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BYU linebacker Jack Kelly's scoop and score for BYU's first touchdown of the season

BYU Photo

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BYU players run onto the field before the non-conference game against Portland State at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Aug. 30, 2026.

Harold Mitchell, Special to the Herald

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American Fork head football coach Aaron Behm and his staff should hold their heads high.

The talent they have produced at the school shined brightly in BYU’s opening game victory over overmatched Portland State.

Pre-season Big 12 First Team selection Chase Roberts scored BYU’s first offensive touchdown of the season with a 4-yard reception from Bear Bachmeier.

Carsen Ryan, who played at both American Fork and Timpview, hauled in two passes for 47 yards including a 22-yard TD reception. Former Caveman Noah Moeaki also had a touchdown catch of five yards.

On defense former American Fork standout Bodie Schoonover had one tackle for loss, one pass break up, and one quarterback hurry. Also on the defensive side, former American Fork standouts Hunter Clegg registered a solo tackle while Will Zundel had an assisted tackle.

These weren’t the only local players that saw action and contributed to BYU’s blowout victory. Former Timpview High standout Sione Moa had three rushes for 33 yards, or 11 yards per carry with a long of 19 yards. Moa and the rest of the Cougars rushing the ball found plenty of daylight thanks to the efforts of offensive lineman Sonny Makasini, another Timpview grad.

There is no doubt that Utah County has great football talent and it is making a difference right here in Provo.

Historical shutout

The 69-0 victory over Portland State was the largest margin of victory where BYU blanked an opponent. BYU had two other wins where it scored over 60 points and completely shut out their opponents. BYU kept New Mexico off the scoreboard in a 65-0 win in 1988 while BYU picked on Savannah State, winning 64-0 in 2014.

The largest margin of victory for the Cougars still remains the 83-7 win over UTEP in 1980 and in 1989 BYU did break the 70 barrier in a 70-31 win over archrival Utah.

The shutout was BYU’s first since 2023 but the Cougars scored only 14 points against Sam Houston. It was also BYU’s first victory where it broke the 60-point barrier since the Cougars topped Virginia 66-49 in 2021. The Cavaliers were coached by former BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall, who by the way got his first win at Utah State as the Aggies beat UTEP 28-14.

New Wave for Jake

Former BYU starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff led Tulane to a 21-3 victory over Big 10 representative Northwestern on Saturday. Retzlaff was 18-for-31 for 152 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. He also had a highlight reel touchdown scamper that covered 69 yards.

They did what?

Portland State came into the game as a big underdog so you might figure the Vikings would maybe take some chances. Portland State actually started well and penetrated inside Cougar territory. But on a fourth-and-one the Vikings punted the ball a way.

Later in the first quarter, Portland State recovered a fumble in BYU territory. The drive stalled but instead of electing to go for it, the Vikings tried a 56-yard field goal. The kick was blocked and returned 54 yards by Jack Kelly for BYU’s first score. That play seemed to demoralize Portland State who promptly gave up a touchdown on the last play of the first quarter and then allowed 35 more points in the second stanza.

Connections

There is no doubt that former BYU legend LaVell Edwards and his litany of offensive genius offensive coordinators from the 1970s throughout his tenure revolutionized offensive football. Edwards’ coaching tree includes three head coaches that won Super Bowls in Mike Holmgren, Brian Billick and Andy Reid. Other coaches like Doug Scovil, Ted Tollner and Norm Chow were innovative offensive minds who would lead their own college programs.

But Portland State was also innovative in offensive football with the legendary Mouse Davis, who was the Vikings head coach 1975-1980.

Anyone that followed football in the 70’s has heard of the Run-and-Shoot offense pioneered by Davis. Some of his early disciples included Kevin Gilbride, who was an offensive coordinator for the Houston Oilers when they had Warren Moon lighting up the scoreboard and later with the New York Giants when they won two Super Bowls. He was also a head coach for the San Diego Chargers.

Gilbride’s son Kevin M. Gilbride has been the tight ends coach at BYU for the past two seasons.

Davis, who is still alive and will turn 93 on September 6, might find it agonizing that Portland State hasn’t scored a single point in its two first games of the season.

Extra points

Will Ferrin had a great night kicking the ball. He was successful on all nine extra points and kicked two field goals, one of 56 yards that tied Owen Pochman for the longest in Cougar football history. … BYU played four quarterbacks in this game and all ran the ball well. Freshman starter Bear Bachmeier had five carries for 32 yards and two touchdowns. McCae Hillstead logged two carries for 23 yards while Travis Bourguet tallied one carry that went for 21 yards. Fourth-string QB Cole Hagen even got into the act as he went 17 yards in his lone rush. All total, the BYU signal callers had 93 yards rushing. … BYU held Portland State to just 51 total yards while having 606 total yards of offense. … It’s a safe bet that nobody predicted BYU’s first score of the 2025 campaign coming from a blocked field goal that led to a scoop-and-score. John Taumoepeau blocked the kick and Jack Kelly took it back to the house 54 yards. It was the first blocked field goal returned for a touchdown since 2001 when Ryan Denney did it against San Diego State. Taumoepeau also had a fumble recovery which was BYU’s first official turnover on defense for 2025. … Cody Hagen had first career TD rushing on a 57-yard well executed reverse. … Dominique McKenzie had his first TD rush in a Cougar uniform as he went 41 yards to the house. … Cougar running back Charlie Miska had his first touchdown playing for the Cougars on a 5-yard run that capped BYU’s nine-touchdown effort. … LJ Martin charted a career night with limited carries. His 131 yards eclipsed his previous high of 129 and he did it on just eight carries for an eye popping 16.4 yards per carry with a long of 49 yards. … A total of 14 BYU players had rushing attempts in the game as BYU racked up 468 yards rushing. BYU averaged nearly a first down every time they ran the ball at 9.8 yards per carry. … BYU head coach Kalani Sitake runs his record to 19-0 against FCS opponents. … Saturday night’s crowd of 64,494 was the largest since 2009 against TCU (64,641). … Carri Jenkins lit the Y before the game. Jenkins has announced her retirement after serving BYU in numerous capacities including university spokesperson, assistant director for BYU Magazine and Assistant to the President for University Communications. … Alumni Flag Bearers were Mike Epperson (defensive back, 1972), his son Travis (kicker, 2004-05) and Steven Richards (tight end, 2014-15). … Running back Lucky Finau carried out the USA flag, defensive end Kinilau Fonohema carried the Utah flag and quarterback Emerson Geilman brought out the Big 12 flag. … Captains for the coin toss were safety Tanner Wall, linebacker Jack Kelly, offensive lineman Bruce Mitchell and wide receiver Chase Roberts. BYU won the toss and elected to defer their choice to receive the ball to start the second half. … The national champion Cougarettes got a nice shoutout during a break in the game. Also receiving deserving recognition was the men and women’s cross-country teams which claimed national titles in 2024. … The weather at kickoff had sunny skies with a temperature of 82 degrees. Temperatures retreated into the 70s for much of the game with a slight wind of nine miles per hour from the southeast.