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FORT COLLINS, Colorado — After the Cougars dominated the Pac-12’s Colorado State 41-23 on Saturday night in front of 38,759 fans at Canvas Stadium, BYU coaches are “feeling good” about how the starters and key backups are playing a quarter of the way through the season, in the words of head coach Kalani Sitake.

That said, there’s work to do further down the depth chart, as some second-, third- and fourth-stringers struggled a bit in the second half against CSU. The Rams (2-1) outscored the Cougars 16-10 after halftime, making the outcome appear closer than it was.

“I think if they just play more assignment-sound, we will be in a better position. There were just a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes that should not happen from our guys, but this is a good moment for us to learn from,” Sitake said of the fourth quarter, in which CSU scored 16 points. “To win comfortably and still be able to have those things happen (is positive). It just got a little sloppy, but we’ll be fine. This is stuff that we can easily fix.”

After winning games against an FCS opponent (Utah Tech), a Big 12 foe (Arizona) and a mid-level Group of Six program (CSU), the now-No. 9 Cougars can take a breath, do a little self-scouting during their bye week this week, and prepare for a gantlet of more difficult games that begins Oct. 3 at TCU.

The Horned Frogs (2-1) routed Arkansas State 31-7 Saturday in Fort Worth and will play at UCF this Saturday.

“It is still a week that we gotta progress as a team, so we’ll develop some of our players, some young guys especially, and then get ready for our next game, which is TCU,” Sitake said. “I am really proud of the boys and proud of the leadership on this team and proud of the staff, the coaches, who did a great job.”

Colorado State officials called the game a sellout, although there were thousands of empty seats when the contest started 45 minutes late due to inclement weather (lightning) in the area. According to CSU’s postgame notes, 15,222 persons in the crowd were CSU students.

Suffice it to say, only 100 or so stayed beyond halftime, as BYU rolled out to a 31-7 lead at the break, forced a CSU three-and-out and then went ahead 38-7 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Preston Rex early in the third quarter.

“We got enough of a lead and still made mistakes, but still felt like the game was under control the entire time,” Sitake said. “So this is something we can build on, but I’d like to see some improvement, mostly from the backups. … I felt like there were a lot of mistakes, and we made a couple turnovers that weren’t good, but we’ll learn from it.”

The Cougars also committed eight penalties, costing them 74 yards. Personal fouls on BYU helped CSU score on its first possession and another possession early in the fourth quarter.

“I feel like our whole defense believes in those second- and third-stringers. We know that they know what they need to do,” said cornerback Evan Johnson. “It is just a matter of going out there and executing.

“Same with our ones on that first (CSU) drive. I feel like to be the best defense, we are going to have to clean those little things up and make sure we get those things right.”

Despite the subpar ending for BYU, Johnson said the mood in the postgame locker room was the same as it was after the Cougars beat Arizona 28-17 in Week 2.

“We got the win. We came here and we did what we were supposed to do,” he said. “No matter how the game may have looked, we came out with the win, so I am super proud of our guys for that.”

Johnson said he isn’t sure what the plan is for the bye week, “but whatever it is, we will be attacking it with a full head of steam.”

Asked by an out-of-state reporter about BYU’s “big” aspirations for 2026, Sitake said the Cougars will continue to stay grounded and humble.

“We are exactly where we want to be,” he said. “But it doesn’t really matter if we don’t take advantage of the time during the bye week and the time to learn from all the things that we experienced in this game.”

BYU got out of the game mostly healthy, although two starters — tight end Roger Saleapaga and right guard Kyle Sfarcioc — as well as backup receiver Tiger Bachmeier, did not play.

Sitake said senior Trevin Ostler filled in admirably for Sfarcioc and tight end Keayen Nead filled in well for Saleapaga.

Walker Lyons caught two passes for 40 yards and Nead caught one pass for 6 yards, the Weber State transfer’s first catch as a Cougar.

BYU is 3-0 for the fourth straight year and sixth time in seven seasons. It is the 20th time in school history that the Cougars have started a season with three straight wins.

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FORT COLLINS, Colorado — After the Cougars dominated the Pac-12’s Colorado State 41-23 on Saturday night in front of 38,759 fans at Canvas Stadium, BYU coaches are “feeling good” about how the starters and key backups are playing a quarter of the way through the season, in the words of head coach Kalani Sitake.

That said, there’s work to do further down the depth chart, as some second-, third- and fourth-stringers struggled a bit in the second half against CSU. The Rams (2-1) outscored the Cougars 16-10 after halftime, making the outcome appear closer than it was.

“I think if they just play more assignment-sound, we will be in a better position. There were just a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes that should not happen from our guys, but this is a good moment for us to learn from,” Sitake said of the fourth quarter, in which CSU scored 16 points. “To win comfortably and still be able to have those things happen (is positive). It just got a little sloppy, but we’ll be fine. This is stuff that we can easily fix.”

After winning games against an FCS opponent (Utah Tech), a Big 12 foe (Arizona) and a mid-level Group of Six program (CSU), the now-No. 9 Cougars can take a breath, do a little self-scouting during their bye week this week, and prepare for a gantlet of more difficult games that begins Oct. 3 at TCU.

The Horned Frogs (2-1) routed Arkansas State 31-7 Saturday in Fort Worth and will play at UCF this Saturday.

“It is still a week that we gotta progress as a team, so we’ll develop some of our players, some young guys especially, and then get ready for our next game, which is TCU,” Sitake said. “I am really proud of the boys and proud of the leadership on this team and proud of the staff, the coaches, who did a great job.”

Colorado State officials called the game a sellout, although there were thousands of empty seats when the contest started 45 minutes late due to inclement weather (lightning) in the area. According to CSU’s postgame notes, 15,222 persons in the crowd were CSU students.

Suffice it to say, only 100 or so stayed beyond halftime, as BYU rolled out to a 31-7 lead at the break, forced a CSU three-and-out and then went ahead 38-7 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Preston Rex early in the third quarter.

“We got enough of a lead and still made mistakes, but still felt like the game was under control the entire time,” Sitake said. “So this is something we can build on, but I’d like to see some improvement, mostly from the backups. … I felt like there were a lot of mistakes, and we made a couple turnovers that weren’t good, but we’ll learn from it.”

The Cougars also committed eight penalties, costing them 74 yards. Personal fouls on BYU helped CSU score on its first possession and another possession early in the fourth quarter.

“I feel like our whole defense believes in those second- and third-stringers. We know that they know what they need to do,” said cornerback Evan Johnson. “It is just a matter of going out there and executing.

“Same with our ones on that first (CSU) drive. I feel like to be the best defense, we are going to have to clean those little things up and make sure we get those things right.”

Despite the subpar ending for BYU, Johnson said the mood in the postgame locker room was the same as it was after the Cougars beat Arizona 28-17 in Week 2.

“We got the win. We came here and we did what we were supposed to do,” he said. “No matter how the game may have looked, we came out with the win, so I am super proud of our guys for that.”

Johnson said he isn’t sure what the plan is for the bye week, “but whatever it is, we will be attacking it with a full head of steam.”

Asked by an out-of-state reporter about BYU’s “big” aspirations for 2026, Sitake said the Cougars will continue to stay grounded and humble.

“We are exactly where we want to be,” he said. “But it doesn’t really matter if we don’t take advantage of the time during the bye week and the time to learn from all the things that we experienced in this game.”

BYU got out of the game mostly healthy, although two starters — tight end Roger Saleapaga and right guard Kyle Sfarcioc — as well as backup receiver Tiger Bachmeier, did not play.

Sitake said senior Trevin Ostler filled in admirably for Sfarcioc and tight end Keayen Nead filled in well for Saleapaga.

Walker Lyons caught two passes for 40 yards and Nead caught one pass for 6 yards, the Weber State transfer’s first catch as a Cougar.

BYU is 3-0 for the fourth straight year and sixth time in seven seasons. It is the 20th time in school history that the Cougars have started a season with three straight wins.

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