BYU receivers were beating the Utah secondary. BYU’s quarterback was struggling with the job of getting them the ball, but they were getting open. Legend Glasker had a huge game, more on that in a moment. Tight end Walker Lyons had a big game too. Lyons had 7 catches for 97. Kyler Kasper had 3 catches for 43 yards, and if Bachmeier’s throws had been accurate, he would have had two more catches and a touchdown at least.
Offensive Play of the Game
This play to Glasker was beautiful, and it shows how Bear Bachmeier CAN BE when given a great opportunity. It also shows that Legend Glasker, despite his youth, needs to continue to be a focal point of the offense for this team. If you want some hope from this game, watch this play.
That's how you respond!!! With a legendary play from Legend!!! https://t.co/MZn2YtYP7m
— Phillip Riggs (@phillipriggs85) November 7, 2026
Offensive Player of the Game
Legend Glasker is a difference maker for BYU. He has been all year. BYU does a good job of getting him involved, but they can do even better. But more on that in a moment. Glasker had a great game, with 7 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown for the Cougars.
Offensive Stat of the Game
Once again, it’s a painful one. BYU got the ball to or inside the Utah 20-yard line five times. They came away with only 13 points. Their red zone trips went 3, 3, 7, 0, and 0 points. Turn just one of those 3s into a 7 or one of those 0s into a 3, and this is an entirely different game.
Onward, Ever Onward
The path forward for the offense will involve some difficult changes. There are a few ways to go, but they all involve placing more trust in and more weight on Bear Bachmeier. The conservative, run-first, run-heavy offense that thrived last year with LJ Martin and Bachmeier has to change, at the very least, in how they run. Last year it started with Martin and was complemented by Bachmeier. Now it needs to start with Bear and be complemented by LJ until he’s fully healthy again. Bachmeier has averaged slightly more than 10 carries per game in his 23 starts. If BYU wants to keep being a running team, they may have to ask that number to double for the remaining games of 2026. It would also be smart to add options to the rushing attack, whether their RPOs or more traditional speed options to the outside; they would make defending the BYU running game more difficult.
The other option for the offense is to work on being a passing-first team. Being BYU in the Big 12, you don’t have the luxury of trying to protect your young quarterback from having to win games with his arm. As we have seen, he eventually will have to, and you’d rather have him get prepared over an entire season than wait until a top-10 matchup on the road against your archrival. Something that helps in this case would be to find more ways to get Legend Glasker the ball with an opportunity to make a play. Take the running game away from Glasker, as it hasn’t really worked well without LJ at 100%, and find ways to get him the ball in the passing game with a chance to make a play. Try to make his 4.3 catches per game this season double to eight per game down the stretch.
BYU’s only options involve trusting their star and young players to be great. They need to lean into that. If they do, these guys will carry them and reward that faith. A 10-2 season and a possible rematch with Utah in Arlington in the Big 12 title game is still on the table for this team. If they keep calm and lean on their strengths to help with their problems, they’ll continue to keep this program where it has been for the last 36 games, and that’s as a top-10 team.
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