BYU survives Halloween scare, holds off Arizona State 27-20 in familiar fashion

PROVO — For the second time in two years, BYU found itself in a familiar position against Arizona State: needing to burn the final seconds off the clock to secure a victory over the Sun Devils.

Saturday's 27-20 win in Provo felt like deja vu for the Cougars, as the closing moments mirrored its last meeting in Tempe in 2024. Holding a one-score lead after recovering an onside kick, BYU needed to run out the clock and put the game away.

With just five seconds remaining, head coach Kalani Sitake elected to keep his offense on the field and put the ball in quarterback Bear Bachmeier's hands. Bachmeier scrambled before throwing the ball out of bounds, executing the play perfectly and allowing the clock to expire despite a brief review from the officials.

"I'd like to just get in a position where we don't have to worry about the clock and worry about stuff like that," Sitake said. "That's my job. I've got to get these guys ready to roll and get them playing at a higher level."

For the second consecutive week, things got spooky for BYU — this time on Halloween weekend. After finding themselves leading by two touchdowns, Arizona State came to life in the third quarter to tie the game up and make it a fourth-quarter ball game.

The Cougars' pass rush was haunting Arizona State quarterback Jake Fette from the jump. Nusi Taumoepeau leveled Fette on the first drive of the game and forced a fumble on the sack. BYU took advantage of the turnover with a touchdown, but how they got on the board was unconventional.

After getting to the Sun Devils' 1-yard line, Bachmeier fumbled the ball and Sione Moa picked up the ball and advanced it into the end zone. The officials reviewed the play and ruled Moa down, but after an uncommon second review, they ruled the play a touchdown for the Cougars.

A week after they were gashed on defense, BYU had an improved effort and recorded several sacks in the first half. The pressure from the pass rush rattled the true freshman quarterback and killed a bunch of Arizona State drives in the first half. The Cougars finished with six sacks, which is the most by a BYU team in the Kalani Sitake era.

The majority of the Sun Devils' offense came on the ground in the first half, with Cardae Mack having some great runs for 123 yards on Saturday. Some of the same issues that plagued the Cougars last week came back to haunt them again Saturday. Missed tackles and a failure to contain their opponent for no gains or a loss of yards led to some chunk plays.

"They were kind of gashing us on some of the run plays," Sitake said. "The running back is a really good player. We just had a hard time tackling. I think we missed a lot of tackles this week, too. That was concerning, especially from what we faced last week. We've got to get things fixed and figured out."

Isaiah Glasker believed the defense had the scheme and plays that should have stopped the run, but it was the players' lack of execution that resulted in big plays for Arizona State.

"I feel like it's not really what they were doing, it's just kinda what we were doing," Glasker said. "I feel like we kinda shot ourselves in the foot sometimes. I feel like we didn't pick gaps as we should, and I feel like that was the main thing."

Despite some struggles stopping the run, BYU's defense held the Sun Devils' top two receivers to just five catches for 41 yards. Reed Harris and Omarion Miller entered the game with nearly 1,200 receiving yards combined and they were unable to find much separation even without Evan Johnson in the secondary.

It took some time, but midway through the second quarter, the Cougars' offense began to get rolling. BYU found the end zone again when Bachmeier threw a 13-yard strike to Kyler Kasper.

The Cougars failed to run the ball with any level of success and had to lean on Bachmeier through the air more. Their 47 yards rushing was the lowest total of the season by far and one of the lowest marks in the Sitake era.

BYU's struggle to run the ball allowed the Sun Devils to force some longer third downs for the Cougars and control the clock more. Without LJ Martin, BYU has struggled to find any consistency on the ground, and it didn't help that Preston Rex was also banged up and unable to give it a go on Saturday.

"ASU did a good job of loading the box and making it hard for us to run," Sitake said. "I know we lost some, but we just were not able to establish the run game, and that makes it really hard for us."

Arizona State erased the two-touchdown deficit in the third quarter, though, thanks to a turnover of its own.

After forcing a punt from the Cougars on the opening drive of the second half, the Sun Devils marched down the field, and head coach Kenny Dillingham opted to go back to what was working earlier, which was putting the ball in Mack's hands. Arizona State finally found the end zone after Fette hit Miller for a 20-yard touchdown.

On the ensuing drive, Owen Long came in and forced a fumble on Kasper after he turned his back on the defender to cut upfield.

Sensing the momentum had flipped, Dillingham was aggressive, going for it on fourth down twice with his team paying it off with a pair of conversions. A questionable pass interference call gifted the Sun Devils a first down on BYU's 1-yard line, and Fette made the Cougars pay, as he found his tight end, Anthony Miller, wide open in the flat for a touchdown to even the score.

BYU added a field goal to retake the lead, but Sitake would have his own opportunity to be aggressive.

Stiake decided to keep his offense on the field to go for it on fourth-and-1 on their own 14. Bachmeier moved the chains with his legs before hitting Legend Glasker for a 53-yard pass to flip the field.

"We just felt like they're gaining momentum," Sitake said. "They had possession of the clock, and they kind of wore our defense down a little bit. Just felt like we had to at least keep the ball for a little bit to give our guys a break and make some adjustments."

Facing another fourth down, Sitake decided to roll the dice again, and Roger Saleapaga II put his body on the line to get the first down. Moa capped off the long drive with a rushing touchdown to give BYU a two-score cushion.

Sitake said the conversions from Bachmeier on that drive were, "big time."

"Just don't keep putting me in those positions to make those decisions," he said.

The double-digit lead was too much for Arizona State to overcome with just two minutes remaining. The Sun Devils added a field goal but were unable to recover the onside kick, and the Cougars milked the rest of the clock.

"We tested some weird things that we practiced but never really get to see, like ending the game the way that the ASU was trying to do that to us two years ago," Sitake said. "It's just interesting that it ended up happening again. I'm glad that we were able to not leave a second."

After securing the victory, BYU will now turn its attention to in-state rival Utah – who is coming off a big road win – as they prepare to meet in Salt Lake City next week. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. MT, the earliest kickoff for the Cougars in the state of Utah since 2023.

"They're a great team and they're ranked, they're undefeated for a reason," Sitake said. "It's not going to be an easy task, but I'm looking forward to the matchup. It's going to be a lot of fun."

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