Takeaways from No. 9 BYU’s rivalry loss at No. 3 Utah
Nov 7, 2026, 7:31 PM | Updated: 7:32 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — BYU football suffered its first loss to Utah since 2019 on Saturday in the first-ever top-10 clash between the in-state rivals.
No. 3 Utah defeated No. 9 BYU 28-20 in a game the Cougars will look back on, feeling they missed many opportunities to take over.
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Utah now leads the all-time series over BYU 60-34-4.
Here are some takeaways from the game.
Bear Bachmeier had his worst game as a BYU Cougar
Entering Saturday’s rivalry game, sophomore quarterback Bear Bachmeier had only two games in his career, with multiple interceptions.
Both of those games happened last year. One was a double-overtime win at Arizona, and the other was the Big 12 Championship Game, a loss to Texas Tech.
Fast forward to Saturday morning’s top-10 rivalry clash, Bachmeier finished with four interceptions.
Not only were there four picks, but there were also a handful of near interceptions as well.
It was a tough outing for Bachmeier. It was his worst game so far as a BYU player.
After the game, he still took time to sign autographs and take selfies with BYU and even Utah fans as he left Rice-Eccles Stadium for the team bus to return to Provo.
Bachmeier finished the day 21-of-35 for 272 passing yards, one touchdown, and four interceptions.
The interception at the end of the first half, where BYU took over on the Utah 20-yard line after a fumble, and the pick late to Trey Reynolds in the fourth quarter were the two costliest mistakes.
Bachmeier doubled his total of interceptions this season from four to eight after Saturday’s rivalry performance.
Missed sack by Isaiah Glasker was a big blow for BYU
Late in the third quarter, Utah had the ball with a 3rd & 7. BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker looked to have Devon Dampier sacked, but he went high, allowing Dampier to find a way to escape.
The senior quarterback then improved and scrambled for a first down with a nine-yard gain.
That was a costly moment.
The Cougars were leading at that point of the game, and Utah, on their previous offensive series, came up empty-handed due to a missed field goal by Dillon Curtis.
If Glasker gets that sack, it probably forces Utah to attempt another field goal with Curtis, and would have kept BYU in front, make or not.
Instead, Dampier capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Braden Pegan, which led to starting cornerback Therrian Alexander III getting shaken up on the play.
BYU defense showed up after a brutal start
After the first five minutes of the game with Utah up 14-0, BYU looked like they were going to get run out of the stadium.
BYU responded—both on offense and especially on defense.
The defense dug in and caused some HAVOC on Utah’s high-powered offense. But the slow start put them in a hole.
BYU finished the day with 11 tackles for loss and three sacks, but it still wasn’t enough, as the offense didn’t get much help in the second half.
On the flip side, it was the first time a Utah defense didn’t record a sack against BYU since 2003.
LJ Martin was nowhere close to full strength
LJ Martin saw his first game action since October 3 on Saturday. In pregame warmups, Martin looked excellent and seemed, on the surface, ready for a decent-sized workload.
That didn’t materialize. His first touch of the game was an awkward tackle near the sideline. His availability was limited, and when he had a rare loss of yardage on a carry in the third quarter, BYU gave him one more carry, but you could tell he was hobbling by then.
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Martin finished with seven carries for 19 yards and a touchdown. He also had one reception for five yards.
Martin’s presence helped BYU’s offense. He showed the patience on a few carries that makes him an excellent running back.
But the ground attack from BYU was pretty much non-existent outside of a few runs from Bear Bachmeier.
BYU running backs on Saturday finished with 17 carries for 56 yards and one touchdown. Only two backs played: Martin and Sione Moa.
Moa finished with 10 carries for 37 yards. Preston Rex didn’t appear in the game, nor did freshmen Journee Tonga and Devaughn Eka.
BYU football at-large hopes for the College Football Playoff are likely done
When BYU was ranked No. 9 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, it was an indirect message from the Committee: the Cougars needed to beat Utah, or their at-large hopes were done.
Maybe a Selection Committee that has never given BYU or Big 12 teams the benefit of the doubt will come through, but I’m not holding my breath.
It’s a similar setup to 2024: suffer a terrible loss to a team that had no business beating you (2024 – Kansas; 2026 – UCF). Then lose a marquee road game against a fellow Playoff contender (2024 – Arizona State; 2026 – Utah).
Three weeks remain, and a lot can happen to get BYU to Arlington, but they went from taking care of their business to needing everyone else to help them. That’s not a good place to be in heading down the final stretch of the season, especially with how up-and-down this team has performed the past month.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSL and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.
Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.
