PROVO — BYU had every reason not to win Saturday’s road game at Iowa State.
The Cougars had never beaten the Cyclones, going 0-5 all-time — including a 45-13 loss in Provo during BYU’s first season in the Big 12.
Add the emotional 24-21 win over rival Utah a week ago and a pair of key injuries, and things looked bleak when the Cougars trailed by 14 against the Cyclones.
Down, but not out.
Bear Bachmeier accounted for 358 yards and three touchdowns, and No. 11 BYU overturned a 24-10 first-half deficit to stay undefeated with a 41-27 win over Iowa State at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.
Bachmeier completed 22-of-35 passes for 307 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the first quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards against Iowa State in 22 games.
Bachmeier also ran for 49 as the Cougars (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) went on a 31-3 blitzkrieg capped by Faletau Satuala’s 40-yard pick six in the fourth quarter.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been in those situations a multitude of times,” Bachmeier told reporters after the game. “This is the brotherhood and culture that we have, just trusting in the guy next to you. We’ve been finding ways to get out of those.
“We’ve got to just get out from the jump. But I’m so proud of the guys, how we responded, and when we do get in those situations the trust that we have for one another.”
Chase Roberts caught eight passes for 128 yards, and Parker Kingston added 133 yards and two touchdowns for BYU.
Bodie Schoonover had two of the Cougars’ season-high four sacks on defense.
All that without LJ Martin, BYU’s bell-cow tailback who exited the game after favoring his shoulder at the end of the first quarter (but not before running for 15 yards and a 4-yard touchdown).
The Cougars relied on a mix of Preston Rex and Enoch Nawahine in the backfield without Martin — but mostly Bachmeier’s running ability.
Rocco Becht completed 24-of-36 for 311 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions. Carson Hansen rolled up 152 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries as the Cyclones looked to break the game open early in search of snapping a two-game slide after starting the season 5-0.
Becht found Brett Eskildsen on the first play of the game, and the receiver beat Satuala for a 75-yard TD strike to put the visitors behind.
BYU responded with a five-play, 68-yard drive of its own, including a 45-yard highlight catch by Roberts and Martin’s score.
But Martin exited the game favoring a shoulder at the first-quarter break, and did not return — except for without pads on the sideline — after X-rays were taken in the locker room, according to the FOX broadcast.
BYU linebacker Siale Esera also left early with an injury, returning from the locker room in street clothes to sit out the second half.
The Cyclones (5-3, 1-3 Big 12) bullied the Cougars before the break, out-gaining them 318 yards to 214 including a 135-38 edge on the ground without Martin. That included 81 yards and two touchdowns in the first half for Hansen, whose second touchdown gave Iowa State a 24-10 lead with 1:52 left in the second quarter.
“I told the guys, they were ranked for a reason and then they had a bunch of injuries that kind of slowed them down,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “I thought they had a great game plan, and made some things really difficult for us in the first half.
“I’m glad our guys were able to hold their composure, and know that it’s a long game.”
But Bachmeier rallied the troops to end the half, guiding a 10-play, 60-yard drive inside of the two-minute drill capped by a 12-yard touchdown to Parker Kingston.
Logan Lutui had an interception, and Anisi Purcell capped the first half with a sack to give the Cougars momentum heading ahead of the third quarter.
Bachmeier kept the momentum with a 10-0 run to open the second half by calling his own No. 47 — and with the help of Viliami Po’uha’s sack — and give the Cougars their first lead, 27-24.
After a field goal, Bachmeier took advantage of a do-over provided by Mory Bamba’s muffed punt recovery and found Kingston for his second touchdown, a 27-yarder with 14:21 to go.
Just 19 seconds of game time later, Satuala was celebrating in the end zone after a 40-yard pick six to stretch the lead to 41-27.
Evan Johnson added an interception to seal BYU’s third 8-0 start under Sitake.
BYU is off next week before a critical game for control of the Big 12 at No. 14 Texas Tech, on Saturday, Nov. 8.
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