BYU moves to 3-0 with 34-13 road win at ECU

GREENVILLE, North Carolina – After a tight first half, BYU football opened things up in the second, securing a 34-13 win on the road against East Carolina.

The Cougars are 3-0 for the third-straight season, a program-best, and have won eight consecutive road openers. Dating back to last season, BYU has scored in 23 consecutive quarters, marking a Sitake-era record.

In his first collegiate road game, Bear Bachmeier went 18-of-25 for a career-high 246 yards passing. The true freshman recorded both a passing and a rushing touchdown. Bachmeier has now scored eight total touchdowns this season, four passing and four rushing, with no turnovers. 

LJ Martin helped lead the offense against ECU, rushing for 101 yards and averaging 7.2 yards a carry. Martin rushed 41 yards for a touchdown late in the final quarter. The junior joins Marcus Whalen (2002) as the only BYU players to rush for 100 or more yards in each of the opening three games in a season.

In tonight’s matchup, the Cougar defense recorded 70 tackles, six of which were for loss. Raider Damuni led the defense in total tackles with eight. Senior linebacker Jack Kelly totaled seven tackles and two sacks.

Jay Hill’s defense went 11 quarters without allowing a touchdown to start the season. The last BYU team to achieve that was the 1932 squad, which went 12 quarters without a touchdown.

Cornerback Evan Johnson was a force in the first half, recording two interceptions, including one returned for a pick-six. The last BYU player with two interceptions in a single game was cornerback Eddie Heckard at Oklahoma State in 2023.

First Quarter

The Cougars won the toss and deferred to receive the ball in the second half. The Pirates started the game strong, returning Ferrin’s kickoff 53 yards to BYU’s 46. The BYU defense would not allow East Carolina to advance much further, forcing a fourth-and-five and stopping the Pirates from securing a first down and advancing into Cougar territory.

BYU moved the ball well on its opening drive. Martin ran 17 yards to the ECU 42 on second-and-10, then added 19 more to set up Will Ferrin’s 40-yard field goal. His 23rd straight made field goal gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead with 9:55 left in the first quarter.

After a three-and-out forced by the BYU defense, the BYU offense returned to the field. ECU committed two defensive penalties, including a targeting penalty after a Carsen Ryan grab, helping the Cougars move into the red zone. BYU came up short on fourth-and-one, turning the ball over on downs at the ECU 8.

East Carolina got on the board with a 36-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the first quarter, knotting the score at 3-3.

Second Quarter

Bachmeier opened the second quarter with a 13-yard pass to Parker Kingston, moving the ball to the BYU 40-yard line. He followed with a 40-yard completion to Chase Roberts, advancing the Cougars to the ECU 20. On third-and-goal, Bachmeier’s pass to Ryan in the end zone was broken up by the ECU defense, bringing out the Cougar field goal unit. Ferrin extended his streak to 24 with a 23-yard field goal, giving BYU a 6-3 lead with 10:50 remaining in the second quarter.

ECU’s offense returned and started a long drive. On third-and-16, quarterback Katin Houser completed a 27-yard pass. The Pirates eventually reached first-and-goal at the BYU 6, but Houser’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Johnson, who returned it to BYU’s 11, keeping the Cougars in front.

After a fruitless BYU drive with just over a minute left in the half, BYU was forced to punt. Sam Vander Haar’s punt was bobbled by the ECU returner who was immediately hit by BYU gunner Marcus McKenzie, knocking the ball loose, forcing the Pirates to recover just outside their endzone. From the 1-yard line, Houser’s quick first-down pass toward the sideline was picked off by Johnson, and the defensive back raced into the end zone for a pick-six, his second interception in under four minutes, on back-to-back Houser passes. Ferrin made the extra point to advance the lead, and BYU closed the half up 13-3.

Third Quarter

On its first possession of the second half, BYU drove to the ECU 45 but could not move further into Pirate territory. A punt by Vander Haar, downed by McKenzie, gave ECU the ball at its own 4.

When ECU’s offense returned to the field, running back Parker Jenkins racked up several rushes, including a 13-yard gain. On third-and-9 from their own 30, a false start set the Pirates back five yards, then Kelly sacked Houser for a 10-yard loss, bringing up fourth-and-24 with 7:26 on the clock.

Starting at the ECU 47, Bachmeier led a quick scoring drive. The freshman completed a 27-yard pass to Chase Roberts to get to the ECU 20. On the next play, a 20-yard pass from Bachmeier set up Ryan for his second touchdown reception of the season. Ferrin secured the extra point and extended BYU’s lead to 20-3.

ECU’s offense marched on a 14-play, 68-yard drive. Despite reaching the BYU 5-yard line, the Cougar defense forced ECU to settle for a field goal, keeping BYU ahead 20-6.

With 2:17 left in the quarter, Bachmeier found Kingston for 19 yards. Two short rushes by Martin set up third-and-nine, and on the next play, Bachmeier hit Sione Moa for a 10-yard gain. Moa added five more yards to reach the ECU 22, and although a BYU penalty pushed the Cougars back 10 yards, they remained in scoring position to start the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Another Bachmeier-to-Kingston catch moved the Cougars to the ECU 22. Roberts followed with a 16-yard catch. On first-and-goal, Martin rushed up the middle for three yards, but an offensive penalty pushed BYU back 15 yards. After a five-yard catch by Kingston on first-and-21, Bachmeier kept the ball on the next play and rushed 16 yards for his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. With Ferrin’s extra point, BYU extended its lead to 27-6.

After starting the drive on their own two-yard line, Houser completed a series of long passes that brought the Pirate offense to the Cougar 39-yard line. Pirate running back Marlon Gunn Jr. powered several short runs, advancing ECU to the Cougar two-yard line. On second-and-goal, Houser kept the ball and rushed up the middle for a touchdown, pulling the score to 27-13 with 8:11 remaining in the game. It was the first touchdown allowed by BYU through 11 quarters and 171:49 of game play by this season.

On second-and-10, Cody Hagen made a seven-yard catch and on the following play, Bachmeier connected with Roberts for a six-yard pass for the first down. An ECU personal foul from that same play pushed the Cougars 15 yards closer, placing the ball at the Pirate 47. A BYU penalty brought up first-and-20, where Moa recorded a seven-yard run. On the next snap, Bachmeier rushed for 14 yards to grab the first down. A negative Cougar rush brought up another third-and-14 on the ECU 41, but Martin marched all the way to the end zone for his first touchdown of the season. With Ferrin’s extra point, BYU advanced the lead to 34-13 with three and a half minutes to play.

Neither team scored after that point and the game concluded 34-13, putting the Cougars at 3-0 this season.

Up Next

BYU will continue its road stretch and face Colorado on Sept. 27 at Folsom Field for the Cougars’ Big 12 Conference opener. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. MST. Watch live broadcast on ESPN or listen to live play-by-play with Greg Wrubell on BYU Radio.