Provo • By the time Parker Kingston walked into the end zone for the second time in the first quarter, the beatdown had already begun in Provo.
Unlike the last time the Cougars played West Virginia, a 37-7 thrashing in 2023, this was the exact opposite. BYU outgained the Mountaineers by 225 yards en route to a 38-24 win on Friday night.
“I think we are a different team than we were two years ago,” defensive coordinator Jay Hill said earlier in the week. “In fact, I know we are. We are a little bigger, more stout than we were.”
BYU is undoubtedly improved from 2023, no longer a Big 12 bottom dweller.
Just how good this team is, however, remains to be seen. And it won’t get an answer until at least next week.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars wide receiver Parker Kingston catches a pass in Friday's win over West Virginia.
Even with a 5-0 start and a climb into the top 25, BYU’s ceiling remains a mystery. The Cougars have barely been challenged in the first six weeks of the season.
Its opponents’ combined record against Power Four teams is 2-8. BYU’s next five foes, however, have a record of 9-3.
It might bring back memories of 2023 for the Cougars — when they opened against a weak schedule, going 5-2, and ended up missing a bowl game when the competition stiffened.
Time will tell what this iteration of the Cougars will do.
“We haven’t really had adversity,” wide receiver Parker Kingston said on Monday.
That didn’t change much on Friday night.
BYU continued to do what it has largely done to every team it beat this year. The defense clamped down on a listless offense, allowing 291 yards and creating two turnovers.
The offense, meanwhile, cruised. Bear Bachmeier pushed the ball downfield for 351 passing yards and two total touchdowns. He threw one interception and lost a ball on a pitch play, but the turnovers hardly mattered.
“I feel really good about Bear’s ability to throw the ball, the deep ball,” BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. “This is a really good step for him. We just got to keep rolling.”
But BYU’s coaches understand they haven’t seen the best of their schedule yet. Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick openly admitted BYU was able to put Bachmeier on “training wheels” against some of their lesser opponents.
“As the challenges get more difficult in Big 12 play, you are going to start seeing more of him as a passer,” he said on BYUtv. “The first couple of games, we didn’t really have to throw at all. In the third game, we had to throw a little more. Fourth game, a little more.”
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU cornerback Therrian Alexander (1) celebrates an interception against West Virginia.
But they also believe there are signs BYU will be able to handle the hardest part of their schedule, starting against Arizona next Saturday.
Roderick pointed to the fact that Bachmeier, even in his limited opportunities, has kept his passing percentage up to 68 percent. All offseason, Roderick stressed how BYU’s offense needed to be closer to 70 percent for the unit to take the next step. For reference, former quarterback Jake Retzlaff was at a 58 percent completion rate.
What’s more is Bachmeier has done it with just one interception. Retzlaff threw a league-leading 12 turnovers last year.
“We feel like if we take care of the ball, don’t beat ourselves, we are going to win a lot of games,” the coordinator insisted. “I’m pretty sure [Bachmeier’s] completion percentage is higher than [Zach Wilson, Jaren Hall and Retzlaff]. And all of those guys were really good players in our program and I have a lot of respect for those guys.”
BYU’s offense hasn’t been as explosive as it was last year. But it has made up for it with a more methodical run game. LJ Martin averaged 100 rushing yards per night going into West Virginia. He added another two touchdowns and 90 yards on Friday.
“We are a more balanced offense than last year. We do miss some of the explosiveness of Darius [Lassiter], Keelan [Marion] and JoJo [Phillips]. But the balance of all the position groups is making us hard to defend,” Roderick said.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU Cougars safety Tanner Wall (28) celebrates after intercepting a pass.
On defense, all signs have pointed to Hill’s side improving from the unit that embarrassed Colorado in the Alamo Bowl. It allowed just one touchdown in the first three games and held firm at Colorado to eke out a win on the road. It ranked ninth in the country in scoring defense and allowed under 225 yards a game.
“If they play like that, we are going to have a really good defense,” Hill said. “And have a really good outcome.”
The latter part of that statement, though, remains to be seen.
BYU will eventually be tested against ranked opponents like Iowa State and Texas Tech on the road. It will see defenses, like Utah and TCU, that will bring more resistance.
In the next month, BYU will see Arizona, Utah, Iowa State, Texas Tech and TCU in succession. It is an array of the best teams in the conference.
“Each week we are slowly taking the training wheels off of Bachmeier in the passing game,” Roderick said. “His attempts have increased every week. ... We are really happy with where he is at.”
He pointed to Retzlaff last year. He said he also started slow — even if it was against better competition — and progressively got better throughout the year.
“Jake got hot. We needed to throw the ball against hard teams in the Big 12,” Roderick finished.
BYU, for now, feels like it has seen enough through five games that it will be able to handle the schedule that awaits.
After a win against West Virginia, though, we still don’t know. Arizona will be the first real data point.