AMES, Iowa — The BYU Cougars’ first bye of the 2025 football season, which came after they had only played two games, was not all that optimal for 10th-year coach Kalani Sitake’s team. It did help them get ready for a cross-country trip to play East Carolina, and did give them an extra week to prepare for the Pirates.
However, there’s no question that BYU’s second bye, which comes this week, arrives at a perfect time for the No. 10-ranked, banged-up Cougars.
BYU doesn’t play again until Nov. 8, and it is setting up to be perhaps the most important game in years for the Cougars. They will face No. 13-ranked Texas Tech (4-1, 7-1) at Jones AT&T Stadium in a Big 12 matchup that is so big that it could draw one of the Saturday morning pregame shows on ESPN or FOX to Lubbock.
BYU’s first item of business, Sitake said after Saturday afternoon’s come-from-behind 41-27 win over plucky Iowa State, is getting healthy again.
Starters LJ Martin and Siale Esera left the game in the first quarter with injuries and never returned, while linebacker Jack Kelly, defensive lineman Anisi Purcell and even quarterback Bear Bachmeier got dinged up during the physical contest in front of 61,500 at Jack Trice Stadium.
A couple of guys who didn’t play, safety Raider Damuni (ribs) and receiver JoJo Phillips (clavicle), are expected back for Texas Tech, which plays at rapidly improving Kansas State this week, while RB2 Sione Moa’s status is less certain as the redshirt freshman deals with compartment syndrome.
Amazingly, BYU has remained undefeated, improving its record to 19-2 over the past two seasons. Only Ohio State (21) has more wins over that stretch than the Cougars. Indiana, Oregon, Notre Dame and Texas have also won 19 games since the start of the 2024 season.
“So we’re in a really good spot (despite the injuries),” Sitake said. “We just have to keep working, keep finding ways to get better and stay humble and stay hungry and make sure that we improve from this week to the next time we play.”
Sitake said the Cougars will “take advantage of the bye coming up” and get an early start on preparing for the Red Raiders and the rematch of the 2023 game won 27-14 by BYU in Provo against Texas Tech’s third-string quarterback.
“We will use our second bye differently than we did our first bye because the science tells us to,” Sitake said. “So we’ll do everything we can to get our team ready mentally, physically and spiritually to get ready for the next one in a couple weeks.”
Asked what the science says to do this week, Sitake smiled and said: “That’s our competitive advantage. Not telling anybody.”
The coach also wasn’t interested in saying much about the injuries, as is his way. BYU’s next availability report, as mandated by the Big 12, is not due until Nov. 5. That’s a day after the first official College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings will be released, and the Cougars can probably expect to be right around the top 10 of those.
It’s heady stuff for a program that lost its senior quarterback, Jake Retzlaff, to Tulane three months ago. Resilience in the face of adversity, the emergence of Bachmeier, and a little bit of good fortune has enabled the Cougars to surprise the college football world.
“You create your own luck. That’s what we keep preaching to these guys,” Sitake said. “You can’t just assume everything. You have to preach (resilience), and everything’s got to be intentional when we’re teaching.
“We feel good about the entire process of what we’ve gone through, but there is still a lot of room for improvement,” Sitake continued. “We will celebrate (for a day). I want these guys to be happy with what they’ve been able to accomplish before we get into this bye week.”
Martin’s injury is the most disturbing, partly because he’s one of the top rushers in the country, but also because the Cougars are thin at the running back position and have been since a player they were counting on, Pokaiaua Haunga, withdrew from school before fall camp.
“I am always concerned with the guys that get hurt and that can’t finish the game, but Preston (Rex) was able to step in and Enoch (Nawahine) was able to step in, and hopefully LJ is ready to go by the time we take the field in the next couple weeks. But I can’t tell (anything else) about that right now,” Sitake said.
“It is concerning that he did not finish, but we’ve seen guys not finish before, and come back the next time. I’m gonna stay positive and be optimistic about it.”
Tight end Carsen Ryan took the biggest hit of the game, delivered by Domonique “Big Citrus” Orange, but seemed to be no worse for the wear. He caught two passes for 13 yards, and made some nice blocks that sprang Martin and Bachmeier for touchdown runs.
Bachmeier carried the ball 12 times, and was wearing a sleeve-like wrap on his lower right leg in the postgame interview room.
“It just happened real quick. Just a little bruise,” Bachmeier said, shrugging it off. “They don’t want it to swell up or something like that on the plane.”
Bachmeier did slide on one particular play, after picking up a first down, and was not happy with himself for doing that.
“You always like to think you’re a quote, unquote, ‘tough guy,’” he said. “I am actually kind of mad at myself because I wussed out on one of those runs where we trying to milk the clock and, yeah, I slid down. It was kind of a wussy move. I always pride myself on being very competitive and being very tough. That’s just the way I was raised.”
Asked what they will do during the bye week, Bachmeier said, “I am not entirely sure what our plan is. I am sure we will keep the process the same and just continue to do what we’re doing. We can’t get complacent.”
Cougars on the air
No. 10 BYU (5-0, 8-0) at No. 13 Texas Tech (4-1, 7-1)
• Nov. 8, kickoff time TBD
• At Jones AT&T Stadium
• Lubbock, Texas
• TV: TBD
• Radio: 102.7 FM/1160 AM