West Virginia (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) at BYU (4-0, 1-0 Big 12)
- Kickoff: Friday, 8:30 p.m. MDT
- Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium (capacity: 62,073)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: ESPN.com/watch
- Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.
- Series: West Virginia leads, 2-0
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars are 4-0, having won their Big 12 opener in comeback fashion at Colorado last weekend.
True freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier has blossomed into a difference maker for BYU. He’s completed 71% of his passes and thrown for 425 yards and three touchdowns over his past two outings, while also running for 124 yards and a score.
Most impressively, Bachmeier has yet to throw an interception or lose a fumble, as the Cougars have remained turnover-free on offense through four games.
BYU’s run game remains superb, ranking No. 9 nationally at 251.3 yards per game and No. 8 at 6.3 yards per carry as a team. As Bachmeier has continued to grow into his role, the Cougars’ passing attack has expanded to allow for the offense to operate at a more complete level.
Defensively, BYU boasts one of the top units in the country. The Cougars have allowed just 9.3 points per game, forced seven turnovers and allowed an average of 76.3 rushing yards per game.
BYU is ranked No. 23 in the AP Top 25 as the third-highest ranked Big 12 team in the poll.
It’s worth mentioning that the Cougars are 32-4 in night games since 2019; however, one of those four losses did come against West Virginia in 2023.
For West Virginia: The Mountaineers are coming off of consecutive blowout losses to open Big 12 play, most recently falling 48-14 to Utah in Morgantown.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez is 2-3 in the first season of his second stint at West Virginia, having also lost to Ohio but defeating Robert Morris and rival Pitt.
The Mountaineers have played four different quarterbacks already this year, and with injuries ravaging the top of their QB depth chart, they will reportedly turn to their third different starter against the Cougars in freshman Khalil Wilkins.
The 3-star recruit out of Washington, D.C. is 3 for 6 in passing this season with a touchdown but has made his largest impact on the ground, where he’s rushed 16 times for 106 yards.
Defensively, West Virginia is allowing 32.5 points and 424.5 yards per game.
What to watch for
Watkins will most likely play a major role within West Virginia’s run game. Considering the Cougars struggled early with Colorado’s designed QB runs — whether they came from Kaidon Salter or Der’lon Miller in a wildcat look — look for how BYU handles Watkins on the ground.
Additionally, the Mountaineers are likely to get help on offense with the return of running back Tye Edwards, who holds a 5.7 career yards per carry mark.
Edwards would be a true boost for West Virginia, so take notice of the matchup between him and BYU’s front seven, particularly with linebackers Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly.
The Mountaineers have also struggled to defend the pass. Bachmeier could be throwing a lot Friday night.
Key players
BYU’s offensive line. The Cougars have done a solid job protecting Bachmeier up front thus far, but Friday presents a whole new challenge.
West Virginia blitzes at a 43.6% clip, the sixth-highest total in the country. The Mountaineers have also generated pressure on 42.5% of their pass rush attempts, resulting in 12 sacks as a team.
BYU hasn’t dealt with this capable of a pass rush in 2025, and how the Cougars handle such blitzing and pressure will help determine how future matchups against similar defenses such as Arizona and Utah will play out.
Bachmeier has been sacked just once in the past two weeks. Keeping him upright against West Virginia will make defeating the Mountaineers all the more manageable for BYU.
Quotable
“They’ve had some bad luck with injuries. So we have to prepare (well), because I know (Rich Rodriguez) is extremely smart. You look at his coaching staff there, they’re all bright. So this isn’t going to be easy. We just have to be ready to make sure that we defend our home ground and that we can lean on our home crowd to give us an advantage.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“Their quarterback’s a young guy, very athletic, tough guy, really, really composed ... been really impressed with him. The running back is a big physical guy, one of the better ones in our league ... and it starts up front, they’ve got some grown men up there, and some explosive wideouts. They’ve done a really good job and they’ll keep you off-balance, they’ll do some quarterback-run stuff as well.
“... They play really hard (defensively), they’re coached well, they understand their system. They have some length, and they do some different stuff defensively. It’s as good a group at linebacker and athletic D-end types as we’ve seen.”— West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez
Next up
- BYU: at Arizona on Oct. 11
- West Virginia: at UCF on Oct. 18
BYU schedule
- Aug. 30 — defeated Portland State, 69-0
- Sept. 6 — defeated Stanford, 27-3
- Sept. 20 — defeated East Carolina, 34-13
- Sept. 27 — defeated Colorado, 24-21
- Oct. 11 — at Arizona
- Oct. 18 — Utah
- Oct. 25 — at Iowa State
- Nov. 8 — at Texas Tech
- Nov. 15 — TCU
- Nov. 22 — at Cincinnati
- Nov. 29 — UCF