When No. 23-ranked BYU hosts West Virginia for the first-ever Mountaineer visit to Provo on Friday night, the Cougars will be a heavy favorite in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
West Virginia has a short week with a 2,000-mile trip and the kickoff will be 10 p.m. on Mountaineer body clocks. Coach Rich Rodriguez has a team that’s banged up. From quarterback to running backs, some reserves have been asked to step up. Still, BYU coaches who have played against this former Arizona and WVU coach respect him so much, they are bent on preparing the Cougars for a real battle.
This game marks the end of BYU facing opponents they are expected to handle. After this one comes Arizona on the road and games with Utah, Iowa State, TCU and Texas Tech. Those games will be against outstanding defenses and explosive offenses. Head coach Kalani Sitake says his team will need significant improvement to prepare for that stretch.
In the meantime, the Cougars are enjoying an outstanding season so far from freshman QB Bear Bachmeier. This team is also getting stellar play from their expected stars, LJ Martin and linebackers Isaiah Glasker, Jack Kelly, tight end Carsen Ryan and receiver Chase Roberts.
In other words, the cream of BYU’s talent is rising up and the one big gamble, Bachmeier, is excelling beyond expectations.
In the booth and sideline, there is some elite coaching being done by Sitake and his staff.
During BYUtv’s “Coordinator’s Corner,” Aaron Roderick spoke of the coordination and communication going on between coaches in between plays. He said having three current and former head coaches on the headphones (Kalani Sitake, Jay Hill, Gary Andersen) and the cooperation of the other assistants is the best he’s ever seen in his career.
Cougar Insiders predictions
Question of the week: Aaron Roderick is testing history at BYU by starting true freshman Bear Bachmeier at QB, an athlete he didn’t have on campus for spring practice. How would you evaluate the job Roderick has done so far, now that we’ve seen games and Bachmeier in action? Give predictions for West Virginia at BYU on Friday.
Jay Drew: Through four games, BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick’s performance in directing freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier has been nothing short of masterful. Roderick has hit all the right buttons with the teenager, brought him along slowly but surely, and played to his strengths.
As Kalani Sitake said Saturday night after the win over Colorado, Bachmeier arrived in Provo this way, to some extent. His maturity, poise and decision-making ability have been impressive. Roderick has expertly added to that makeup with just the right mixture of confidence-building plays and challenging ones.
Good quarterbacks always say that their job is to get the football into the hands of their playmakers, and Roderick’s play-calling has ensured that happens. Especially noteworthy is the way he has designed plays to get the ball to speedster Cody Hagen. In my opinion, Roderick is one of the best play designers in college football, and Bachmeier has benefitted from that.
Prediction: BYU 38, West Virginia 21
Dick Harmon: Bear Bachmeier came to BYU on short notice with no spring practice on campus, or any affiliation with any of his teammates or coaches. In the course of months, this four-star QB, with offers from blue bloods all across the country, won the starting job just months after attending high school. In four games, he’s helped lead BYU to a 4-0 record without a turnover.
This is remarkable. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I covered Ty Detmer since he finished his junior year at Southwest High in San Antonio, Texas. Credit has to go to offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick and the job he’s done bringing Bachmeier along, building the offense and play calls to ease him into the role of a Big 12 QB. Granted, he’s had the benefit of an easy schedule to use these game plans, and he’s been blessed with running back LJ Martin to help carry the burden.
Bachmeier has been named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week twice in four games over the span of five weeks. He ranks sixth among 16 Big 12 quarterbacks in passing efficiency and is completing 70% of his passes. That is simply remarkable.
Back in the summer, there was a lot of angst over the loss of senior QB Jake Retzlaff due to an honor code violation. Suddenly, as we enter October, the loss of Retzlaff doesn’t seem so tragic for the No. 23 Cougars.
Prediction: BYU 41, West Virginia 13
Cougar tales
In BYU’s win over Colorado, plenty of heroes emerged, including linebackers Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. Here are stories from our staff from that game:
- Bear is making believers (Dick Harmon)
- Cool customer Bachmeier continues to impress (Jay Drew)
- BYU turns Colorado flash, fury against it (Jay Drew)
- What Deion Sanders said after loss (Jackson Payne)
- How social media reacted to BYU win (Jackson Payne)
- Could BYU-Colorado become a rivalry? (Jackson Payne)
From the archives
From X-verse
Extra points
- Bachmeier compared to Retzlaff (Sports Illustrated)
- Colorado chancellor apologizes to BYU (Deseret News)
- Adversity in CU win good for Cougars (Provo Daily Herald)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
Honestly, I would rather not have any rivals. I would like to cheer for all the teams in our conference except when we play them. I appreciate how Sitake and Sanders both are positive and kind to each other. I know some people really get into cheering against others, but that doesn’t do anything positive for me — it just drags me down. I don’t like to or want to feel negative about anybody else. Unfortunately, that seems to be the way a lot of people treat rivalries. Truth be told, we all have enough difficulty in our lives without adding to it by mistreating each other over a game.
One of my favorite things in wrestling was getting my opponent’s best effort and giving mine as well — doing everything we could to defeat each other — then shaking hands when it was all over. One of my best friends over 30 years later beat me in high school at a tournament and then we sat and talked for a long time after it was over. It made me look forward to seeing him at other tournaments and matches. As luck would have it, we ended up wrestling at the same community college and he was the only person on the team I knew. I’m so glad we didn’t use that competition as a reason to taunt or hate each other!
In the same way, I enjoy talking to my friends who are Ute fans. Applauding their team for victories and lamenting our woes together really is an expression of love that enhances the fan experience. I hope we can experience that online as well as we can in person.
—PDXCougar
Bear has been good all year but was spectacular in this game.
I thought we would take a big step backwards without Retz, but IMO Bear has outperformed what Retz would have done. And I believe his upside is even higher than what he has done.
Special shoutout to Kelly, Glasker and Johnson. They were phenomenal. Only disappointment was that Glasker didn’t do the Deion shuffle (again) after his interception.
— CougFaninTx
Up next
- Oct. 1| 4:30 p.m. | women’s volleyball | @ Cincinnati
- Oct. 2 | 6 p.m. | softball | Snow College
- Oct. 2 | 6 p.m. | soccer | @ Houston
- Oct. 3 | 6 p.m. | men’s swimming | CMU Shootout
- Oct. 3 | 8 p.m. | football | West Virginia
- Oct. 6 | 8:30 p.m. | soccer | @ Oklahoma State