Can BYU translate success in opener against Power 4 foe Stanford?

PROVO — Three years ago, BYU snapped something of a two-game streak of futility against one of its west coast recruiting rivals Stanford when Christopher Brooks ran for 164 yards, Jaren Hall tossed two touchdown passes, and the Cougars collected their first win over the Cardinal, 35-26 in the final game of the regular season.

That game would also be the final game of David Shaw's legendary career at Stanford, as the four-time Pac-12 coach of the year who is now the passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions announced he would be stepping down about an hour after the Cardinal cemented a second consecutive 3-9 season.

The paths of the two programs couldn't have been much different from then until Saturday night's kickoff at LaVell Edwards Stadium (8:15 p.m. MDT, ESPN).

You know BYU's trajectory, including jumping to the Big 12 in 2023 and breaking out in last season's 11-2 campaign that included a rout of Colorado in the Alamo Bowl.

Stanford, meanwhile, watched as its conference essentially unraveled, driving the Cardinal and its Bay Area rival Cal to the ACC and a fourth straight 3-9 season that preempted Troy Taylor's firing in the spring.

"I think they were put in a really difficult situation as a program, and Frank Reich and Andrew Luck are doing everything they can to make it right," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "We know they are going to get their best shot; we just need to make sure we give them our best shot, too."

Stanford (0-1) opened the season with a come-from-ahead loss at Hawaii, when the Rainbow Warriors rallied from a 20-17 deficit with 9:41 remaining to win on Kansei Matsuzawa's game-winning 38-year field goal as time expired.

Micah Ford ran for 113 yards in the Cardinal's season opener, toting the rock 26 times including a two-yard touchdown that gave Stanford its final lead in the fourth quarter. If a one-game sample size means anything, the Cardinal would like to run the ball after out-gaining the Warriors 177 yards to 96 on the ground.

"They've got good players," BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said of Stanford. "They play super hard. You can tell they execute their schemes; they missed a couple of plays that could've changed the game. We've got to expect their best shot and a good team coming in here.

"This is a Power Four team that traditionally has been very good," he added, "and we've got to be ready for their best shot."

In the run game, BYU has its own weapons, too. It starts with LJ Martin, the one-time Stanford commit from El Paso, Texas, in his third season starting at tailback for the Cougars — and coming off a career-high 131 yards on eight carries in the 69-0 rout of FCS Portland State.

Fourteen players carried the rock for the Cougars in the season opener, including starting quarterback Bear Bachmeier. The former Stanford early enrollee completed 7-of-11 passes for 97 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran for 32 yards and two scores against the Vikings.

Defensively, the Cougars aren't afraid to fly to the ball — both in defending the passing game or providing run support for the defensive line and linebackers.

"We want to get 11 hats to the ball," said BYU safety Tanner Wall, a senior defensive captain. "If they're going to block the front seven, then our DBs and corners can come and make plays. Whoever that is that isn't blocked or gets off blocks, we're going to run to the ball and make plays.

"We're excited for Stanford's scheme this week," he added, "and to go make a lot of plays."

Offensively, the Cougars saw everything they needed to see out of Bachmeier, who became the first true freshman to start a season opener in program history.

They're also hopeful to add wide receiver Reggie Frischknecht into the mix after he missed the opener.

"We didn't have to throw very much, but I thought he played very well," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said of Bachmeier. "The best part was, I agreed with every decision he made in the game; he didn't make any bad decisions with the ball.

"I thought his decision making was excellent, and I thought he played well."

Roderick expects Bachmeier to "obviously" have to throw more than 11 times against the Cardinal. But both coordinators hope last week's success can translate to the power conference matchup between the ACC and Big 12.

"It's a huge deal in everything," Hill said. "This has playoff implications, it has our conference and who we are — like TCU against North Carolina. That's big for our conference.

"We have an opportunity against another conference in this game, and we need to go out and look good," he added. "As far as the team, we need mojo. We need to continue to keep the hype going, and we need to take care of business."

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