Well it took nine weeks, but BYU is starting to turn heads nationally. So far, the narrative has been that BYU’s undefeated record was cool, but who have they beaten? Now that BYU has a top 10 power-rated win in Utah and a top 35 road win the following week at Iowa State, it’s becoming clear that BYU can no longer be written off as just a fluke. Here is what the national media is saying following arguably BYU’s most impressive win of the year.
PFF’s Dalton Wasserman lauded Bear Bachmeier’s development as a passer and how that impacts BYU’s outlook.
“For Bear Bachmeier, the one thing that was left in the profile was can you be that productive this early in your career without play action?… The best number I have for it is an 83.4 passing grade without play action… You could not draw up the first quarter and a half worse for BYU… and the fact that they won anyway and convincingly at that on the back of your true freshman quarterback, this game makes me look at BYU differently. This is a different level now if Bachmeier can stack this kind of performance and just drop back and throw the football.”
ESPN’s Stanford Steve joined his old friend Scott Van Pelt and praised Kalani Sitake and the belief he instills with his team:
“Coming back at Arizona, beating your rival as an underdog at home, going on the road and winning as an underdog again. That is some strong stuff, and Sitake deserves a ton of credit. I still believe that guy is so awesome, but he wont let us inside. He uses every cliché possible, but you can tell his team resonates with him by the way they play on the road. That’s a big big boy win.”
Bud Elliott has been among BYU’s strongest critics, but even he couldn’t help but be impressed with BYU’s performance, even without the turnover luck.
“They are an improving football team. Is it that crazy to say that a guy who was at Stanford in spring and then showed up at BYU for the fall is settling into the offense? I think Bachmeier is settling in a little bit. I know Iowa State is down all those corners… but he looked a lot more comfortable, they created explosive plays, obviously turnovers played a part but I think there’s a chance they win this game if turnovers are neutral. And that’s a compliment to BYU. If you took away the turnovers and played this game again, I still think I’d take BYU.
Elliot also called out one particular player that caught his eye:
“If you watch BYU’s defense, Faletau Satuala is just different. He could play on any team in the country. That guy is really good.”
T-Bob had quite the monologue illustrating why BYU has become one of his favorite teams in the country this year.
“Celebrate them because they continue to be the most consistent, whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts football team in America. Every single year they play above expectation and above what their talent should be… Kalani Sitake gets the most out of these team. If you love effort and you love guys that are putting it on the line for the brother next to them, that is BYU. I don’t think they are going to win a national championship, but they deserve to be celebrated.”
Liam Blutman added that this is nothing new for this BYU program:
“BYU has put out some of the most fun product over the last 5 or 6 years. They have that “Mormon Magic.” At some point grinding out these wins a variety of ways, rising to the top week in and week out, they win more games with a “tricky spread” than anyone. Its not a fluke. They are just a good, solid, reliable football team… That is just a high quality BIG12 football team. Can you imagine Bear Bachmeier next year? He was throwing dots today.”
Ty Hildenbrandt of the Solid Verbal explained why BYU has become must watch television for him.
“I had the BYU Iowa State game in the quad box all afternoon… Amid all the other games, this is the game I wanted to watch. All I wanted to do was watch Bear Bachmeier. True freshman, #47, wonderful head of hair… He is not a finished product… but what is most encouraging if you are a BYU fan is that they are not scheming around him. If you watch that game or anything Bear Bachmeier is doing leading up to this game, it is more and more the case that this coaching staff is not treating him as a liability, and that is really exciting especially with how well they are playing otherwise.
Former College Gameday analyst David Pollack had an extended segment before the game breaking down what makes BYU so good, but even he learned something new in this game. David Pollack leading into the game said that BYU was not a team built to come back from 2 scores down.
“We were wrong. LJ Martin who is a baller, gets knocked out in the first half and the running game is obsolete, [Bachmeier sets] career highs, through the roof… 26 of his 34 for attempts came after they were down 14. They couldn’t run the football and they were like ‘dude, Bear, bail me out’ and that sucker, who’s a true freshman… carried them on his back… He’s an animal… If I played the quarterback position, I would want to play it like Bear Bachmeier.”
Andy Staples of On3 compared BYU’s win to Texas A&M’s win over LSU.
“The road team kind of struggles in the first half, makes some mistakes early, falls behind, and then just blasts them in the second half.”
Co-host Ari Wasserman added “This is the game where BYU has to start taking a larger foothold in the national conversation. The national media has not been giving BYU it’s due… You go on the road and beat Iowa State convincingly… last year I thought BYU was more of a fixture nationally at 8-0 and they are 8-0 again.
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