The Most Important BYU Stat From Saturday’s blowout win over Colorado State Was 38

BYU beat Colorado State 41–23 Saturday night. The Cougars rolled up 559 yards, averaged 9.6 yards per play and led 38–7 in the third quarter. Those are impressive numbers.

Here’s another one: 38. It is how many freshmen and sophomores, including redshirts, appeared for BYU against Colorado State. BYU put 69 players on the field. Roughly 55% were underclassmen.

And that still doesn’t tell the whole story. Bear Bachmeier, Legend Glasker, Cannon DeVries and other young Cougars already occupy major roles. They’re not developmental projects anymore. What made Saturday interesting was what happened behind them.

BYU reached RB4. WR3. TE4. Third-team defensive backs. Third-team defensive linemen. The Cougars didn’t just play their young stars.

They played their young depth. 38–7 Changed the Game LJ Martin essentially ended the competitive portion early. He ran for 173 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, and BYU took a 31–7 lead into halftime. After another touchdown early in the third, it was 38–7.

At that point BYU had something every coaching staff wants and rarely gets: Nearly a half of live FBS football available for development. Journee Tonga entered. Devaughn Eka entered. Kennan Pula played. Reserve offensive linemen rotated through. Young defensive backs, linebackers and defensive linemen started accumulating snaps.

The hidden benefit of a blowout. Practice can teach the assignment. A 260-pound defensive lineman trying to knock you backward teaches something else.

BYU Went All the Way to RB4 The running-back numbers might be the best example of what BYU accomplished. Martin finished with 176 yards on 15 carries, an absurd 11.7 yards per attempt. Preston Rex added 24 yards and a touchdown. Then BYU went younger. RB3 Journee Tonga: 10 carries, 91 yards RB4 Devaughn Eka: 4 carries, 28 yards Combined: 14 carries 119 yards 8.5 yards per carry

It is not two freshmen entering to take three handoffs before the clock expired. Tonga entered during the third quarter and immediately ran for 14 yards. His next carry gained nine.

Eka’s first college carry? Sixteen yards. His second?

Seven more. Then Tonga really got comfortable. In the fourth quarter he exploded for 38 yards, got the ball again and gained another 12.

Two consecutive carries. Fifty yards. Suddenly BYU knows considerably more about its third and fourth running backs than it did Friday.

If Martin gets banged up later this season, Tonga’s first meaningful college carry won’t have to come with BYU trailing Texas Tech or Utah by four points. He’s already had it. The Offensive Line Got Something Even More Valuable Look through BYU’s participation list and you’ll find names casual fans probably didn’t notice Saturday:

Bott Mulitalo. Zak Yamauchi. Siosiua Latu-Finau. Trevor Pay. Joe Brown. It is a good thing.

Nobody notices reserve offensive linemen until BYU desperately needs one. Young linemen are particularly difficult to develop because there is no substitute for game repetitions. Technique drills matter. Practice matters. Scout-team work matters.

But eventually an offensive lineman needs to block someone wearing a different jersey. BYU’s reserves got that opportunity Saturday. And consider what happened while they were playing: BYU didn’t stop moving the football. Tonga and Eka averaged 8.5 yards per carry.

It is development with evidence attached. Kennan Pula Got a Fourth-Down Test Freshman safety Kennan Pula wasn’t starting. He still found himself in a situation coaches couldn’t perfectly manufacture.

Colorado State faced fourth down late in the third quarter. The Rams completed a pass and needed their receiver to fight for the first-down marker. Pula closed.

Tackled him short. BYU ball. It’s one tackle in a 31-point game.

It’s also exactly the kind of rep BYU wants a freshman to experience before conference games start stacking up. Pula had to diagnose a live play, close space and finish a tackle with an FBS opponent fighting for the sticks. It is experience.

And Pula wasn’t alone. Look How Far Down BYU Went The participation report shows BYU reaching deep into virtually every level of the defense. Jordyn Criss and Matthias Leach played in the secondary. Crew Clark got onto the field. Braxton Lindsey played at linebacker. Kendal Wall and Vincent Tautua appeared up front. Kinilau Fonohema, David Tangilanu and Ulavai Fetuli got into the game as well.

Some are second-teamers. Others sit another level down. The part of the roster that can quietly determine a season.

BYU doesn’t need 69 players to beat every opponent. But it probably won’t make it through an entire Big 12 schedule using the same 22. Someone will roll an ankle.

Someone will miss a half. Someone will need a breather after an 11-play drive. Eventually, a player currently buried on the depth chart will have to take a meaningful snap.

Saturday made it less likely that meaningful snap will also be his first one. Even Special Teams Got Younger Then there’s freshman kicker Brody Laga. His stat line is wonderfully boring: 8 kickoffs. 8 touchbacks. 520 yards. 0 Colorado State returns.

It is exactly what BYU wanted. Eight times Laga walked onto an FBS field and did his job. Eight times Colorado State started without a kickoff return.

It’s another example of what happens when a team controls a game. Development isn’t limited to quarterbacks and running backs. 55% of BYU’s Participants Were Underclassmen The number worth remembering. BYU used 69 players.

Approximately 38 were freshmen or sophomores, including redshirts. It is roughly 55% of the entire participation list. Some of those players are already essential pieces. Others are names BYU fans may barely know.

The latter group might actually be more important to this discussion. BYU isn’t trying to figure out whether Glasker can play. His 131 receiving yards against Colorado State provided another answer to a question that’s basically already settled.

The Cougars are trying to learn who can play behind their established contributors. Colorado State gave them a lot of answers. It Wasn’t All Pretty — Which Is Actually Useful There’s another number worth discussing: 16.

It is how many fourth-quarter points Colorado State scored. BYU led 38–7 after three quarters and won 41–23. Once the Cougars dug deeply into their roster, things got considerably messier.

It is not necessarily a reason to dismiss the developmental snaps. It’s the reason BYU needs them. Young players made mistakes. Colorado State moved the football. The Rams scored twice and converted two two-point attempts.

Good. Better to discover those problems while protecting a 31-point lead than while protecting a three-point lead in November. Having talented depth and having experienced depth aren’t the same thing.

BYU is trying to turn one into the other. Blowouts Build Rosters The stars won this game. Martin ran wild. Bachmeier threw for 227 yards. Glasker produced another 131 receiving yards. BYU’s defense suffocated Colorado State for three quarters.

But the stars also created something for everybody behind them. Time. Time for Tonga to carry it 10 times.

Time for Eka to get four. Time for Pula to make a fourth-down tackle. Time for reserve offensive linemen to block.

Time for young defensive backs to diagnose formations instead of watching from the sideline. Time for a freshman kicker to boom eight consecutive touchbacks. It is why 41–23 might eventually mean more than one win.

BYU is effectively depositing snaps into a savings account. Nobody knows when the Cougars will need to make a withdrawal. Maybe it’s an injury in October. Maybe it’s a tired defensive line in the fourth quarter. Maybe it’s a backup offensive lineman suddenly playing with the game tied. Maybe Tonga gets five important carries because Martin needs a series off.

When that happens, BYU won’t be able to stop the game and give those players experience. It has to happen now. Against Colorado State, it did.

Thirty-eight underclassmen. Fifty-five percent of everyone who played. RB3 and RB4 combining for 119 yards at 8.5 yards per carry. Young defenders reaching three-deep. Eight freshman kickoffs and eight touchbacks. The 41 points were nice.

The 38 young players might be worth even more later. Because close games test a roster. Blowouts build one.