When No. 25 BYU travels to Colorado on Saturday night, it will count as a Big 12 Conference game.
The teams squared off last December in a rare intra-conference bowl game. The Cougars picked up a 36-14 win in an Alamo Bowl that served as a de facto tiebreaker in the Big 12 standings. In the mega-conference era, BYU and Colorado didn’t play in the regular season and were among four teams that finished in a tie for first at 7-2 in conference games.
“We’re a different team than the one that played back in the Alamo Bowl and they’re a different team as well,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “You can see on film they have tons of talent. We’re at their place, so it’ll be a difficult environment to play in. But, we are looking forward to the matchup.”
Plenty has changed for both teams. To begin with, the Cougars (3-0) will look to open Big 12 conference play with a win behind the savvy play of quarterback Bear Bachmeier.
BYU rolled to a 34-13 road win at East Carolina last week behind its freshman signal-caller, who completed 18 of 25 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown, and running back LJ Martin, who had 14 carries for 101 yards and a score.
Wide receiver Chase Roberts is off to a solid start to his 2025 campaign, with 11 receptions for 185 yards and one touchdown. He needs 31 receiving to reach the 2,000-yard milestone for his career.
“Bear was making great decisions before,” Sitake said. “He just wasn’t connecting on all the plays. He seemed to grow up quite a bit from the first play to the second half. I think that was good for us to see him do that. I’m excited about what he can do. He’s highly intelligent, has a great football IQ, is a great leader, is tough and things are starting to click for him. We have to make sure to keep that momentum going.”
Colorado (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) will look to settle on who is under center after playing musical chairs with its starting quarterback position to start the season. Kaidon Salter tore through the Wyoming defense in a 37-20 home win last Saturday. He completed 18 of 28 passes for 304 yards and three touchdowns. Salter also had 11 rushes for 86 yards and a score.
One of Salter’s strikes was a 68-yard touchdown pass to Sincere Brown.
Despite winning the starting quarterback job out of camp, the senior transfer from Liberty has had an up-and-down campaign. He had an uneven performance in a season-opening loss to Georgia Tech and was part of a three-man rotation in a win against Delaware. He then sat out the entire Big 12 opener, a 36-20 loss at Houston on Sep. 12.
What was the key to Salter’s solid showing against Wyoming?
“Certainty,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said. “If you’re going to run, run. If you are going to throw, throw. Certainly not, ‘I don’t know what I am going to do.’ He ran with confidence. It was ‘I am running,’ not running just to get hit. He made up his mind about what he was going to do. And he did it.”
BYU has only allowed 16 points in its three contests to date.
