The Cougars silenced trap game rumors in Fort Collins as LJ Martin’s explosive three-touchdown performance powered No. 11 BYU to a dominant halftime lead over the Rams.
The 11th-ranked BYU Cougars came into the first road game of the season at Colorado State needing to take care of business.
A few analysts, including ESPN's Rece Davis, considered this to be a possible trap game for Kalani Sitake's team. Through the first half, BYU played mistake-free with a 31-7 lead in Fort Collins.
Cougars running back LJ Martin is in the midst of his best game this season. He has 14 carries for 173 yards and three touchdowns. That's an insane 12.4 yards per carry for the Doak Walker preseason candidate.
BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier also got into the act. The sophomore passer went 7-of-9 for 182 yards with a whopping 20.2 yards per completion. The Cougars' offense has 377 yards with no turnovers. This is such an outstanding effort for BYU after some fans were disappointed after going into victory formation to end the game against Arizona last week.
Nonetheless, the Cougars are shining on the road against Jim Mora Jr's Rams. CSU had only one scoring drive, which came on their first drive of the game with scripted plays. A 7-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game at 7-7 with 11:22 left in the first quarter. Since that point, BYU threw up 24 unanswered points going into halftime.
Mora's debut season at Colorado State gave the Rams’ their first 2-0 start since 2011. They made quick work of Wyoming and Southern Utah in consecutive weeks. However, No. 11 BYU is the highest-ranked team to ever visit CSU's Canvas Stadium. This felt like a trap game for BYU. Heading into Saturday's meeting with the Cougars, Colorado State is on a 27-game losing streak against ranked opponents.
The Rams last win over a ranked team came in 2002, against then No. 7 Colorado in a game played in Denver. CSU's last home win against an AP Top 25 opponent came in 1990 over then No. 19 Wyoming. The 36-year drought should continue barring a massive comeback by the Rams.
What was supposed to be a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Fort Collins got delayed due to severe weather in the area around the stadium. The delay hit an hour before the game and pushed the start time to 8:15 p.m. ET.
BYU shouldn't have a need to take their foot off the gas in the second half. Martin will likely get fed more carries to start with a healthy mix of Preston Rex as well. We'll see how the Cougars react in the second half up big over the Rams.
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