Saturday night’s projected mismatch between almost-ranked BYU and Football Championship Subdivision cellar-dweller Portland State at LaVell Edwards Stadium does carry a sliver of intrigue for college fans throughout the country, believe it or not.
While the 6 p.m. matchup will get little to no attention nationally while going up against the likes of LSU-Clemson and UCLA-Utah, it will mark the debut of quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who will become the first true freshman to start a season-opening game in BYU history. That somewhat surprising development, thanks to embattled QB Jake Retzlaff’s decision to bolt to Tulane in the face of a seven-game suspension, in and of itself should make the expected blowout mildly interesting — at least in the first half.
Among the storylines and questions:
- How will Bachmeier perform?
- Will head coach Kalani Sitake call off the dogs early, or run up the score in an attempt to replace opening-game loser No. 25 Boise State in the AP Top 25 poll?
- Will Jay Hill’s defense pitch a shutout for the first time since blanking Sam Houston 14-0 in the 2023 opener?
What can BYU get out of this mismatch?
The most important question, though, is this: Can Sitake’s 10th team in Provo get something out of this game that will help it moving forward?
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Senior receiver Chase Roberts says it can, regardless of PSU’s shortcomings. The Vikings were blown out 42-0 by Tarleton State, also an FCS team, last week at home. They went 3-8 last year, 3-5 in the Big Sky Conference.
After months and months of workouts and weight-lifting sessions, enduring the Retzlaff saga, living through a three-way quarterback derby, and hitting each other relentlessly under the hot August sun in Provo, the Cougars are just eager to play in a real football game, Roberts said.
“We just like to go play football. Whoever is on our schedule, we just go out and play our best and try to get that win. Whether it is Alabama in Week 1, or Portland State, we’re going to go out and we’re going to have fun playing the game that we love, that we dreamed of playing as a kid,” Roberts said.
“We get to play in LaVell Edwards Stadium (which is sold out),” Roberts continued. “So whoever shows up, they’re going to get a game. They’re going to get a team that goes out and plays their hardest and makes a lot of plays and gets the crowd rolling. We’re just excited to go play some football.”
Before he arrived at BYU, linebacker Jack Kelly played for an FCS school, Weber State, and knows what matchups against FBS teams, and Power Four teams in particular, mean to guys playing at the FCS level.
“This will be a big game for them. It’s a big game for us as well. FCS players are great players. They can play football really well,” Kelly said. “So I think it’s definitely important for us to stay locked in and stay true to our game plan.”
Obviously, the pressure will be on BYU to get a shutout, after the Vikings gained just 277 yards, had four turnovers, and didn’t score against Tarleton State, which is No. 10 in the FCS rankings and picked to win its league.
Portland State has this small advantage
Having a game under its belt should help PSU eliminate some of the major mistakes it made in its opener, Roberts and Kelly said.
“Their offense has a lot of unique plays, a lot of misdirection stuff that’s going to test our eye control and eye discipline,” Kelly said. “So it’s going to be a fun challenge for us, and we’re excited for it.”
Defensively, Portland State gave up 453 yards, so Bachmeier won’t exactly be facing a ferocious front. And he will have most of his weapons available; left guard Weylin Lapuaho is the only projected starter on the depth chart who won’t play, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said Wednesday.
What are reasonable goals for Bachmeier and the offense?
“We need to throw a higher completion percentage this year, and we need to improve our running game,” Roderick said. “I thought our run game last year was really good in the second half of the season. So we are looking to get off to a great start this year.”
“We are looking to run the football well in all 12 games, and we need to throw more completions, and of course the No. 1 stat in football is just taking care of the football. If we can come out on the plus side in turnover margin, more weeks than not we are going to win a lot of games.”
Neither Roderick nor Hill wanted to hear questions about how they will handle a blowout this week, and how many guys will get a chance to play in the opener.
“I don’t even want to think about that, because every time I’ve been involved with making some kind of plan like that, then the game doesn’t go as you expected,” Roderick said. “We’re going to treat every opponent the same. We’ll go out there and take care of business, and if something like that happens, then we’ll deal with it when it comes.”
Hill coached at the FCS level from 2014-2022 as Weber State’s head coach, and knows as well as anyone what giving BYU a competitive game would mean to Portland State and colorful head coach Bruce Barnum.
“I have a ton of respect for Coach Barnum. I am excited to see coach Barnum again. I think he does a great job with his program. They’re always tough. They always have good players,” Hill said. “They have all of our respect and focus right now.”
Who’s out for BYU’s defense?
Defensively, BYU will be missing at least one expected starter — defensive tackle Justin Kirkland, a transfer from Oklahoma State — and at least one backup who was expected to play a lot, nickel Jonathan Kabeya.
“We’re going into this game to win, and our starters going to be in there as long as they need to be to do what we need to do to play well,” Hill said. “Ideally, in all of our games, we get backups in there to get valuable reps, and we get guys in there because you have to (develop) your depth. So they need reps to be able to continue to progress. So yes, I would expect to see the twos in there this game, and early in the game, because that’s how we handle every game.”
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