10 Takeaways From BYU's Complete Win Over ECU

In just his third start of his career and first on the road, Bear posted one of the most efficient games by a BYU QB against an FBS opponent since Jaren Hall. Bachmeier posted a 167.9 pass efficiency rating (PER) on Saturday, second only to Jake Retzlaff’s 174.0 against UCF over the last 3 seasons. Bachmeier's 72% completion percentage was also the highest in 3 years even with an average depth of target of over 11 yards per attempt. Even his misses were impressive. Of his 7 incompletions, 4 hit the hands of his intended target well downfield, earning him an on-target percentage of 88%.

We cannot overstate how good Bachmeier has been despite clearly being in handcuffs most of the season. He is now in the top third in PER among a loaded Big12 QB roster and has only on3 turnover-worthy play this season on 70 drop backs. On throws 20 air yards and in, Bachmeier is completing 73.6% of his passes for over 8 yards per attempt. Bachmeier was also dangerously close on connecting on all three of his deep balls Saturday. Once he does, watch out Big 12.

2. It's time to take the handcuffs off Bear

If nothing else, Bachmeier demonstrated it’s time to take the handcuffs off and let the man cook. BYU struggled to run early as ECU had no fear of the pass game. After a second quarter drive where Bachmeier was 5/6 for 81 yards, the ECU defenders in the box dropped from seven to six and BYU’s run game rolled after. Bear the passer also opens things up for Bear the runner. On Bear’s 16-yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter, ECU had only three defenders in the box as the rest had to drop into coverage due to his newfound passing threat. Bear then steamrolled his way passed all of them for the score.

3. BYU has found it’s starting 5 on the offensive line

BYU’s offensive line quietly put together a stellar performance on Saturday. BYU’s line generated 2.5 yards per rush before contact while facing a top 10 run defense statistically. The line also made life easy for their quarterback, allowing zero sacks and just three pressures on the night. Still, BYU is rotating at the guard spot a little too much for our liking. Now that Weylin Lapuaho has returned from injury, BYU needs to run with it’s best five: Isaiah Jatta, Austin Leausa, Bruce Mitchell, Weylin Lapuaho, and Andrew Gentry. That group of five did not allow a single pressure on Saturday and have allowed three all season.

4. Evan Johnson and Tre Alexander should rarely leave the field

Evan Johnson is a certified playmaker. Johnson single-handedly sealed the game for BYU with interceptions on back-to-back plays that spanned both end zones. His anticipation and feel for the game is Jakob Robinson-esque and has cemented him as CB1. Alexander also had an excellent game and probably should have had an interception had he not been interfered with. Combined, the pair allowed a extraordinary 46.5 PER when targeted on Saturday with 4 PBUs/INTs on 11 targets. Once they were not on the field, though, things got dicey.

BYU’s 3 other corners that saw action allowed a PER of 152.0 when targeted and were often picked on when in the game. It’s important to note that nickel CB Tommy Prassas is currently playing out of position while starting nickel Johnathon Kabeya is out with injury, but in the meantime, Johnson and Alexander should get nearly all the reps at the other two spots.

5. BYU’s defense was much better than the box score

BYU’s defense played poorly in the 4th quarter, but don’t let that distract you from an otherwise dominant performance against a very good ECU passing attack. Coming into the night, QB Katin Houser had one sack and one interception on 120 drop backs. BYU had two of each Saturday with two sacks by Jack Kelly and two interceptions by Evan Johnson. Most of all, BYU forced Houser off rhythm, forcing him to hold the ball for half a second longer than his nation-leading 1.8 seconds per throw. This delay forced Houser’s PER to drop from 154.4 coming into the game to 87.0 through three quarters.

6. Total yards is a garbage stat and should not be used to evaluate performance

This game was a perfect example of why you should never use total yards to evaluate performance. If all you looked at was total yards, you would think these teams played relatively even (418 yards to 404). That stat looks much different when you realize ECU had 2 more offensive drives than BYU, ran 17 more plays, and had 250 more yards available to gain. If BYU ran the same number of plays as ECU with the same yards per play, they would have posted 536 yards of offense.

A better way to look at performance are stats like yards per play or available yards gained. On a per-play basis, BYU outperformed ECU by nearly 2 yards per play, which would be top 25 nationally over a full season. In terms of available yards, BYU’s offense gained 18.2% more available yards than ECU. Going further, 230 of ECU’s yards came after BYU took a three-score lead in the third quarter. Up to that point, ECU had gained just 26% of available yards to BYU’s 53%. In short, don’t let the box score let you worry about the offense or defense. BYU dominated this game from start to finish.

7. 3rd and long defense might be an issue

We called it coming in, but Houser had shined on 3rd and long this season and did again yesterday. ECU was 4/7 on 3rd and 9+ on the night, which continues to be a glaring weakness for BYU over the last two seasons. ECU’s only touchdown drive came after ECU converted on 3rd and 12 inside their own 1. Get off the field there and we are talking about BYU being the only team in the country to not allow a touchdown through four weeks of the season.

8. Redzone offense might also be an issue

BYU figured it out late in the game, but in the first half, BYU was inside the ECU 10 yard-line twice and came away with 3 total points. This was after BYU came away with three field goals on four trips inside the 10 against Stanford. In the end, BYU scored about as many points as they should have after an Evan Johnson pick-6, but BYU’s poor redzone execution is still worth monitoring. Fortunately, BYU was 2/2 on red zone touchdowns in the second half after Bear Bachmeier went beast mode with a nice touchdown pass to Carsen Ryan and a bruising touchdown run on 2nd and goal from the 16.

9. BYU is a top 25 team

Everyone knows it. If BYU is outside looking in again this week, there has to be a mass conspiracy. BYU has earned it. They are 3-0 with all 3 wins coming by at least 3 scores. BYU is top 25 in net available yards, net yards per play, net field position, and margin against the spread. They are also in the top 25 in FPI, SP+, and FEI. Now that BYU appears to have the quarterback position figured out, there is no excuse not to finally give a team that’s 14-2 over their last 16 games their due respect.

10. We finally got to see Kalani’s culture on full display

Our favorite moment of the night came when the teach tape for Kalani’s “love and learn” was shown on the broadcast. Up 21 late in the 4th quarter, sophomore CB Tre Alexander committed at 15-yard taunting penalty that put ECU in scoring position. Sitake gave the young CB an earful before vigorously hugging the young player in a special moment that should be shown whenever Kalani’s culture is questioned. This scenario wasn’t new. This is who Kalani has always been. He’s always been a firey leader that holds players accountable even when up big late in games. He’s also always been the guy to pick up his players afterwards with an outpouring of love. The only difference is that it was caught on camera.

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