The 2026 college football season is quickly approaching, and BYU has a lot of expectations heading into this year’s campaign.
After a great 2025 season and a trip to the Big 12 Championship, it’s going to be hard for BYU to top last year’s success, especially with the departure of several key players like Chase Roberts, Carsen Ryan, Cody Hagan, Jack Kelly and Parker Kingston.
The Cougars are projected to be a competitor in the Big 12 heading into the 2026 season, with several major news outlets like ESPN and Yahoo Sports putting the Cougars just behind the defending Big 12 champions, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, in preseason power rankings.
But what exactly should Cougar fans be expecting from this upcoming squad?
Quarterback Bear Bachmeier is entering his sophomore season at BYU. He played phenomenally last season and is expected to be one of the top quarterbacks in the Big 12. After coming off a successful campaign under center as the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year, Bachmeier could lead the Cougars to another very successful season.
But who is he passing the ball to now that most of the 2025 receiving corps is no longer on the 2026 roster?
JoJo Phillips, Tiger Bachmeier and Tei Nacua are all back, but injuries and their spots lower on last season’s depth chart limited their opportunities, making it difficult to fully evaluate what they can bring to the offense. However, the two biggest arrivals on offense come from the transfer portal, where the Cougars added Kyle Kasper from Oregon and Walker Lyons from USC.
The problem is that we don’t really know how these guys will play together.
There is going to be a lot of change to the BYU offense this season, but nothing compared to what the Cougar defense has in store this year.
BYU’s defense last year was one of the best in the Big 12 under defensive coordinator Jay Hill. But Hill took a job at Michigan under former Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham, handing the reins over to Kelly Poppinga.
Poppinga spent four seasons as the Cougars’ special team’s coordinator and defensive ends coach and understands the Cougar defensive strategy. So, we should expect a fast, aggressive defensive approach from the Cougars again this year, centered around Keanu Tanuvasa, Isaiah Glasker, Evan Johnson and Faletau Satuala.
There are a lot of unknowns heading into this upcoming season, but fall camp is right around the corner, which will answer a lot of questions and show Cougar Nation what kind of team BYU will be this upcoming season.