LJ Martin took his second carry 56 yards. By the end of the first quarter, he had three touchdowns. By halftime, BYU had 377 yards and a 31-7 lead.
That was the game.
No. 11 BYU beat Colorado State 41-23 Saturday night at Canvas Stadium, moved to 3-0 and finished its first road trip with 559 yards. Martin ran for 176 yards on 15 carries. Legend Glasker caught five passes for 131 yards and scored on a five-yard jet sweep. Bear Bachmeier completed 12 of 16 passes for 227 yards.
The Cougars averaged 9.6 yards per play without asking Bachmeier to rescue the offense with his legs. They ran for 332 yards and five touchdowns. For most of the night, the offensive line made the difference between the two teams look as large as it was supposed to look.
Then BYU threw interceptions on consecutive offensive snaps, committed eight penalties for 74 yards and allowed 16 fourth-quarter points after leading 38-7.
The ending did not put the result in danger. It did stop a complete road performance from becoming the cleanest one BYU has played this season.
BYU-Colorado State final receipt
| Game item | BYU | Colorado State |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 41 | 23 |
| Halftime score | 31 | 7 |
| Total offense | 559 | 302 |
| Rushing yards | 332 | 82 |
| Yards per play | 9.6 | 4.6 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Penalties | 8 for 74 yards | 3 for 25 yards |
| Record | 3-0 | 2-1 |
BYU Athletics lists the game final, and its official box score supplies the team and player totals. The permanent Colorado State game center now keeps the final, official source links and postgame coverage at the same URL fans used before kickoff.
Martin ended the suspense in one quarter
The weather made BYU wait. Lightning delayed kickoff, but the offense needed 49 seconds to score once the game began.
Martin ran for nine yards on BYU’s first snap. On the second, he broke through the middle, bounced outside and went 56 yards for a touchdown. Colorado State answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive, which briefly made the explosive shootout from our pregame watch guide look possible.
BYU declined the invitation.
Glasker gained nine yards on a sweep, then pulled in a 70-yard pass from Bachmeier. Martin scored from the 2 on the next play. Later in the quarter, a 28-yard Glasker catch and a 26-yard Walker Lyons reception moved BYU into position for Martin’s eight-yard touchdown.
Three scores. Nine first-quarter carries. Ninety-two rushing yards.
Martin reached 173 yards before halftime and carried once after it. His final line, 176 yards and three touchdowns on 15 attempts, understates how early his work settled the game. Colorado State could not slow BYU’s base rushing answer, and bringing more help toward that answer exposed space for Glasker and Lyons.
The most useful part was the efficiency around the runs. Bachmeier did not need a high-volume passing night. He took what Colorado State opened, delivered completions of 70, 28, 26 and 23 yards, and was not sacked. The Cougars finished with 227 passing yards despite attempting only 17 passes as a team.
This was not quarterback avoidance. It was an offense refusing to abandon the easy answer just to prove it had another one.
Glasker made the loaded box expensive
Colorado State’s problem was not limited to missed tackles on Martin. Glasker punished the space created by every extra set of eyes near the line.
His 70-yard catch put BYU at the 2 on its second possession. His 28-yard catch converted third-and-9 on the next touchdown drive. Late in the half, he caught a 15-yard pass and took the next snap five yards on a jet sweep for a 31-7 lead.
The official final box score credits Glasker with five catches for 131 yards and three carries for 21 yards. That is 152 yards from scrimmage on eight touches. Martin produced 185 all-purpose yards on 16 touches. Together they gained 337 yards with 24 touches.
That pairing changes the arithmetic for a defense. Martin demands numbers inside. Glasker can turn the edge or the space behind those numbers into a chunk. Bachmeier does not have to manufacture a difficult throw when two simpler threats keep pulling the structure apart.
Glasker’s emergence had already given BYU another receiving shape against Utah Tech and Arizona. Colorado State was the first time the freshman crossed 100 receiving yards. More telling, he did it while the offense remained a rushing team. His production complemented Martin rather than replacing him.
The second running back wave was real production
Martin’s early exit did not stop the ground game.
Journee Tonga ran 10 times for 91 yards, including a 38-yard fourth-quarter gain. Devaughn Eka added 28 yards on four carries. Preston Rex scored from five yards and finished with 24 yards on four attempts. Glasker added the fifth rushing touchdown.
BYU’s non-Martin rushers accounted for 156 positive rushing yards before kneel-down and quarterback losses are included in the team total. That matters beyond a comfortable finish. Martin is the centerpiece, but the offense did not become a clock-killing shell when his night ended.
Tonga’s fourth-quarter series was especially useful. After Colorado State cut the lead to 38-15, BYU handed him the ball six times on a nine-play drive. He gained 62 yards on those carries, helped consume 5:34 and put Matthias Dunn in range for a 26-yard field goal.
That drive answered the mess with ordinary football. No bailout throw. No hurry. BYU lined up, moved the chains and took most of the remaining suspense out of the clock.
Tonga lost a third-quarter touchdown to a holding penalty, so the final score does not show everything the reserve backs created. The football roster has depth names. Fort Collins supplied the first full-game proof that those names can carry a possession after Martin sits.
The defense won the middle of the game
Colorado State’s opening drive was a warning. Hauss Hejny completed a 50-yard pass to Cedric Ross and found RJ Vick for a seven-yard touchdown. The Rams went 75 yards in seven plays and tied the score 7-7.
They did not score on their next eight possessions.
That stretch included six punts, Hunter Clegg’s interception at the BYU 27 and a fourth-down stop. Colorado State gained 302 yards for the game, with only 82 on the ground, and averaged 4.6 yards per play. BYU did not record a sack, but it made the Rams live on short completions after Hejny left the game.
Clegg’s interception protected the 31-7 halftime lead. Colorado State had reached the BYU 27 with 18 seconds left when the defensive end dropped underneath K’saan Farrar’s throw and returned the ball 20 yards. It was a coverage play from a position better known for rushing the passer, and it erased the Rams’ best chance to carry points into halftime.
The no-sack line deserves attention before conference play resumes. BYU generated five quarterback hurries and seven tackles for loss, but did not finish a rush behind the line on a pass. Against this opponent, controlling the run and forcing short throws was enough. Against TCU, pressure without a sack may be less forgiving.
Two interceptions spoiled the close
BYU led 38-7 and had driven to the Colorado State 13 when the game changed from demolition to cleanup duty.
A holding penalty erased Tonga’s touchdown. Bachmeier then forced a third-and-11 pass toward Kyler Kasper in the end zone, and CJ Blocker intercepted it. Colorado State failed on fourth down six plays later, giving BYU the ball back at the Rams’ 48.
Treyson Bourguet’s first pass was tipped and intercepted by D’Angelo Hagans.
Those were BYU’s first two giveaways of the season, and they came on consecutive offensive snaps. Colorado State turned the second into an eight-point drive. The Rams later added another touchdown against a game that had long since been decided.
The distinction matters. BYU did not nearly blow a 31-point lead. It did give a clean opponent two extra possessions and let a 38-7 scoreboard become 41-23.
Bachmeier’s interception was the more relevant one for the next two weeks. He had been efficient all night, the run game was crushing Colorado State, and even a field goal would have extended an overwhelming lead. The throw tried to collect one more touchdown from a possession already damaged by penalty. That is exactly the kind of unnecessary risk his first two games avoided.
The backup interception was a different problem, but the same result. One sloppy snap became two, and the Rams suddenly had a short field.
What 3-0 says before the bye
BYU has won three games in three shapes.
Utah Tech was a mismatch from the start. Arizona forced BYU to repair a halftime deficit and produce a second-half shutout. Colorado State tested the first road operation and got overwhelmed before halftime.
The strongest evidence from Saturday is not the 18-point margin. It is 332 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns and 9.6 yards per play without a sack allowed. BYU traveled, waited through a storm delay and then made its offensive identity obvious on the second snap.
The Cougars also have a useful correction list. Eight penalties for 74 yards are too many. Consecutive interceptions are not harmless because the lead happens to be 31. The defense controlled eight straight possessions, then allowed 16 points in the fourth quarter.
BYU has a bye before visiting TCU on Oct. 3. The football schedule will carry the official kickoff and television details when they are announced, and the results archive keeps all three 2026 finals together.
Martin’s first quarter is the part opponents have to respect. The third-quarter giveaways are the part BYU gets two weeks to fix.
Sources and further reading
- BYU Athletics: official Colorado State recap, official box score and postgame notes for the final, scoring sequence, team totals, player lines, milestones, weather delay and next game.
- BYU Athletics: official event record 24742 for completed status, stable schedule ID, venue and WMT game ID 6607436.
- WMT Statistics: official embedded game record for the game’s stable statistics-platform identity.
- Colorado State Athletics: Rams Disappointed, Not Discouraged for the opponent account, 12 explosive plays, quarterback changes, two interceptions and Colorado State’s late response.
- Associated Press game report republished by the Durango Herald for the 41-23 final, Martin’s workload, weather delay, 3-0 context and next games.
- KSL Sports: instant takeaways and Deseret News: three takeaways for independent reporting on the offensive-line change, first giveaways, fourth-quarter finish and reserve-back work.
- BYU Sport Nuts: Colorado State game center, pregame watch guide, football hub, schedule and results.
