The defense traveled well, as did the BYU fan base. Nothing surprising about that.
True freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier grew up before our eyes in his first road start, passing every test put in front of him, and cornerback Evan Johnson arguably had the best five-minute stretch — over the course of two incredible defensive plays — in his life.
Add it all up, and it resulted in a dominating 34-13 win for the unranked BYU Cougars over the supposedly explosive East Carolina Pirates in front of 47,213 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina, on Saturday night.
“It is a testament to the coaches,” said Bachmeier, who outdueled highly touted ECU senior quarterback Katin Houser, throwing for 246 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 26 yards and a score.
“They had us ready to win this game.”
If this didn’t earn the Cougars (3-0) some style points in their quest for a national ranking before Big 12 play begins next week at Colorado, nothing will. With 7,000 to 8,000 BYU fans rooting them on, the Cougars put up the kind of score that will resonate with East Coast pollsters.
“I think these are the best fans in the country. I mean, we’re on the East Coast, and I mean, it feels like a home game,” Bachmeier said.
About the only bummer for BYU was that the Cougars gave up 404 yards, including 119 on the ground, and saw their streak of holding opponents to no touchdowns end in the fourth quarter.
Under defensive coordinator Jay Hill’s leadership, BYU started the season not giving up a touchdown through 11 quarters.
“We performed great,” said linebacker Jack Kelly, who had two sacks. “Obviously, there are some things we can clean up and fix. We didn’t stop the run as well as we would have liked, but overall, a good performance, and a lot of things that we can build on and continue to move forward with.”
For starters, that conversation moving forward has to include Bachmeier, who got off to a shaky start, then settled down and played lights out in the second half.
He completed 72% of his passes (18 of 25) and had a passer rating of 167.9, while Houser completed only 60% after averaging better than 70% in 2-2 ECU’s first three games.
Houser was picked off twice, and most of his yards came when the game was pretty much out of reach for the Pirates, who finished with 404 yards to BYU’s 418.
“I think these are the best fans in the country. I mean, we’re on the East Coast, and I mean, it feels like a home game.”
— BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier
Sitake said Bachmeier, who still hasn’t thrown an interception after arriving in Provo a little more than three months ago, can no longer be considered a freshman, despite having a meager three games under his belt.
East Carolina’s coach and athletic director asked for their fans to be loud and boisterous, but Bachmeier hardly noticed.
“Given the environment, the hostility here, I think it was good step for him in the right direction, and then we saw him play much better the second half,” Sitake said.
“Hopefully he’s turned the corner and we can rely on him being a veteran now.”
Running back LJ Martin is a veteran, and he proved that by becoming the first BYU player to rush for more than 100 yards in each of his first three games to start a season since Marcus Whalen.
Martin finished with 101 yards on 14 carries, capping it off with a 41-yard touchdown run on third-and-14 that proved to be the final dagger. The junior from El Paso, Texas, has surpassed the 1,500 career rushing yards plateau.
“He did it against pressure, especially that last one that he hit, and that’s a good sign,” Sitake said. “That means the O line is getting on their blocks. It wasn’t perfect with the offensive line, but man, they’re doing their best.”
Indeed, if there was something to nitpick about BYU’s performance, it was the penalties — 10 for 72 yards. BYU’s offensive penalties stalled drives, and several defensive pass interference penalties, deserved or not, allowed ECU to prolong drives.
Mostly, it was a bend-but-don’t-break defense, as BYU allowed drives of 14, 14 and 12 plays.
Much was made of ECU’s ability to go uptempo on offense and wear down defenses, but BYU didn’t let it happen. East Carolina played BYU, a touchdown favorite, evenly in the first half, but Houser made two critical mistakes, that allowed BYU to take a 13-3 halftime lead.
With BYU clinging to a 6-3 lead, the Pirates drove to the BYU 6, but Johnson came up with a pick in the end zone. After a promising BYU drive was thwarted by a holding penalty, BYU punter Sam Vander Haar’s boot was fumbled out at the ECU 1.
With just 56 seconds remaining, and ECU out of timeouts, everybody in the building figured the Pirates would run out the clock. But no, Houser took a three-step drop, and fired the ball to the sideline. Johnson stepped in for the interception, then made a few steps into the end zone.
“Yeah, it was just something we saw in film the whole week,” Johnson said. “Coach gave me a good call to get the opportunity to go jump the route. … The quarterback gave me the three-step (drop), and that was my opportunity to just know I got to go make a play on the ball.”
That was the tale of the first half, as BYU’s defense kept the Cougars in it until its young quarterback found his footing.
BYU’s offense will need to get off to a better start next week at Colorado, which will be looking for some revenge after the Alamo Bowl beatdown last season. The Pirates had five tackles for loss in the first half alone, and Bachmier was a so-so 9 of 14 for 126 yards in the first half, for a passer rating of 139.9.
The Cougars drove all the way to the ECU 21 on their first possession before settling for a 40-yard field goal by Will Ferrin. They drove to the ECU 8 on their second possession, but Martin was stuffed on a 4th-and-inches run after Roberts’ catch-and-run was spotted questionably short.
BYU got something going on its fourth possession, thanks to Roberts’ 30-yard play. However, Ryan was stripped at the back of the end zone — a fine play by the ECU defender — and the Cougars had to settle for a 23-yard field goal.
Ferrin has now made 24 straight field goals, a BYU record.