PROVO — After a heartbreaking 24-23 loss to 10th-ranked UCLA Bruins last week, the BYU football team has another game against a big-time opponent in Michigan.

Here are three keys for BYU to beat the Wolverines on the road.

Stop the run

Under head coach Bronco Mendenhall, the Cougars have earned a reputation of being stout against the run. This reputation rang true against Nebraska. In its opening game, the BYU defense slowed the Cornhuskers' rushing attack and gave up only 3.4 yards per carry and a single touchdown on the ground.

BYU had even greater success against Boise State. In that game, the Cougar front seven held the Broncos to a pedestrian 64 rushing yards and a 2.1 yard average per carry.

Then UCLA happened. In the Cougs' lone loss this season, the run defense fell apart. While the Cougar secondary shut down the Bruins' stud freshman quarterback Josh Rosen, the UCLA running backs ran wild on the Y. In all, the Bruins ran for 296 yards with two touchdowns and averaged 7.8 yards a carry. No doubt, Michigan will follow UCLA's blueprint and try to run the ball often against the Cougars.

If BYU can stop the Wolverines' run game and force quarterback Jake Rudock to throw the ball like Utah did in Week 1, then the Cougars have a great chance at leaving Ann Arbor, Michigan, as the victors.

Explosive plays on offense

In their first two games, the Cougars had numerous explosive plays on offense. Against the Cornhuskers, BYU's offense had eight plays of 20 yards or more. In their matchup against the Broncos, the Cougars had five plays of 20 yards or more, including a 70-yarder and an 84-yarder. It was a much different story against the Bruins. In that contest, BYU only had two plays go for over 20 yards, both on runs by Adam Hine. The longest pass play was 19 yards. Not surprisingly, the Cougars had their lowest point total of the season.

Against UCLA, BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum showed he has the ability to hit underneath routes, something he did not do against Nebraska or Boise State. However, the Cougars will need to incorporate Mangum's knack for throwing the long ball mixed in with hitting short passes.

Big plays generate points and swing momentum. The Cougars will need to have some big pass plays against the Wolverines if they want to win.

Create turnovers

BYU's defense has given up a lot of yards this season. All told, the Cougars are allowing opponents to gain over 400 yards of offense a contest. In the first two games, BYU was gashed through the air by Nebraska quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr., and by Boise State signal-caller Ryan Finley. Against the Bruins, BYU gave up a ton of yards on the ground. With how many yards it's giving up, BYU's defense has been doing a good enough job keeping teams out of the end zone to allow the Cougars' offense to win the game.

The Cougars have been adept at creating turnovers, and that's one reason they have been able to keep teams from scoring. In their first three games, BYU created eight turnovers. This could be trouble for Rudock, who has already thrown five interceptions that include three against the Utes. If the Cougs can create some turnovers and give their offense a short field to work with, they have a great chance of winning.

Prediction: BYU 28, Michigan 21

Dylan Cannon is a regular KSL.com contributor and can be reached at DylanCannon86@gmail.com or via twitter @DylanCannon11. Listen to his weekly podcast, "Cougar Talk," on iTunes.

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