3 takeaways from BYU’s loss to Texas Tech

Undefeated no more.

No. 7 BYU suffered its first loss of the season Saturday against Texas Tech, falling 29-7 to the No. 8-ranked Red Raiders.

The Cougars are now 8-1 on the year and 5-1 in Big 12 play.

3 takeaways

BYU’s offense and special teams units both struggled mightily. Aside from a respectable defensive effort, the Cougars were flat-out embarrassed in Lubbock.

BYU only made one trip inside the red zone and committed three turnovers. The Cougars were 3 of 14 on third down and averaged 2.5 yards per carry, while putting up just 157 total yards through the first three quarters of action.

Texas Tech’s elite defense gave Bear Bachmeier fits. Outside of the fourth quarter, BYU’s true freshman QB went 12 of 21 in passing for 89 yards and an interception. He did find Chase Roberts for a late touchdown, but he lost a fumble two drives later. Typically strong as a runner, Bachmeier picked up just 12 yards on 11 carries.

Long story short — for the first time all year, Bachmeier actually looked like a true freshman for an entire game. Hat tip to the outstanding Red Raider defense.

The Cougars have been excellent on special teams over the past two seasons, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth on Saturday. Parker Kingston fumbled on a punt return, Sam Vander Haar shanked a punt, Will Ferrin missed a field goal and Cody Hagen had a short kick return that should have just been kneeled for a touchback.

It takes all three phases to win, and two of the three barely showed up for BYU on Saturday.

Texas Tech’s stars shined against the Cougars: The Red Raiders’ running back duo of Cam Dickey and J’Koby Williams was electric, combining for 254 total yards on 39 touches with a touchdown.

Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez, arguably the best defensive player in the country, more than looked the part against BYU, racking up 14 tackles with a tackle for loss, fumble recovery and an interception.

As for the Cougars, Jack Kelly had one of his best outings in a BYU uniform, racking up two sacks with a pass breakup and another pass defended. Isaiah Glasker made 10 total tackles with two for loss and a sack, Tanner Wall had eight tackles, and Siale Esera got a sack.

But none of it would end up mattering. BYU was just purely outmatched all game long.

All is not lost for BYU. As deflating as Saturday felt for Cougar Nation, Kalani Sitake’s squad still controls its own destiny down the stretch.

The Cougars are 8-1 and in second place within the Big 12 with a 5-1 mark in league play. Should BYU finish 3-0, they’ll certainly end up in the conference championship game — perhaps for a rematch with the Red Raiders.

But finishing 3-0 is much easier said than done. BYU has to play a solid TCU team next week before going to 7-2 Cincinnati. Thus, the gauntlet continues, and with Saturday’s letdown, the Cougars clearly have a lot to fix ahead of their visit from the dangerous Horned Frogs.

Losing to a top-10 team on the road should qualify as a quality loss, but most of BYU’s respect from the CFP committee has likely evaporated following this poor showing. The Cougars surely will take a tumble in Tuesday’s updated rankings, and their best bet of making the Playoff will be winning out and emerging victorious in Arlington — but once again, that’s easier said than done.

BYU is now 2-7 in the month of November since joining the Big 12 in 2023, with each of those wins coming against teams that didn’t reach bowl eligibility. The Cougars desperately need to flip such a script over the final three weeks of 2025 if they want to stay in the Big 12 title and Playoff mix.

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