{"id":78769,"date":"2025-12-07T00:22:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T00:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/78769\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T00:22:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T00:22:24","slug":"3-takeaways-from-byus-big-12-championship-game-loss-to-texas-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/78769\/","title":{"rendered":"3 takeaways from BYU\u2019s Big 12 championship game loss to Texas Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 There will be no conference crown for BYU this year.<\/p>\n

The Cougars were bested 34-7 by Texas Tech in Saturday\u2019s Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium, suffering their second loss of the season and all but ending all hopes for a College Football Playoff berth.<\/p>\n

3 takeaways<\/p>\n

BYU faded fast after a strong start. The Cougars forced Texas Tech to punt on the first drive of the game, then traveled 90 yards across 14 plays to put LJ Martin in the end zone for an opening touchdown.<\/p>\n

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That ended up being BYU\u2019s lone score of the day.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech posted 34 unanswered points to bury the Cougars, with BYU never again entering the red zone.<\/p>\n

Outside of the 90-yard opening drive, the Cougars managed just 110 yards on their next 12 possessions and turned the ball over four times \u2014 five if you count a failed fake punt.<\/p>\n

Some of BYU\u2019s offensive struggles can be blamed on an early injury to quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who appeared to hurt his ankle just before Martin\u2019s touchdown and never quite looked the same after.<\/p>\n

But the Cougar receivers couldn\u2019t get much separation, the run game never truly got going and the offensive line was wildly overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2956.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Texas Tech linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (10) celebrates after a play against BYU during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

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Texas Tech fans celebrate a touchdown surrounding two BYU fans during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

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BYU safety Tanner Wall (28) knocks the ball loose from Texas Tech running back J’Koby Williams (20), but it is recovered by another Texas Tech player during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

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BYU safeties Tanner Wall (28) and Faletau Satuala (11) down Texas Tech running back J’Koby Williams (20) during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_1101.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Texas Tech fans hold up a sign of linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (10) during the Big 12 championship game against BYU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

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BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) runs toward the sidelines after his pass was intercepted by a Texas Tech player in the third quarter of the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

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Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton (2) winds up for a pass during the Big 12 championship game against BYU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_3308.jpg\"<\/p>\n

A BYU fan reacts after a play against Texas Tech during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_4867.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) winds up for a pass during the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_4911.jpg\"<\/p>\n

A lone Texas Tech Red Raiders fan celebrates a play amid BYU fans during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_5175.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Texas Tech defensive lineman E’Maurion Banks (8) celebrates after a play against BYU during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_3497.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa (57) hugs coach Sione Po’uha after Texas Tech Red defeated BYU in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_3727.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire hoists up the Big 12 championship trophy after the Red Raiders defeated BYU in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_5450.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU director of athletics Brian Santiago, left, hugs head coach Kalani Sitake after Texas Tech defeated BYU in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_1810.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU running back LJ Martin (4) runs the ball against the Texas Tech defense during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2342.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire adjusts his headset between plays during the Big 12 championship game against BYU at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2734.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU cornerback Therrian Alexander III (1) tries to down Texas Tech running back Cameron Dickey (8) during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_1059.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU running back LJ Martin (4) celebrates his touchdown during the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_1213.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU defensive tackle Keanu Tanuvasa (57) celebrates after a play against Texas Tech during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2637.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU wide receiver Parker Kingston (11) slips away from Texas Tech linebacker John Curry (6) as he runs the ball during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_1682.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) runs with the ball as he\u2019s pursued by Texas Tech Red linebacker Jacob Rodriguez (10) during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2088.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake high-fives tight end Carsen Ryan (20) after a play during the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_2492.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker (16) is slow to get up after a play while Texas Tech offensive lineman Howard Sampson (79) and quarterback Behren Morton (2) celebrate after the Red Raiders scored a touchdown during the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_0597.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU fans cheer as the team leaves the field during warm ups before the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

\"1206fbccougars.spt_IH_0146.jpg\"<\/p>\n

BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier (47) prepares to pass as he warms up with his teammates before the Big 12 championship game against Texas Tech held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News<\/p>\n

Even with a healthy Bachmeier \u2014 who ended up settling for 16 passes at or behind the line of scrimmage out of 27 total attempts, only throwing downfield three times \u2014 too much was already going against BYU.<\/p>\n

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Texas Tech dominated in the trenches, and BYU paid for it. If you didn\u2019t already believe the Red Raiders had the best defensive front seven in the country, Saturday should have changed your mind.<\/p>\n

Texas Tech held the Cougars to just 60 rushing yards at 2.1 yards per carry. The Red Raiders sacked Bachmeier twice, hit him four times, racked up eight tackles for loss and forced three fumbles.<\/p>\n

Red Raiders linebacker Ben Roberts also grabbed two interceptions, including an impressive one-handed snag.<\/p>\n

Fellow linebacker John Curry racked up 10 tackles, and Heisman Trophy candidate Jacob Rodriguez added another 13.<\/p>\n

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In what this writer believes to be the play of the day, defensive lineman AJ Holmes burst through BYU\u2019s offensive line to pummel Bachmeier and force a fumble, which essentially iced the ballgame in favor of the Lubbock faithful.<\/p>\n

BYU\u2019s Playoff dreams are dead. With the Cougars No. 11 in the College Football Playoff rankings before Saturday\u2019s blowout, it\u2019s safe to assume they won\u2019t be part of Sunday\u2019s final bracket reveal.<\/p>\n

Perhaps a close loss to Texas Tech could have potentially swayed the Playoff committee to believe BYU belonged in the field, but the 34-7 loss prevents that from being the case.<\/p>\n

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Whether it\u2019s fair or not that a team with 11 regular season wins, solid metrics and two losses against a top 5 squad is left on the wrong side of the Playoff bubble \u2014 that\u2019s another conversation \u2014 it doesn\u2019t change the ultimate result of BYU not being able to play for a national championship.<\/p>\n

It was still a special season in Provo. The Cougars won 11 regular season games in a Power Four league and reached a conference championship game for just the third time in program history, and they did it with a true freshman quarterback who didn\u2019t commit to the program until May.<\/p>\n

BYU has a lot to be proud of. Saturday doesn\u2019t change that.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

But it does sting to fall short of the national title chase.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 There will be no conference crown for BYU this year. The Cougars were bested 34-7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[38642,150,152,151,23287,7092,25673,32769,1890,17321,8670,420,38639,3782,38638,38641,3785,38640,23939,37562,32869,304,27,1769],"class_list":["post-78769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-aj-holmes","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news","tag-bear-bachmeier","tag-behren-morton","tag-big-12-championship","tag-big-12-championship-game","tag-big-12-conference","tag-byu","tag-byu-football","tag-cameron-dickey","tag-deseret-news","tag-howard-sampson","tag-isaac-hale","tag-isaiah-glasker","tag-jacob-rodriguez","tag-keanu-tanuvasa","tag-lj-martin","tag-parker-kingston","tag-program-history","tag-raiders","tag-texas","tag-texas-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}