Instant Takeaways From No. 12 BYU’s Blowout Victory Over TCU

PROVO, Utah – BYU football put together a wire-to-wire victory over the TCU Horned Frogs.

It was an impressive response to a blowout loss a week ago against Texas Tech. The final score on Saturday in front of a crowd of 64,447 fans was 44-13 in favor of the Cougars.

BYU improves to 9-1 overall and 6-1 in Big 12 play.

Here are some instant takeaways from the dominant victory over the Horned Frogs, which was BYU’s first victory over TCU since 2007.

Most complete game of the season for BYU football

Since the blowout win over Portland State in week one, Saturday night against TCU was the most complete performance of the season for the Cougars.

BYU didn’t have to call out the punt team until the fourth quarter. The Cougars scored on their first seven drives of the game.

In the fourth quarter, the offense stalled on a few drives, and the special teams had a fumble. However, the defense stepped up to erase those mistakes with a pick-six by Tanner Wall.

What happened last week in Lubbock was a byproduct of facing a National Championship contender in Texas Tech. But BYU showed on Saturday night that it is a team built not to let one setback define its season.

Outstanding bounce-back performance by Bear Bachmeier

There were questions following the loss to Texas Tech about how BYU freshman Bear Bachmeier would respond. BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick acknowledged earlier in the week that Bachmeier took the loss to the Red Raiders hard.

On Saturday against TCU, he put together perhaps his best overall performance as a BYU Cougar.

Bachmeier was in complete control of his decision-making, completing passes at a high rate and making the right decisions on when to run the ball.

The Murrieta, California native finished with 296 passing yards on 23-of-33, which was good for a 70% completion rate. He also had 10 carries for 59 rushing yards.

Bachmeier accounted for two of BYU’s touchdowns.

Coming back from a loss, the freshman signal-caller showed toughness, not letting a setback derail what has been a special season for him and this team.

Keep feeding LJ Martin the rock

Star running back LJ Martin eclipsed the 20-touch mark in Saturday’s win against TCU. Martin looked explosive in stretches of the game and put together a performance that should give BYU confidence that he’s ready for the stretch run of the season as they pursue a potential berth in the Big 12 Championship Game.

We’ve said it all along this season, the season goes as far as LJ Martin will take it. When he’s healthy and playing at a high level, BYU is a tough team to take down.

Although it felt a little unnecessary to keep LJ in the game when BYU was in complete control in the fourth quarter.

Carsen Ryan had the best game of his collegiate career

Bear Bachmeier’s “safety blanket” in the BYU football offense is tight end Carsen Ryan.

The safety blanket put together the best offensive performance of his collegiate career on Saturday posting a career-high for receiving yards.

Within the career night, Ryan had a 43-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter, where most of the yards gained were on yards after the catch.

The former UCLA and Utah tight end has been a consistent performer at tight end for BYU’s offense.

Staying in the tight end unit, BYU added another player to that group this week in offensive lineman Trevin Ostler. Ostler was in on the touchdown run by LJ Martin to open the fourth quarter in a play that featured 13 personnel (three tight ends).

Faletau Satuala & Tanner Wall continue to make plays for BYU’s defense

Sophomore Faletau Satuala has been one of the most improved players this season.

There were high expectations for Satuala when he arrived on campus as a four-star recruit out of Bountiful High last season, but his growth from the beginning of this season has been impressive. Satuala consistently makes big plays for BYU.

Against TCU on Saturday, Satuala picked off TCU quarterback Josh Hoover in the third quarter, giving BYU’s offense a short field to operate.

He nearly had a second interception in the game, midway through the fourth quarter, on a pass that Hoover sailed over the middle.

Satuala has three interceptions this season.

Then, senior leader Tanner Wall always has a knack for being in the right place at the right time.

Late in the fourth quarter, with four minutes remaining, Wall picked off Hoover and took it to the house for a pick-six. Style points matter in a College Football Playoff chase.

TCU WR Eric McAlister had big gains through the air

The one knock you can nitpick from BYU’s performance on Saturday was that they allowed some big plays through the air.

TCU wide receiver Eric McAlister was on the receiving end of some of those big gains. McAlister entered the game averaging 17 yards per catch. He had a 47-yard reception that was mostly off yards after the catch.

McAlister looked to be in the clear for a touchdown before BYU nickel Tayvion Beasley was able to track him down and make the tackle.

He also had grabs of 23, 20, and 17 yards in the game.

It was a strong performance from BYU’s secondary on Saturday night, but giving up some of those big plays will be an area where Jernaro Gilford can zero in on when going over the film on Monday.

Trending Up: Tausili Akana at defensive end

A player to watch down the stretch for BYU is former Texas transfer Tausili Akana.

The redshirt sophomore had possibly his best game since transferring to Provo. He had 2.5 tackles for loss and was in TCU’s backfield a handful of times, generating pressure on Josh Hoover.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com 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.

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