BYU Cougars 2026 College Football Preview
Posted August 2, 2026
2025 Recap
Record – 12-2
ATS – 10-4
The Cougars roared out to a fantastic start and took their sparkling 8-0 record into a road battle at Texas Tech. They were blown to pieces in Lubbock, but kept on trucking and destroyed TCU, Cincinnati, and UCF in consecutive weeks to end the regular season at 11-1. BYU had an opportunity to exact revenge on the Red Raiders in the Big 12 Championship Game, but were humbled for a second time. The Cougars finished on a high note, taking down Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl to finish at 12-2. That’s 23 (!) wins over the last two seasons for Kalani Sitake’s boys. Nice!
Arizona Wildcats 2026 Outlook
OFFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (Big 12):
- Scoring: 31.4 PPG (#4)
- Total Offense: 399.5 YPG (#8)
- Rushing: 178.1 YPG (#5)
- Passing: 221.4 YPG (#8)
- Sacks Allowed: 16 (#4)
Starting quarterback Bear Bachmeier was the first true freshman QB to ever start a season opener for BYU, and boy did he have a wonderful 2025 campaign — throwing for over 3,000 yards and rushing for another 527 yards and 11 scores. Bachmeier is gonna have to get familiar with a lot of new faces at WR/TE as the top three depart, including Parker Kingston (928 yards, 5 TD). Some guys that need to produce early and often are holdover WR JoJo Phillips (6-5, 205), TE Walker Lyons (USC), and WR Kyler Kasper (Oregon), who gives Bachmeier a massive target (6-6, 212) to shoot for downfield.
The clear strength of the offense is the RB room led by star RB LJ Martin, who put up YUUUGE numbers (1,305 yards, 5.5 avg, 12 TD) last season despite dealing with a shoulder injury in the second half of the campaign. The depth behind Martin is adequate, but he’s the STRAW that STIRS the drink and needs to stay healthy if BYU plans on making a deep run. BYU’s offensive line will be one of the best in the Big 12 as they got plenty of experience and a few stellar performers, including center Bruce Mitchell and RT Andrew Gentry (6-8, 315).
DEFENSE
2025 By The Numbers (Big 12):
- Scoring: 19.1 PPG (#3)
- Total Defense: 332.4 YPG (#3)
- Rushing Defense: 122.7 YPG (#2)
- Passing Defense: 209.7 YPG (#7)
- Sacks: 30 (#4)
The defense has been excellent in each of the last two years as the Cougars held the opposition to under 20 PPG on each occasion. Things look great on paper heading into 2026, although it should be noted that ace DC Jay Hill is off to Michigan to have his integrity tested with the never-ending shenanigans and TOMFOOLERY circling that program.
BYU has been stout against the run in back-to-back seasons, and that won’t change this year given the size and talent up front. DT Keanu Tanuvasa is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the conference, and good luck trying to move NT Justin Kirkland (6-3, 335). The defense has a chasm to fill at LB with the departure of star LB Jack Kelly — who was the team’s best PENETRATOR last year (10 sacks, 13.5 TFL, 7 QBH) — but thankfully the cupboard is still well-stocked. The room is deep and headlined by a pair of studs in Isaiah Glasker (#3 in tackles, 8.5 TFL) and Cal transfer Cade Uluave, who led the Golden Bears in tackles (100) and TFL (12) in 2025.
The Cougars were very efficient when it came to defending the pass last year (#4 Big 12 pass efficiency defense, 17-17 TD to INT), and we expect the secondary will be one of the best in the Big 12 this season. Three starters are back in the mix, including headliners at free safety in Faletau Satuala (#1 in tackles, 7.5 TFL, 3 INT) and senior CB Evan Johnson (5 INT!).
SPECIAL TEAMS
Ruh-roh.
The Cougars look subpar in this area heading into the season as they’ve gotta replace a few key performers in PK Will Ferrin (23/30 FG, 4/6 50+) and devastating PR Parker Kingston (13.5, TD). The kicking game is a complete mystery box as we approach press time, but we’ll see how things go.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The non-conference schedule features a pair of free squares, but there’s also the epic matchup with mighty Notre Dame in Provo to navigate. The Big 12 slate is fair. They avoid Texas Tech, but have to face Utah on the road in the HOLY WAR. The Cougars get Arizona and Arizona St at home, but have to travel to face TCU.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at UCF (Oct 24)
BYU has proven mental toughness comparable to the service academies, but if we had to pick a potential landmine, it just might be the trip to the BOUNCE HOUSE that follows the battle with the Fighting Irish. MEGALOCKS STEAM CLUB doesn’t have fond memories of the last matchup in Orlando as we backed the Knights at home only to get SPANKED like a bad boy.
Season Win Total
Market consensus – August 2
Over 8.5 -135
Under 8.5 +105
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over
This isn’t a perfect roster, but it’s got a lot of great pieces. The schedule is manageable, making a nine-win season seem very doable.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Led by legendary head coach LaVell Edwards — whose revolutionary, pass-heavy offense basically broke college football — the 1984 BYU Cougars finished a perfect 13-0, capped off by a 24-17 Holiday Bowl victory over Bo Schembechler’s Michigan. That squad remains the only team from outside a Power conference to win a consensus National Championship in the modern era.
Dating back to the 2020 PLANDEMIC season, BYU has booked four seasons with double-digit wins. Only five teams in the country have done better with five: Georgia, Ohio State, Oregon, ROLL TIDE, and Notre Dame.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
The Cougars have put together back-to-back excellent seasons under Kalani Sitake, who’s quietly one of the best in the business. This is one of the few teams with a legitimate shot at dethroning Texas Tech — and they don’t even have to deal with the Red Raiders in the regular season. As if the Holy War didn’t already have enough intrigue, the winner of that game likely becomes the odds-on favorite for a spot in early December to battle for all the Big 12 marbles. We’ll call for nine to ten wins and think BYU is the second-best team in the conference on paper. Now they just have to prove it on the field.
Rise and Shout — the Cougars are out!