Cougars roar Back to Defeat TCU 44-13

PROVO – Some home cooking in BYU’s first home game in nearly a month was exactly what the Cougars needed after last week’s humbling 29-7 loss at Texas Tech.

Bear Bachmeier completed 23-of-33 passes for 296 yards and a touchdown and ran for 59 yards and a score as the 12th-ranked Cougars rebounded for a 44-13 win over TCU in front of a sold-out crowd of 64,447 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

LJ Martin added 88 yards on 21 carries including a 1-yard TD plunge for the Cougars (9-1, 6-1 Big 12), and Parker Kingston totaled 93 yards and a touchdown as BYU rolled up 448 yards of offense.

TCU quarterback Josh hoover completed just 10 passes for 183 yards and two interceptions in the third loss in five games for the Horned Frogs (6-4, 3-4 Big 12). Bachmeier, meanwhile, connected on 10 of his first 13 passes for 108 yards, and also ran for a 17-yard touchdown as the Cougars opened the second quarter with a 17-0 lead.

it was the kind of fast start BYU could only dream of – certainly,in last week’s loss to a Texas Tech team proving to be the top team in the conference and a College Football Playoff contender.

Chalk up plenty of it to a healthy Martin, who missed the second half of BYU’s win at iowa State with an apparent shoulder injury and was limited to 35 yards on 10 carries against the Red Raiders.

“I don’t think it was health, I think it was more confidence,” he said after the game. “Tonight I had more confidence, and I was able to get going earlier.”

That also helped set up Bachmeier’s passing game, one that included 80 yards to Kingston, 50 more on five catches to Chase Roberts and a career-high 78 yards and a touchdown to Carsen Ryan.

“I’m really proud of all that Carsen does,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. “Tonight he was able to