Four 'Fixable' Mistakes Stalled BYU's Offense vs. Stanford

1. Free Run at the Quarterback

BYU's first drive ended with a failed fourth down conversion in Stanford territory. A Stanford linebacker had a free run at Bear Bachmeier as soon as the ball was snapped and the play never had a chance.

There was clearly a miscommunication along the offensive line pre-snap. Whether it's Bruce Mitchell that's supposed to setup that protection or a guard missing the assigigment, we'll never know.

BYU was without veteran guard Weylin Lapuaho in this game. That might have contributed to the error.

This mistake? Certainly fixable, but it could also a function of Bachmeier's inexperience. From our perspective, however, this is a pressure that the veteran offensive line should have picked up.

2. Got Behind the Sticks

After an interception by Raider Damuni put BYU deep in Stanford territory, BYU's offense got stuck in the mud. A five-yard loss on a screen pass to Parker Kingston on first down put BYU behind the sticks. BYU eventually faced a 3rd & 15 and opted for a conversative play call to ensure a field goal attempt.

Of the mistakes that BYU made against Stanford, this is the most difficult to fix. Putting a true freshman quarterback behind the sticks is not a recipe for success. Good defenses will put you behind the sticks at times, and BYU will slowly give Bachmeier the opportunities to take chances in these spots.

3. Penalties

BYU was penalized in critical moments against Stanford, and it cost the Cougars multiple touchdowns.

The Holding Call

A controversial holding call took BYU points off the board after a strip sack setup the BYU offense inside the Stanford five yard-line. The holding call, frankly, was incorrect. Aaron Roderick said as much on Coordinator's Corner on Monday, calling it a "perfect block".

There was no pulling of any jersey or extension outside of their frame, it was the wrong call. There's nothing to fix here, the referees just missed this one.

The drive eventually ended when Bear Bachmeier was sacked by a violent blindside hit. That could have been prevented, but it never should have happened in the first place.

A Pair of Blocking Penalties

There were two other penalties that put BYU in 3rd & 14 or more.

The first, a block in the back turned a 3rd & 5 to 3rd &15 in four-down territory. This penalty is as fixable as it gets: the block in the back by Kingston was away from the play.

Another penalty - a hold on Carsen Ryan - put BYU in 3rd & 14. Like we said earlier, getting behind the sticks is the recipe for failure with a true freshman quarterback making his first start against a P4 defense.

The biggest win from these drives is that Bachmeier protected the football and lived to play another day.

The False Start

Then there was a false start after it appeared LJ Martin was already in the endzone. Instead of reviewing the play, the referees were waiting for the call to review it when BYU had a false start that pushed them back to 3rd & Goal from the 6.

Penalties are the easiest errors to fix, and without a few of these mistakes, BYU would have scored 35+.

4. Wide Receiver Drops

After a great two-minute drive put BYU in Stanford territory, a costly drop from Parker Kingston cost BYU yards and potentially points. Kingston had a lot of room to run, and potentially score, when he dropped a short throw from Bear Bachmeier.

That drive eventually ended with a sack (Bachmeier's most obvious freshman mistake this season).

There was another drop that cost BYU points later in the game. BYU ran a screen pass that probably would have scored, except wide receiver Chase Roberts had an uncharacteristic drop. That's a play that Roberts makes 98% of the time.

Wide receiver drops are uncharacteristic for this group and very fixable.

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