If only it were that simple.

BYU’s offensive game plan worked just about perfectly in the first half of Saturday’s 28-7 victory against Baylor. The Cougars pounded the running game, kept the ball away from the Bears and were in complete control at 21-0.

The second half? The offense disappeared for most of it, awakening long enough to tack on a TD on an improvised scramble by Bear Bachmeier. For some reason, the Cougars have really struggled to put together a full game offensively in Big 12 play.

Fortunately for the offense, the BYU defense was fantastic, holding the Bears to just one score.

Courtesy BYU Photo

It doesn’t appear that Cougar Nation is getting a lot of joy out of a 21-point victory, lamenting the lack of a killer instinct to pick up those nebulous “style points” that sometimes impresses the College Football Playoff committee, and sometimes doesn’t.

Who really knows what those guys are thinking, other than getting as many SEC and Big Ten teams into the playoffs?

Now it’s time for Perfectly Rational Overreactions (PROs).

PRO No. 1: BYU football is boring.

A three-touchdown victory against what had been a red-hot Baylor team should make a fan base happy, but it doesn’t appear to be doing that at all. The first half of the game was all about the Cougar running game and ball control. The second half, with injuries to LJ Martin and Sione Moa at running back, BYU suddenly couldn’t move the ball. There was some back luck, too, with questionable calls on a long Cannon DeVries kickoff return (a penalty that had nothing to do with the play) and Legend Glasker’s long catch-and-run (apparently driving your opponent into the turf with a pancake block is considered holding now). Those could have resulted in two TD’s and a huge lead. Instead, BYU couldn’t get anything going. The point is, not a whole lot about the win was sexy. It was methodical and unspectacular, and we all know how much that counts in the talent show that is college football.

PRO No. 2: Aaron Roderick doesn’t trust Bachmeier.

Perhaps Roderick was being careful with Bachmeier after his four interception performance last week against Utah. Or maybe the game plan was working so well with the first half run game there was no reason to throw downfield. Regardless, the passing game was not very aggressive on Saturday. And referencing my earlier comment on getting the ball to your playmakers, Glasker’s day looked like this: Four carries for two yards, three catches for three yards, and no downfield targets. He would have taken one of those swing passes to the house in the first half if any of his four teammates in his convoy had opted to block the one defender on that side of the field, but every other attempt to get Glasker loose was ineffective. Roderick isn’t perfect (neither is the execution by the players, to be fair) but his main focus is always about how to get the win. Sometimes that’s not the most aesthetically pleasing to watch, but it does get the job done more often than not.

PRO No. 3: This offense is nothing without LJ Martin.

The proof seems to be in the numbers, doesn’t it? First half with Martin was 232 yards of offense, three touchdowns. That included a very impressive 18 play, 96-yard, nine-minute scoring drive in the second quarter. Second half without Martin? The Cougars managed just 87 total yards on six possessions. Martin turns a nothing run play into four or five-yard gains to set up second or third and shorts. None of the other running backs do that consistently, getting one or two yards and going down on first contact. That really effects Roderick’s play calling. Martin appeared to be OK after getting accidently stepped on by a Baylor defender, but we’ll have to wait and see how available he is for the Kansas game.

And finally, PRO No. 4: The Cougars won’t make the CFP, even if they win out.

It looks like both Wake Forest and Texas Tech will pass up BYU in the CPF rankings when they come out on Tuesday for one reason and one reason only: Those two teams posted blowout victories against good opponents. The Demon Deacons demolished SMU 49-7 and the Red Raiders pounded Oklahoma State 52-27. BYU’s win against Notre Dame can only do so much heavy lifting this late in the season. Would the Cougars have stayed at No. 10 if they had beaten Baylor, say, 42-7? We’ll probably never know, but we’ve reached the point in the season where the Cougars need help to secure a spot in the playoffs. On their own merit, even finishing 10-2 in the regular season with wins against Kansas and Cincinnati to end the regular season, likely won’t be enough. Chaos needs to do it’s thing but BYU is running out of time.

That double overtime loss at UCF is going to continue to punish the Cougars the rest of the season.

Who Carried the Boats and the Logs?

I have to hand it to Kelly Poppinga and the BYU defense. Baylor had scored 83 points and piled up 975 yards combined in its two previous games, wins against UCF (41-9) and Iowa State (42-31).

The Cougars held the Bears to 238 total yards, with 73 yards coming on one fourth-quarter drive.

DJ Lagway was 32-53 for 548 yards and six touchdowns the past two games while running for 119 yards against Iowa State. Lagway was 21 of 37 for 159 yards, one touchdown and one interception against BYU, with 42 rushing yards.

Gavin Freeman, Baylor’s top receiver, was held to 37 yards on six receptions.

That’s a great defensive job by Poppinga and the Cougars.

The reason

If you want to know why BYU’s Bruce Branch III is likely a lottery pick next year, watch the first part of the second half against Montana State. Branch nailed a corner 3-pointer off the catch and on the next possession, drilled a step-back triple over a defender. For a guy 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot wingspan, his skill set is pretty fantastic. Kevin Young also raves about his potential as a defender. Believe me, the NBA is watching this kid, who just barely turned 18 years old.

No, really, we mean it this time

Wait a minute. So the Utah Jazz have been TRYING to lose for the past several years to improve their draft position. Now they are trying to WIN and they’re still losing? Man, that can’t be good.

Unnecessary noise

For some reason, the Marriott Center rims are now mic’d up. If you’re sitting in the arena, you can clearly hear the “clang” of the ball off the rim or the “swish” of a ball through the net. Should they mic the ball so you can hear the dribbling as well?

J-Rock’s final run

BYU’s 3-2 victory against Baylor in the Big 12 women’s soccer finals on Saturday gave legendary head coach Jennifer Rockwood both the regular season and tournament titles in 2026. This may not be the most offensively talented team she’s ever coached but they know how to win. The Cougars will host at least the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday and there’s plenty of incentive to make a run for Rockwood’s swan song. Anything can happen in soccer.

Get off my lawn

This is probably too self-serving, but I’m so tired of TV guys who interrupt working print journalists doing on-field interviews. It’s happened dozens of times over the course of my career. Hey, everybody is trying to work. Show some respect, would you?

That’s all for now, but for this: I can’t believe we’re already down to the last two weeks of the regular season. Once again, BYU is in a precarious position as it relates to the CFP. Whether you enjoy it or not, it beats the alternative of not being in contention.

Right?

Have a great week and bundle up. Winter is coming.