Stanford Cardinal News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Aug 30, 2025; Provo, Utah, USA; Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Cody Hagen (5) runs for a touchdown against the Portland State Vikings during the second quarter at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Stanford Football in for a Tough Test Against BYU, But They Have a Shot at the Upset

Originally posted on Stanford Cardinal on SI
By Lucca Mazzie | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 11:00 AM ET

Coming off a Week 0 loss at Hawaii that saw Stanford football struggle, many expect a long season for the Cardinal without many wins. However, with 11 games to play, the Cardinal have a lot of opportunities, and that starts in Week 2, as Stanford will go on the road to play the BYU Cougars in Provo, UT. Let’s get to know the Cougars before Saturday night’s contest.

Over the offseason, the Stanford-BYU game got more and more interesting as time went on. It all started with the Stanford quarterback battle, where four names competed for the job. During spring ball, four-star true freshman Bear Bachmeier entered the transfer portal, along with his brother, Tiger Bachmeier, who had played at Stanford in previous seasons.

After a quick search, the brothers transferred to BYU, and Bear ended up winning the starting QB job.

In Week 1, BYU dominated their first matchup of the year, beating Portland State 69-0. Bear started at QB, going 7/11 for 97 yards and three touchdowns in the air, as well as two on the ground. He didn’t play a ton, but when he did, he looked effective. Tiger played a bit, catching one catch for eight yards and getting one rush for two yards.

Portland State isn’t a super tough matchup, but BYU looked great regardless. So which positions should the Cardinal be worried about on Saturday?

Taking a look at the BYU offense

At QB, Bachmeier was the starter, but three different players got snaps. Stanford needs to be prepared for any QB at any time. Despite decent quarterback play, their receiving threats weren’t too impressive given limited opportunities.

Star WR Chase Roberts had a poor Week 1, getting just one catch for four yards, but did find the end zone. Their top receiver from the week, Carsen Ryan, went for 47 yards over two catches and a touchdown.

The running back room had the best game of all. 14 different players earned a rushing attempt, led by LJ Martin, who had eight carries for 131 yards. In total, BYU rushed the ball 48 times for an incredible 468 yards, good for 9.8 yards per carry.

Stanford gameplan against BYU

Defensively for BYU, no player recorded more than three tackles, but 24 recorded at least one, meaning their depth is great, but no star power is clearly showing early.

This matchup is tricky to plan for if you're Stanford, because you don't know exactly what you're getting from this team just yet. They rested a number of starters once their Week 1 matchup was out of hand, and continued to receive contributions up and down their roster.

With that being the case, there isn't a lot of planning you can do for what this team looks like, because they did a good job of hiding some of what they can do. They showed they can rush the ball, and Bachmeier looked good in his opportunities, too.

The best course of action has to be to play the time of possession game in this one. The Cardinal already showed they want to establish the run in their Week 0 loss, so expect them to continue to hand the ball off in this one. If they can have some long, sustained drives, then they may have a shot in this one.

BYU can strike quickly, which makes them dangerous, so if Stanford can hold onto the ball and come up with a couple of key stops, then they may have a chance in this one. The Cardinal defense may be able to get to Bachmeier, an impressive but still young quarterback, and that could limit one of BYU's dimesions offensively as well.

At least that's how you draw it up. How it will actually shake out could be very different.

This article first appeared on Stanford Cardinal on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: