BYU football is playing like an old-school Big Ten team

Being a BYU and Ohio State fan, it’s funny to see them playing opposite styles than they did years ago. Ohio State is the one leaning on a dynamic passing game and a high-powered offense, while BYU is the one running the football, minimizing mistakes, and playing good defense and special teams. It used to be the other way around. BYU, in this very young season, is playing an old-school Big Ten style of football.

It starts with running the daggum football. After how they ran on Portland State, it was obvious to everyone that BYU would establish the run against Stanford. The Cardinal still couldn’t stop it. LJ Martin went over the century mark again, this time 110 yards on 18 carries. The running continued to get a boost from Sione Moa and Bear Bachmeier, who each had a rushing touchdown as well.

The passing game was in a similar style. Make plays when you can, but don’t make mistakes that could cost you points and the game. Bachmeier was 17 of 27 for a solid 175 yards. He didn’t have any passing touchdowns, but more importantly, he had no turnovers. The true freshman Bachmeier smartly targeted BYU’s best receiver in Chase Roberts. Roberts had five catches for 84 yards.

Next, Jay Hill’s defense played lights-out football. BYU gave up only 161 total yards and held Stanford to only 19 yards rushing. They also won the turnover battle, forcing two Stanford interceptions and a fumble. They contributed 50 yards to the offense’s cause in returning those two interceptions, and even added two points of their own with a safety. Two games in, and they’ve only given up three points. That’s a great start.

Finally, have fantastic special teams. Parker Kingston struggled in the return game, but Tiger Bachmeier and Cody Hagen more than made up for it as BYU would have 105 total return yards. Punter Sam Vander Haar came up big with his three punts, averaging 43.7 yards, and all three being downed inside the 20-yard line. Then there’s Will Ferrin. Ferrin is making the case for being the best kicker in BYU history. He was a perfect 4 of 4 on the night and accounted for 13 of BYU’s points.

The name of the game for BYU is getting yards and points in whatever ways you can. BYU had 487 all-purpose yards and 27 points. Right around their averages in the Kalani Sitake Era, and that was with a modest game offensively. In these two games, this team reminds me of the Ohio State teams from the early 2000s. Playing mistake-free offense while running the ball, swarming on defense, and making special teams a huge positive is what those teams did and what BYU is doing now. Whether it’s different from their own history or not, winning is winning, and that’s what matters.