3 takeaways from No. 11 BYU’s win at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa — BYU does it again.

Kalani Sitake’s crew clawed out of an early hole to win in emphatic 41-27 fashion Saturday at Iowa State, remaining undefeated at 8-0.

3 takeaways

BYU orchestrated yet another comeback. With just under two minutes left to play in the first half, Iowa State’s Carson Hansen punched in a 3-yard touchdown to put the Cyclones ahead 24-10.

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Up to that point, the Cougars had no answer for Iowa State’s offense, which had gashed them for 318 yards at an average of 8.8 yards per play.

BYU looked woefully unprepared and was getting badly beaten in the trenches. To make matters worse, star running back LJ Martin left with an injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest. It appeared the unbeaten run would soon be coming to an end.

But then the Cougars did what they seemingly do best — refuse to lose.

Over an 18 minute, 12 second span between the second and fourth quarters, the followed occurred:

• Bear Bachmeier and Parker Kingston connected for a 12-yard touchdown before halftime.

• Will Ferrin opened the second half scoring with a 27-yard field goal.
• BYU forced Iowa State to punt for the first time.
• The Cougars drove all the way down the field for Bachmeier to run for a 9-yard touchdown.

• Iowa State kicked a field goal.
• Mory Bamba recovered a muffed punt to give the Cougars new life on offense.

• BYU capitalized on the muffed punt recovery with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Bachmeier to Kingston.

• Faletau Satuala intercepted Rocco Becht and ran it back for a pick-six.

Down 14 points, BYU responded with a 31-3 run to ultimately win by two touchdowns, handing the Cyclones just their second home loss since 2023.

Bear Bachmeier’s passing was impressive. In BYU’s previous comeback victories this season, Bachmeier made magic happen in clutch situations with his rushing ability.

Saturday in Ames, he did so with his arm.

Bachmeier threw the ball a career-high 35 times for 307 yards and two touchdowns, taking advantage of Iowa State’s injury-riddled secondary and connecting with both Chase Roberts and Parker Kingston to get each receiver a 100+ yard outing.

Of Bachmeier’s 35 pass attempts, 26 came after falling behind 24-10, meaning BYU’s comeback was largely powered by the freshman QB’s passing— especially as the Cougars’ rushing attack stalled a bit with Martin sidelined.

Additionally, Bachmeier completed 6 of 7 (86%) of his deep passes (15+ yards) for 180 yards. True freshman quarterbacks aren’t supposed to do that on the road against Power 4 competition. Bachmeier is making a legitimate case for All-Big 12 and Freshman All-American candidacy.

The Cougars made winning plays in all three phases to remain unbeaten. BYU put up 410 yards of total offense, with Roberts and Kingston combining for 261 receiving yards on 15 catches.

After surrendering 24 points in the first half and appearing totally overmatched, Jay Hill’s defense adjusted to allow just a field goal in the final 30 minutes, also picking up a season-best four sacks and handing Becht his first-ever three-interception game.

Will Ferrin was perfect on his pair of field goal attempts, including a 50-yarder, and Mory Bamba’s muffed punt recovery was arguably the most notable momentum swinger of the day — and a bit of poetic justice following last year’s pooch punt disaster for BYU against Kansas.

The Cougars beat a team that rarely loses at home and was coming off a bye. They avoided any sort of post-rivalry win letdown. It was by far the team’s most impressive win of 2025.

And thus, BYU moves to 8-0 in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history and appears to the current top dog in the Big 12.

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