Fast starts matter in college football and it didn't take but five plays for BYU to leave Colorado State in its dust Saturday night in Fort Collins. Three runs, a pass and another run generated 137 yards and two touchdowns to give the Cougars (3-0) a first-quarter lead that they would never lose en route to routing the Rams, 41-23.
Here are three key plays that made a big difference.
LJ Martin ran for 9 yards up the middle on BYU's first play of the game but it was his second run that set the tone for the night. Taking a handoff from Bear Bachmeier , Martin ran straight ahead, cut to his right, broke three tackles and raced 56 yards for a touchdown.
"We had good pressure from the offensive line, and the receivers were making their blocks downfield," said Martin. "It was a point of emphasis this week. We just wanted to establish (the run)."
Martin's moment extended a unique streak. Kalani Sitake's BYU teams are 15-0 when scoring a touchdown on their first possession. By halftime, Martin was up to 173 yards on the ground with three touchdowns.
"It's just a testament to the guys up front," said Bachmeier. "And, LJ just being LJ."
Martin was part of a rushing attack that amassed 332 yards. Since 1972, BYU is 34-0 when rushing for 300+ yards. Since 2009, the Cougars are also 57-1 in regular-season games when having three rushing touchdowns.
On Saturday, BYU had five to put the game out of reach early in the third quarter.
"It's a message that we want to send every week — that we are a good team, and we can get things done," said Martin. "Just coming out here and getting the job done — I think we did a great job."
BYU's second possession of the game began with a 9-yard run by freshman Legend Glasker. On the next play, Glasker did a whole lot more. Bachmeier hit him on a 52-yard pass down the left sideline and the former Lehi star dragged his defenders another 18 yards to the 2-yard line.
"All of our weight training and speed training, I was ready to come out here (and play Divison I football)," Glasker said. "All the work we put in as a team, the running and conditioning, it's all paying off."
Even more impressive was the way Glasker caught the game-changing pass — with one hand.
"I didn't even know I caught it with one hand. I need to see that," he said. "It was like the same one as last week (against Arizona) but they put me in the boundary, and I ran the same post and got on top of the defense."
"I just threw it up to Legend," Bachmeier said. "And he made a great play."
Martin scored his second touchdown one play later. Glasker finished with 131 receiving yards — the fourth-best performance by a BYU freshman in program history .
With Colorado State driving to the BYU 29 late in the first half, defensive end Hunter Clegg intercepted Ksaan Farrar's pass at the 18 and returned it 20 yards to cap the Cougars' dominating first half.
For Clegg, it was his biggest catch since grabbing a touchdown for American Fork in a 17-0 victory at rival Pleasant Grove on Sept. 20, 2022. For the Cougars, the interception was their nation-leading 44th since the start of the 2024 season.
On the heels of Clegg's big play, BYU took a 31-7 lead into halftime and held on for their eighth-straight victory against the Rams. The Cougars also improved to 17-0 when leading at the half and 13-0 against nonconference opponents since joining the Big 12.
BYU defensive end Hunter Clegg, right, hits Colorado State quarterback Hauss Hejny as he throws a pass in the first half of a game Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, in Fort Collins, Colo. | David Zalubowski, Associated Press
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts "Y's Guys" at ysguys.com and is the author of the children's book "C is for Cougar," available at deseretbook.com.
