While scrolling through my X feed and scouring the rugged jungle of BYU sports news, a post from Greg Wrubell caught my attention. Noting an interesting trend in BYU football's two-year stretch of nearly exclusive winning (just two losses each year since losing 7 in their first Big 12 season), Wrubell remarked that BYU football has won every game that they score 24 or more points in since the 2023 season finale, when the Cougars slipped and squandered a double-digit halftime lead on the road against a ranked Oklahoma State.
That's right, only two and a half years ago, Oklahoma State won the Big 12 Conference championship game, and BYU failed to reach bowl eligibility. How times have changed.
Still that point made by Wrubell drove stakes through my subconscious mind. BYU football has won 21-straight football games in which the team posted 24 or more on the scoreboard.
Heading into the 2026 season, BYU is on a 21-game win streak when scoring 24+ points.
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) June 4, 2026
BYU's last loss when scoring 24 or more came in the Cougs' 2023 regular season finale, a 40-34 double-overtime setback at Oklahoma State.
A testament to the program's exceptional defense, certainly, especially when considering how last season's team allowed 24 points on the other side just twice: both times in losses to Texas Tech, the clear and away best team in the league.
Likewise, those were the only games in which the Cougars failed to hit the 24-point mark, scoring just 7 points in both defeats.
This tells me two things. One, BYU football's defense has been the key to their success, allowing the offense to take risks and play an aggressive style when they please, and giving them the freedom and patience to play a more methodical method of football, where the ground-and-pound approach from Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year LJ Martin and burly Bear Bachmeier at QB drained plenty of time off the clock, but allowed the team to maintain control of the football game.
Secondly, BYU's offensive production will have to be reliable in 2026, a season in which the Cougars can't likely afford to lose more than one conference matchup if they hope to reach the College Football Playoff -- either with an auto-bid or as an at-large.
The defense will do their job, but it's on Bachmeier to find answers in his receiver room, and it's on Martin to both stay healthy, and replicate the excellent play he displayed a season ago. The stage is set, and BYU football holds their own destiny in their hands. We'll have to see if both sides of the ball can maintain their signature style of complimentary football for another excellent year in the Big 12.
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