Instant Takeaways From BYU’s Dominant Win At East Carolina
Sep 20, 2025, 9:19 PM | Updated: 9:24 pm
BYU football wide receiver Chase Roberts was on the receiving end of big plays from quarterback Bear Bachmeier. (Courtesy of BYU Photo)
(Courtesy of BYU Photo)
GREENVILLE, N.C. – BYU football rolled through the East Carolina Pirates 34-13 to improve to 3-0 in the 2025 season.
It’s BYU’s first win over East Carolina in the Kalani Sitake era. They were previously 0-2, which included a past loss in Greenville in 2017.
Final: BYU 34, East Carolina 13.
Cougs are 3-0 for the third consecutive season. pic.twitter.com/HoCvryTRNF
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) September 21, 2025
BYU put together a dominant showing against the Pirates.
Here are some instant takeaways from the win.
Evan Johnson changed the game for BYU
BYU redshirt junior Evan Johnson has become a lockdown cornerback in BYU’s secondary.
Johnson was one of the most improved players in the program last year, and this season, he’s taken another jump in his growth.
On Saturday night, he recorded interceptions on back-to-back defensive snaps.
He picked off ECU quarterback Katin Houser when the Pirates were on the BYU six-yard line and had a chance to find the end zone after a long, sustained drive. That pick swung momentum back to BYU.
Then the air in Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium was completely deflated on ECU’s next offensive snap from their own one-yard line as the Pirates decided to throw the ball.
Houser tossed a pass near the sideline, Johnson jumped in front, picking it off for a one-yard pick six to put BYU in front 13-3.
Johnson has emerged as BYU’s top cornerback this season.
Bear Bachmeier found his rhythm in the second half
Did you know the television announcers didn’t see anything Bear Bachmeier showed in the second half leading up to this game?
They kept bringing it up during the ESPN2 telecast, but to their credit, they weren’t kidding.
It was always known that the freshman transfer from Stanford could make big-time throws, but there wasn’t much shown in the first two games.
Coming out of the bye, Bachmeier was well-prepared and took another step forward in his development.
The aggressive attitude showed itself on the first play of the game as Aaron Roderick dialed up a deep shot for wide receiver Parker Kingston. It was completed, but Kingston couldn’t get his feet in bounds.
Bachmeier had some up-and-down moments in the first half as ECU was stacking the box.
But the heralded freshman found his rhythm in the second half.
Bachmeier had a stretch in the second half where he completed seven consecutive passes with six of those passes going for at least 10 yards.
That success through the air forced ECU to move away from stacking eight players in the box. Once they did that, Bachmeier then hit ECU with a 16-yard touchdown run, the longest touchdown run to date for him.
Then, later in the fourth quarter, as BYU was looking to shut the game down, he rushed for a 14-yard gain to move the chains.
Bachmeier eclipsed the 200-yard passing mark for the first time in his BYU career.
Once again, Bachmeier made good decisions and avoided giving up turnovers.
It was a strong performance from BYU’s young signal-caller coming out of the bye week.
LJ Martin was a tone-setter
Entering Saturday’s game, East Carolina had the seventh-best rush defense in college football.
But the Pirates had not faced a ball carrier like LJ Martin this season.
Martin, on his first carry of the night, gained 17 yards, showing the Pirates that their tough defense was going to be tested in a big way against the El Paso, Texas native.
It was a tone-setter that BYU was going to be able to have a balanced attack.
The star running back recorded his third consecutive 100-yard rushing performance this season.
He also found the endzone for the first time this year after he popped off a 41-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Martin continues to show he’s one of the best running backs in the Big 12, and maybe the country this season.
Marcus McKenzie is a weapon as a gunner on the punt team
BYU redshirt sophomore cornerback Marcus McKenzie has revived his role as the Cougars’ ace on special teams.
McKenzie continues to show how much of a weapon he is as BYU’s gunner on the punt team.
The former Pine View High speedster had a big hit, jarring the ball loose from ECU’s return man on a punt in the second quarter. The ball rolled to the ECU one-yard line before being recovered by the Pirates.
On the next play, ECU tossed an interception that resulted in a pick-six.
McKenzie pinned a Sam Vander Haar punt inside the five-yard line in the third quarter before the ball could hit the well-manicured grass at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
McKenzie’s combination of speed and tackling skills makes him a big-time contributor on this team. It was something he demonstrated in his freshman campaign two years ago, before injuries kept him sidelined.
Never take road wins for granted
There were some nerves from Cougar fans entering this game—the cliche, two-time zone travel, formidable opponent with an up-tempo attack, and so on.
It didn’t matter for Kalani Sitake’s crew. They were ready and performed at a high level.
Road wins are always tough to come by. They can be even more challenging to earn with a true freshman quarterback.
BYU passed with flying colors, completing its third consecutive non-conference schedule with an undefeated record.
Clean up the penalties
BYU finished with a season-high for penalties in the win over East Carolina.
There was a controversial one with an illegal substitution penalty on Logan Lutui that negated a Tanner Wall interception, in which he returned it into East Carolina territory.
Other penalties included Isaiah Jatta and Keayen Nead getting called for holding. Jatta also had a false start.
There were also a pair of pass interference calls, one on Tausili Akana, then another on Ace Kaufusi, that set East Carolina up for a field goal opportunity.
It’s a nitpicky thing, but you know, Kalani Sitake is going to want to see penalties cleaned up entering Big 12 play.
AP pollsters rank BYU
BYU has been flying under the radar nationally this season. Players and coaches have said all the right things, claiming they won’t let the lack of respect affect them, but it’s clear this team is playing with a bit of a chip on its shoulder.
They were prepared for an East Carolina program that was pulling out all the stops for this game, from fireworks going off at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the first time to getting a large crowd of 47,213 fans.
BYU was locked in.
Will they get the respect they deserve to be ranked?
They should.
After an 11-2 season a year ago, and then to follow it up with a 3-0 start in non-conference with a true freshman quarterback and an elite defense, these guys deserved to be ranked.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
