LJ Martin took BYU's second offensive play 56 yards to the end zone in Fort Collins, then scored twice more before the first quarter ended, the first BYU player with three first-quarter touchdowns since 2001. BYU led 21-7 after one quarter and 31-7 at halftime, piling up 377 of its 559 total yards before the break, and won 41-23 on the road at Colorado State. Martin finished with 176 rushing yards, 173 of them on 14 first-half carries.
That is the fast start BYU has been asking for since last season's string of comebacks, and it came a week after the Cougars trailed Arizona at halftime. Against Utah Tech in the opener, BYU had put up 358 first-half yards while allowing 52; the Colorado State first half looked like that again, only on the road. BYU is 3-0 and No. 9 in the AP poll, with Kalani Sitake saying the team is "exactly where we want to be." The Cougars are idle this week and will spend it self-scouting and developing young players before opening Big 12 play at TCU on Oct. 3.
For a program that went 11-2 and tied for first in the Big 12 in 2024, then 11-2 and reached its first Big 12 title game in 2025, the ranking is not the point. That 2025 season ended with a 34-7 loss to Texas Tech in Arlington and a No. 12 finish in the final CFP rankings, just outside the field. The win over Utah Tech, a team BYU was supposed to beat, does not touch that. TCU does.
What the Colorado State tape actually settles
Kelly Poppinga's defense has its best evidence yet. After Colorado State's opening 75-yard touchdown drive, BYU held the Rams scoreless on eight straight possessions, with Hunter Clegg dropping from end into coverage for an interception and Kennan Pula making a fourth-down stop. Take the qualifier seriously, though, CSU starting quarterback Hauss Hejny left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, and Jim Mora said he "didn't have mobility and he couldn't drive and throw the football." Most of that scoreless stretch came against a backup. The more useful data point for Poppinga remains the Arizona game, where his unit followed a 240-yard first half by allowing 87 yards and minus-2 rushing yards after halftime as he dialed up more pressure.
Bear Bachmeier's line reads well and says less than it looks. 12 of 16 for 227 yards, but also his first interception of the season, thrown toward Kyler Kasper in the end zone and picked by CJ Blocker, and no touchdown pass. Sixteen attempts before the starters came out is not a test of the passing ceiling. The Arizona game was, 16 of 26, 217 yards, three touchdowns, plus the 61-yard strike to Legend Glasker on the decisive drive, all while Martin carried 20 times. That's the version of the offense BYU needs at TCU, and it has now been seen once against a Big 12 defense.
Two smaller items worth carrying into the bye. Matthias Dunn made both field goals, from 44 and 26 yards, the first makes of his career after missing his only attempt in the opener, and Cannon DeVries added a 17-yard punt return. The rebuilt kicking game is no longer a total unknown. And Faletau Satuala was named among BYU's standout defensive contributors in one fan-media defensive report, but no outlet published his snap count, tackle total or a health update. Three games since the June foot fracture, and his workload is still being inferred rather than reported.
The one genuinely new problem. With BYU up 38-7, the second and third teams played most of the fourth quarter and got outscored 16-3, with two Colorado State touchdowns and two 2-point conversions. Sitake wasn't cute about it, "I'd like to see some improvement, mostly from the backups." That is what a bye week is for, and it matters more than it sounds. October will hand those reserves snaps that count.
What to watch Saturday
BYU has no game, so the week's leverage sits in two Big 12 results that move the Cougars' path to Arlington and two long-shot upsets that would thin the national field.
Utah at Iowa State: root for Iowa State
The biggest single lever on the board. Iowa State is a home underdog at 32%, but a Cyclones win puts a loss on Utah, a direct Big 12 rival for the two championship-game spots. BYU's title-game odds land near 21% with an Iowa State win versus about 17% with a Utah win, a 4.3-point swing, and the best return available to a fan with no game to watch. BYU also hosts Iowa State in Week 6 and plays at Utah in November, so this is not abstract.
Kansas State at Cincinnati: root for Cincinnati
Same mechanism, smaller size. Cincinnati at home is a 37% proposition, and a Bearcats win knocks Kansas State back in the same conference race. Roughly 19.6% title-game odds for BYU if Cincinnati wins against about 17.4% if Kansas State does, worth 2.2 points. Cincinnati visits Provo in November; a Bearcats team with conference wins is a slightly harder Week 13 opponent, but the standings math this week favors rooting for them anyway.
Northwestern at Indiana: root for Northwestern
A Northwestern win is a long shot, so treat it as a bonus rather than something to count on.
Pure playoff-field arithmetic, and it almost certainly won't happen. Northwestern wins this about 4% of the time. If it happens, No. 5 Indiana takes a loss and BYU's playoff odds sit near 22% rather than about 19%, the largest playoff-only swing on the slate at 3.5 points. Enjoy it if it develops; don't plan your afternoon around it.
Wisconsin at Penn State: root for Wisconsin
Wisconsin wins this about 8% of the time, so treat it as a bonus rather than a plan. An upset would nudge BYU's playoff odds to roughly 21% instead of about 19%, a 1.8-point difference. Worth a glance at the score, nothing more.
Full numbers are in the interactive guide, and the methodology explains how the simulations produce them.
Next week, BYU walks into Amon G. Carter Stadium as a slight underdog, and everything the Cougars have and haven't proved gets a real answer. This week, the staff gets practice reps and the fans get Iowa State.