Preview: Stanford heads to Provo to battle BYU
On Saturday at 7:15 PM PT (8:15 PM MT) on ESPN, Stanford football will take on the BYU Cougars on the road in Provo, Utah. Stanford comes in at 0-1 while BYU comes in at 1-0.
Last time out: On Saturday, August 23rd, Stanford lost to Hawaii 23-20 on a last second field goal. Stanford running back Micah Ford rushed for 113 yards and one touchdown on 26 attempts.
RECAP: Stanford falls to Hawaii on last second field goal
On BYU: The Cougars have a true freshman under center in quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who was at Stanford in the spring as an early enrollee before transferring out. In their 69-0 butt whooping of Portland State, Bachmeier looked sharp, going 7-11 for 97 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions for a 227.7 passer rating. Bachmeier also rushed for 32 yards and two touchdowns on five attempts. Even though Portland State is a putrid program, it’s still impressive Bachmeier came out and did what he did in his first ever college game.
In the backfield for the Cougars is junior LJ Martin, who rushed for 131 yards on eight attempts against Portland State. Last season, Martin rushed for 718 yards and seven touchdowns on 137 carries for an average of 5.2 yards per carry. He’ll look to build on a strong sophomore season.
At the wide receiver position, the Cougars have senior Chase Roberts, who largely got rested against Portland State, catching just one pass for four yards (it was also a touchdown). Roberts is coming off a season in which he had 52 receptions for 854 yards and four touchdowns. He’ll look to have a big day for the Cougars.
One other name that should ring a bell for Cardinal fans is Bear’s older brother Tiger Bachmeier, who played three seasons at Stanford before grad transferring to BYU join Bear. Tiger had one reception for eight yards against Portland State, so he’ll be plenty rested for this game. Last season, he had just 10 receptions for 67 yards, a sharp drop off from a strong freshman season in which he had 36 receptions for 409 yards and two touchdowns. It’ll be interesting to see whether or not Tiger can produce like he did as a freshman.
As for the Cougars’ defense, they gave up just 19.6 points per game last season, which ranked 18th in the nation. They are a very difficult team to score on and will look to continue to play elite defense. Junior linebacker Isaiah Glasker is the top returning tackler for the Cougars, coming off an amazing season in which he had 70 total tackles (42 solo), 15 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, four pass deflections, three interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), and one forced fumble. Glasker’s 15 tackles for loss led the Big XII and his three interceptions led the team.
The leading return guy in sacks for the Cougars is fellow linebacker Jack Kelly, who had 51 tackles (33 solo) last season to go along with 10 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception, one pass deflection, and one fumble recovery. Along with Glasker, Kelly helps to anchor an elite defense.
BYU kicker Will Ferrin is coming off a strong season in which he went 41-41 on his extra points and 24-27 on his field goals (88.9%). Against Portland State, he went 9-9 on extra points and 2-2 on his field goals. He’s a very reliable leg that the Cougars can depend on.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is establish the run. Stanford has a strong ground game with Micah Ford leading the way. In addition to Ford, both Cole Tabb and Sedrick Irvin Jr. had strong games against Hawaii, helping to take some pressure off of him. So those guys should be ready to rock as well.
Note: On the Cardinal Sports Report message boards, we have an update on Stanford’s full running back situation heading into the game.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is keep applying the pressure on the quarterback. They did a nice job of this against Hawaii, forcing a fumble in the end zone and recovering it for a touchdown. Given that Bear Bachmeier is a true freshman, he’s going to be seeing his first legit pass rush of his college career. Stanford should look to make him as uncomfortable as possible in this one.
Third, Stanford needs to take care of the ball, quarterback Ben Gulbranson had a rough outing at Hawaii, but will look to bounce back by taking good care of the ball and making smart reads. If Stanford takes better care of the ball than BYU, that will give them a huge edge.
Fourth, Stanford has to get Sam Roush going. He had three receptions for six yards against Hawaii. Given he’s the star tight end and hoping to be one of the top tight ends in the nation, he needs to get rolling in this one.
Finally, Stanford needs to win the special teams battle. If Stanford is going to win this game, their special teams are going to have to be flawless. If they play sound in all facets of special teams in addition to making all their field goals, maybe Stanford can pull off the upset.
Prediction: I have to roll with BYU in this one. They’re at home and LaVell Edwards Stadium is going to be rocking. Sold out, whiteout, etc. That said, I do think with two weeks to prepare, Stanford will put up a solid fight before BYU pulls away in the 4th quarter. 31-20 BYU is how I see this one going.
Note: Cardinal Sports Report has you covered for all the latest news on Stanford as they begin the Andrew Luck era.
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