Lucky or good? BYU both — but mostly resilient — in win over Iowa State for 8-0 start

PROVO — BYU safety Faletau Satuala is well aware he opened the scoring Saturday night for Iowa State.

The sophomore safety jumped a hitch route early, and by the time he turned his head to Iowa State receiver Brett Eskildsen, the sophomore was sprinting 75 yards into the end zone to give the Cyclones a 7-0 lead just nine seconds into the game.

But fast forward 3 ½ hours, and Satuala was jogging off the field after making the game-sealing play, as well — a 40-yard pick six with 13:40 remaining that slammed the door on any potential comeback en route to a 41-27 win that keeps the Cougars (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) unbeaten through eight games for a second straight year.

"That was 100% on me," Satuala said of Iowa State's first touchdown. "The last score, I guess I had to make it up a little bit. Just being able to make a play … all my teammates and coaches were making sure I kept my head up and telling me to go make plays. It was cool to see them rally around me."

The touchdown was Eskildsen's only catch of the game, and after giving up 318 yards and trailing by as much as 24-10 in the first half on the road to Iowa State, BYU sacked quarterback Rocco Becht four times and held the Cyclones (4-3, 2-3 Big 12) to 177 yards and 3 points after the break.

Saturday's game wasn't always pretty, both for the players and BYU coaching staff. With an extra week coming off a bye and BYU caught post-rivalry game for a second straight year, Iowa State's Matt Campbell drew up plenty of tricks and trouble for the visiting Cougars.

BYU wasn't good for stretches of the first two quarters, and continued … until they were. So what changed?

"I think the biggest thing was just to be more physical," said Satuala, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles and a tackle for loss as well. "They were really physical the first half, and when coach Hill came, he told us if ya'll want to win this game, you have to be more physical. That was the biggest adjustment."

Bear Bachmeier continued to shine in the eighth start of his college career, completing 63% of his passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. More impressive is that Bachmeier, who played without lead tailback LJ Martin due to injury for the final three quarters, ran 12 times for 49 yards including a 9-yard touchdown with 4:33 left in the third quarter.

His best work may have come on the next offensive drive.

After Iowa State pulled back a 43-yard field goal to tie the game at 27-all, Bachmeier returned to the field — and promptly went 3-and-out.

But Sam Vander Haar's punt caromed off an Iowa State player, and Mory Bamba recovered the muffed punt for his first career fumble recovery to set up a three-play, 33-yard stanza that finished with Parker Kingston's second touchdown on a 27-yard strike to open the fourth quarter.

Lucky, or good?

Maybe a bit of both, BYU coach Kalani Sitake acknowledged. Special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga has been going over that very scenario "for a while" in team meetings, about how to respond to a potential muffed punt.

"It's not one of those things that happens by accident," Sitake said."K-Popp coaches that; I've been in the meetings when he's taught them that. I think it was Kevin Doe who pushed his guy into it.

"The ball bounces funny, and it's shaped that way for a reason. It's unpredictable. If we can put our guys in a position to make something happen like that, you create your own luck. That's what we keep preaching to these guys."

After trailing by 14, BYU ended with a blitz, converting 6-of-15 third downs and going 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversion attempts. Enoch Nawahine and Preston Rex combined for nine carries to fill in for the injured Martin, and Chase Roberts caught eight passes for 128 yards including a key 45-yarder to keep the Cougars close early.

Kingston added a career-high seven catches for 133 yards and two touchdowns, his third straight game with 100 yards or more since recovering from a hamstring injury.

But even the former Roy High track star's final touchdown was him making up for dropped passes, he admitted after the game.

"I had to make up for one that I missed earlier," he said. "So it was good that I made that one."

There was plenty of faith Saturday night, even with that first half.

"We never feel like we're out of it, even if we're down a couple touchdowns," Roberts said. "We never lose faith in these guys and these coaches."

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