BYU had 47 rushing yards, lost a 17-3 lead and let Arizona State run 16 more plays.
Then the Cougars took the ball at their own 5 and finally looked like the team controlling the afternoon.
No. 8 BYU drove 95 yards in 11 plays, converted two fourth downs and put Sione Moa into the end zone with 2:09 left. That possession turned a three-point lead into a 27-17 cushion and carried BYU through Arizona State’s last field goal and onside kick.
The Cougars beat the Sun Devils 27-20 Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. They improved to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in Big 12 play one week after the double-overtime loss at UCF. It was a needed win, but not a clean reset. BYU’s defense produced six sacks and eight pass breakups while its offense averaged 1.6 yards per rush and scored only 10 second-half points.
The closing drive is why BYU can take a win into rivalry week. Everything before it explains why the Cougars still have work to do.
BYU-Arizona State final receipt
| Game item | BYU | Arizona State |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 27 | 20 |
| Total yards | 283 | 279 |
| Plays | 60 | 76 |
| Rushing yards | 47 | 113 |
| Passing yards | 236 | 166 |
| First downs | 18 | 20 |
| Third downs | 3 of 13 | 6 of 17 |
| Fourth downs | 3 of 4 | 2 of 2 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Sacks allowed | 1 | 6 |
| Record | 7-1 (4-1 Big 12) | 4-4 (2-3 Big 12) |
The official BYU schedule and stable event record mark the game completed with BYU’s 27-20 win. BYU also provides the official box-score route. WMT game 6619554 had not yet finalized its team and player rows when this recap was published, so the detailed statistical receipt above comes from the completed CBS and FOX boards rather than a stale WMT payload.
The permanent BYU-Arizona State game center keeps the same event address fans used before kickoff.
The winning drive did what the first 49 minutes could not
BYU’s last touchdown drive began with 8:09 remaining and the Cougars ahead 20-17. The offense had gained 14 yards on three third-quarter possessions. Arizona State had erased a 14-point halftime deficit with touchdown drives of 81 and 39 yards.
The game had become one long dare: could BYU run the ball when Arizona State knew it had to?
The answer was no for most of the day. Moa entered the final drive with modest yardage, and BYU’s net rushing total was being dragged down by pressure, short-yardage congestion and late clock plays. The Cougars could not simply hand the ball off three times and ask the defense to preserve a field goal.
They had to convert.
Roger Saleapaga caught the first fourth-down pass on fourth-and-4. BYU later faced another fourth down and moved the chains again. Those snaps kept a six-minute possession alive, shifted the field from BYU’s 5 to Arizona State’s goal line and denied the Sun Devils the chance to answer while the score was still 20-17.
Moa finished the drive from the 1. It was his second touchdown and BYU’s only offensive touchdown after halftime.
That is the part worth carrying forward. The Cougars did not suddenly discover a dominant run game. They built one complete pressure drive after Arizona State had taken away the easy version of the offense. The fourth-down catches mattered. Bear Bachmeier’s management mattered. The clock mattered as much as the 95 yards.
BYU needed every bit of it. Arizona State answered with a 44-yard field goal in 72 seconds, cutting the margin to seven with 57 seconds left. Faletau Satuala recovered the onside kick, ending the Sun Devils’ real comeback chance.
The touchdown drive was not insurance in the casual sense. It was the winning possession.
Six sacks changed the price of Arizona State’s run game
Cardae Mack gave BYU the problem the How to Watch guide warned about. He carried 23 times for 123 yards and caught five passes for 47 more. Arizona State could hand him the ball, throw it underneath and keep the offense out of obvious desperation for much of the day.
BYU’s answer was to make Jake Fette pay whenever the game did become an obvious passing situation.
The Cougars recorded a season-high six sacks, eight tackles for loss and eight pass breakups. Nusi Taumoepeau supplied the first and most productive collision on Arizona State’s third snap, sacking Fette and forcing a fumble that Isaiah Glasker recovered at the Sun Devils’ 29.
That takeaway became BYU’s first touchdown, though the Big 12 later said the score should not have counted. Bachmeier fumbled on a sneak at the goal line, and Moa recovered the loose ball at the 2 before advancing it into the end zone. Replay awarded the touchdown. The conference’s Nov. 1 correction says the advance should have been nullified and BYU should have faced third-and-goal from the 2. Our replay correction analysis separates that verified ruling from the unknowable next snap.
The pass rush kept affecting the arithmetic after that. Fette completed 22 of 42 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. The sacks took 38 yards from Arizona State’s offense. The eight breakups helped keep 20 incompletions on the board. Arizona State ran 76 plays but gained 279 yards, only 3.7 per snap.
That is a better defensive receipt than BYU produced at UCF, where the Knights gained 463 yards and converted nine third downs. Arizona State still collected 20 first downs and converted both fourth-down attempts, but the Cougars stopped the ordinary pass game from pairing with Mack’s 170 scrimmage yards.
The distinction matters. Mack was productive. Arizona State’s offense was not explosive as a whole.
A 17-3 lead disappeared in two drives
BYU led 17-3 at halftime despite gaining only 34 yards in the first quarter. The defense created the short field for Moa’s first touchdown, Matthias Dunn kicked a 28-yard field goal and Bachmeier found Kyler Kasper for a 13-yard score with 1:55 left in the half.
Bachmeier completed 19 of 30 passes for 236 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Kasper caught four passes for 57 yards and the score. Legend Glasker supplied the biggest receiving total, four catches for 87 yards, while Walker Lyons added five for 49.
That passing production covered for a run game that never found ordinary efficiency. BYU called 30 runs and netted 47 yards. Moa scored twice but gained 20 yards on eight carries. Bachmeier’s 16 official attempts produced 15 net yards. No Cougar had a run longer than 10 yards.
Arizona State used the third quarter to expose that imbalance. Fette led a 13-play, 81-yard drive and threw a 20-yard touchdown to Omarion Miller. After BYU went three-and-out, the Sun Devils took over at the BYU 39 and used 12 plays to reach the end zone again. Fette found Anthony Miller Jr. from the 1 to tie the game with 1:15 left in the quarter.
Two drives, 25 plays, 120 yards. BYU’s 14-point cushion was gone.
The defense had dominated passing downs in the first half, but Arizona State stopped offering enough of them. Mack kept the chains moving, Fette found short answers and the Sun Devils converted both fourth downs. BYU’s offense contributed three consecutive possessions totaling 14 yards.
Dunn’s 45-yard field goal early in the fourth gave BYU the lead again. It did not solve the larger problem. A 20-17 game still required one unit to take ownership, and neither had done it since halftime.
The 95-yard drive finally did.
Bachmeier’s line was useful, not comfortable
Bachmeier’s 236 passing yards were almost five times BYU’s team rushing total. That alone describes the shape of the game.
He had useful answers. The 13-yard touchdown to Kasper came through a tight window. Glasker’s 53-yard reception supplied BYU’s largest gain. Saleapaga’s three catches for 26 yards included a fourth-down conversion on the deciding drive.
Bachmeier also threw an interception with 51 seconds left in the first half. Montana Warren returned it 14 yards, but Arizona State could not turn the mistake into points before halftime. BYU later lost another fumble in the third quarter, giving the Cougars two turnovers against Arizona State’s one.
The quarterback was neither the reason BYU nearly lost nor the reason the offense can ignore its 3-for-13 third-down line. He kept the passing game functional while the ground game stalled, then helped finish the possession that mattered most.
That is enough for this result. It is not a comfortable formula for next week.
Utah gets the full list behind the final score
BYU plays Utah on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 10 a.m. Mountain at Rice-Eccles Stadium. The broadcast is listed as ABC or ESPN. The football schedule, results page and permanent Utah game center will carry the official lifecycle.
The Cougars enter rivalry week at 7-1, with the UCF loss no longer hanging over an immediate response game. That matters. So does the way they got there.
BYU showed that its pass rush can change a game. It showed that Bachmeier can produce without a running lane doing him favors. It showed that Moa can finish two entirely different touchdown sequences, one by finding a loose ball and one by completing a 95-yard possession.
BYU also showed Utah 47 rushing yards, two turnovers, a vanished 14-point lead and a 3-for-13 third-down rate.
The Arizona State win is not a masterpiece and does not need to be sold as one. BYU needed one complete drive after three quarters of loose ends. The Cougars found it, took the win and carried a much more honest repair list into the rivalry.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: 2026 football schedule, stable event record 24747, official box-score route and Arizona State game-week page for the completed 27-20 result, event identity, venue, kickoff and official game links.
- WMT Statistics: game 6619554 and player endpoint for the canonical WMT game identity. The endpoints were still unfinalized at publication, so no stale score or empty player row was treated as final data.
- CBS Sports completed game tracker for the final, quarter scoring, team totals, drive sequence, down efficiency and player lines.
- FOX Sports completed game board for independent confirmation of the final, yardage split and Bachmeier, Moa, Fette and Mack totals.
- The Salt Lake Tribune: BYU survives Arizona State for independent confirmation of the final, six sacks, eight tackles for loss, eight pass breakups, announced attendance and fourth-quarter sequence.
- Big 12 Conference: officiating statement for the correction that Moa’s advance should have been nullified and BYU should have faced third-and-goal from the 2.
- BYU brand colors and Arizona State brand guide for the verified palettes used in the original matchup art.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Arizona State game center, How to Watch BYU-Arizona State, UCF recap, football hub, schedule and results.
