PROVO, Utah—The BYU Cougars steamrolled Utah Tech in their season opener on Saturday.
The Cougars put up 63 points in front of 64,000 people at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The coin flip landed in BYU’s favor. They deferred to the second half, giving Utah Tech the first offensive drive of the game. On the first snap of the game, BYU defensive back Therrian Alexander III came up with the Cougars' first interception of the season.
The interception brought the Cougar offense onto the field, where freshman Legend Glasker ran a jet sweep into the end zone for not only BYU’s first touchdown of the season, but his first touchdown of his collegiate career.
And the Cougars didn’t slow down. Glasker went on to score two more touchdowns in the first half.
“Coming into the game, I really wanted to score, so three was a surprise,” Glasker said. “But I mean, before the game I just said it was in God’s hands, and that’s what he wanted to happen for me, so I’m blessed.”
Wide receiver Jojo Phillips found the back of the end zone after coming off a season of injuries.
Along with throwing three touchdowns, Bear Bachmeier took one in for six for his first rushing touchdown of the year.
And BYU’s running back room is looking deeper than ever, with Preston Rex, Journee Tonga and DeVaughn Eka each carrying the ball in for a touchdown.
“We just showed that no matter who you put in, we can go in and make a play,” Eka said. “Journee, he came in, got a touchdown, Preston, everybody. Anybody you put in can really go out and show.”
And coming out of halftime, kick returner Canon Devries ran the kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.
“I’ve always dreamed of scoring a return here at LES,” Devries said. “And to make it happen, it was something I couldn’t describe, so it was pretty awesome.”
The Cougars are hoping to carry this momentum into week two, when they host the Arizona Wildcats.
“We have a great team, and my job as a coach is to not screw it up,” said head coach Kalani Sitake. “I got to make sure that these guys are prepared and that we’re ready to go. Arizona is going to be a great team. Coach Brandon’s a great coach, so they’ll be ready. I don’t think they liked how last year’s game ended, so they get to come here to Provo and we’ll see what happens. But it’s a good focus for us on week two to be ready for and I’m really looking forward to the matchup.”
BYU versus Arizona is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.