Game Notes: UTAH TECH - PDF | BYU - PDF
Utah Tech Football Media Central
Lance Anderson Coaches Show: TRAILBLAZER SPORTSVISION
Pre-Game/Post-Game Show: TRAILBLAZER SPORTSVISION
Live TV: ESPN+
Live Streaming Video: ESPN+
Live Audio: THE FAN SPORTS NETWORK
Live Stats: at BYU
Twitter: @UtahTech_Sports | @UtahTech_Fball | #UtahTechIsHere | #BigSkyFB

TRAILBLAZER TALES 
• Utah Tech opens its seven-game road slate with a quick trip north on Interstate 15 to Provo to face in-state foe and Big 12 power No. 14/15 BYU on Saturday night inside LaVell Edwards Stadium.
• Saturday's game is the second meeting between the Trailblazers and Cougars on the gridiron.
• Saturday's game also marks the first time Utah Tech will face an FBS Power 4 Conference opponent. 
• Utah Tech and BYU met for the first time on the football field as four-year opponents in Provo in the Blazers' 2022 season finale (11/19/22).
• The Trailblazers actually led 6-0 after the first quarter and were down by only eight points, 28-20, at the halftime break. However BYU would outscore Utah Tech 24-6 in the second half to cruise to a 52-26 home victory. 
• Before rebranding to Utah Tech University, then-Dixie College played BYU's junior varsity teams for several years during the institution's junior college era, with the last known meeting taking place in 2002. 
• Utah Tech fell to 3-18 all-time in season openers in its NCAA era following its home shutout loss to FCS No. 1-ranked Montana State last Saturday night in St. George. 
• Utah Tech enters Saturday night's game at BYU with a 5-41 (4-40 overall vs. AFCA) all-time record vs. ranked opponents (FCS and D-II), which includes a 3-23 mark in its brief time as an FCS program.
• The Trailblazers' last victory over a ranked team came two seasons ago at home against then No. 9/11 Central Arkansas (34-21; 11/2/24). 
 
LIVE STATS/AUDIO/STREAM INFO: Live stats and audio/video streaming information and links for this Saturday night's game at No. 14/15 BYU can be found online at utahtechtrailblazers.com.
 
UTAH TECH ON THE AIR: All Utah Tech games this season are broadcast live on The Fan Sports Network(99.5/95.3 FM in St. George; 93.1 FM/1400 AM in Cedar City; www.thefansportsnetwork.com), while all home games will be streamed live online on ESPN+.
        The "Voice of the Trailblazers" Rod Zundel is in his fifth season calling the play-by-play action, and will be on the call this Saturday night from Provo on The Fan Sports Network, with former Trailblazer defensive lineman Max Christensen III providing color analysis. 
        As part of this season's game day broadcast coverage, Utah Tech airs a 60-minute comprehensive pregame show, and 30-minute post-game show, both of which air live on The Fan Sports Network and streamed live on YouTube on Trailblazer SportsVision (youtube.com/TrailblazerAthletics).
        Along with complete Game Day coverage, Zundel hosts "The Lance Anderson Coaches Show" every Tuesday night on The Fan Sports Network and streamed on Trailblazer SportsVision at 6 p.m. (MT).
 
A TRAILBLAZER WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD...: Give Utah Tech its first-ever victory over a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. A win would also be Utah Tech's second against an in-state opponent during the program's brief D-I FCS era, and would be the program's sixth victory overall against a ranked opponent. 
   
GOING BIG IN 2026-27: Utah Tech began year one of its full membership in the Big Sky Conference on July 1. In all, 15 of the Trailblazers' 18 Division I sports, including football, competes in the premiere FCS conference in Division I.  
 
MORE ABOUT YEAR ONE IN THE BIG SKY: Utah Tech will play 11 Big Sky opponents this season, including first-ever match-ups against Northern Colorado (9/26), Portland State (10/10), Cal Poly (10/24) and Eastern Washington (11/14).
However only nine of those 11 games will count in the conference standings as the Trailblazers will square off against both Montana (9/12) and NAU (9/19) in non-conference play on consecutive weekends later this month. Those two games were already on Utah Tech's 2026 schedule prior to the program accepting the invitation to join the league a year ago.
The only Big Sky team Utah Tech will not play this season is Idaho, which the Blazers faced last season in Moscow. 
 
SO ABOUT THE 2026 SCHEDULE: Utah Tech's 2026 schedule is currently  ranked as the hardest in the current Massey FCS ratings (out of 128 FCS teams), and is predicted as the sixth-toughest slate in the latest WarrenNolan.com ELO preseason strength of schedule ratings.
The Trailblazers' schedule currently features five teams ranked in the FCS top-25 preseason polls, while two others are receiving votes. Meanwhile BYU is ranked t-14th in the 2026 FBS AP Preseason Top-25 poll, and 15th in the AFCA Preseason Coaches' poll. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech kicked off its 2026 season, and the program's first season in the Big Sky, on the wrong end of a 54-0 home decision to defending Division I FCS champion No. 1/1 Montana State last Saturday night at Greater Zion Stadium.
 
MORE ABOUT SATURDAY'S DEBUT: Last Saturday night's opener vs. top-ranked Montana State marked the seventh-straight year that Utah Tech had faced a ranked opponent to begin a season. The Trailblazers are now 1-6 in season openers in their brief time as an FCS program. That lone win was posted in the 2021 Spring opener (and the program's FCS debut game) in that road victory at then-No. 22 Tarleton State on Feb. 27, 2021.
 
TAKING ON ALL COMERS: Since transitioning to NCAA Division I FCS status in 2020-21, Utah Tech has faced 31 top-25 teams (3-28) and 26 total FCS playoff teams.   
        In fact, Utah Tech's 2021 fall schedule was rated as the second-toughest schedule in the entire country and featured seven ranked teams and seven 2021 FCS Fall playoff teams, including the 2021 spring national champion (Sam Houston) and runner-up (South Dakota State).
Utah Tech has also squared off against four FBS programs over that span - New Mexico State (2021 spring in El Paso, Texas), BYU (2022), Colorado State (2023) and UNLV (2024).
 
ABOUT THE BYU "COUGARS": No. 14/15 BYU will be making its 2026 season debut when the Cougars take the field on Saturday night. BYU is coming off a 12-2 campaign in 2025, which featured an 8-1 record in Big 12 play, and a 25-21 victory over Georgia Tech in the Poptarts Bowl. 
Sophomore QB Bear Bachmeier returns to run the high-powered Cougar offense. As a true freshman last season, Bachmeier threw for 3,033 yards and 15 touchdowns, while rushing for 527 yards and 11 more scores. 
Meanwhile, senior RB LJ Martin rushed of 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns on his way to being named 2025 Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.  
Defensively, BYU ranked 35th in the FBS last season in total defense (332.4 ypg), 30th in rush defense (122.7 ypg), 19th in scoring defense (19.1 ppg) and ninth-nationally with 17 interceptions. 
Senior LB Cade Uluave racked up 100 total tackles (42 solo) along with three sacks and 12.0 TFLs to help lead the Cougar defensive effort.
 
#AB3FOREVER: Fifth year defensive lineman Fasitootai Sagapolu was voted by his teammates to receive the honorary No. 3 jersey for the 2026 season. The senior defensive stalwart is the fifth Trailblazer player to earn the coveted privilege since the 2021 spring season. 
The awarding of the No. 3 jersey has become an annual tradition honoring the memory of former Trailblazer football player Abraham Reinhardt, who passed away unexpectedly on March 22, 2019.
Head coach Lance Anderson noted when he arrived on the Utah Tech campus that he took some time to get familiar with the story of Reinhardt, both as a student-athlete and as a young man. He quickly realized the importance and the impact this tradition has on the Trailblazer football program, a tradition he is very eager to continue.
"Once I heard the story about Abe Reinhardt, the kind of person he was, the kind of football player he was, and his tragic passing, I was very touched and felt like this is something we need to continue," said Coach Anderson. "I felt it was very important that our team understands who he was and what this jersey truly represents."
  
2026 TRAILBLAZER FOOTBALL POSITION-BY-POSITION NOTES
QUARTERBACK
• Junior Bronson Barben got the opening night start against Montana State and went 9-for-21 passing for 78 yards and two interceptions ... Barben also led Utah Tech in rushing with 21 yards on six carries. 
• Barben threw for 1,682 on 58.7 percent passing and six touchdowns in 10 games a year ago. 
• Junior CJ Tiller played in the final two series vs. Montana State and completed 10 of his 12 pass attempts for 91 yards. 
  
RUNNING BACK
• Junior Ace Chatman carried the ball a team-high 13 times for 20 yards, and caught his lone target for three yards, vs. Montana State last Saturday night.
• Chatman's 13 carries tied for the third-most in a single game over his one-plus seasons as the starting tailback. 
• Chatman started in 10 of the 11 games he appeared in last season and rushed for 536 yards on 121 carries (4.4 ypc) with a team-high five touchdowns ... he also led the offense with 713 all-purpose yards (64.8 ypg).
• Senior tailback Kona Crowell carried the ball four times for seven yards vs. Montana State, while freshman RB Junior Curtis ran for two yards on his first collegiate carry. 
 
WIDE RECEIVER
• Senior Mike Williams caught four of his five targets for 42 yards in his Trailblazer debut vs. Montana State last Saturday night ... his four catches on Saturday night matched his career total over three seasons at Southeastern Louisiana. 
• Junior Prince Zombo Jr., who transferred to Utah Tech from BYU after redshirting with the Cougar program in 2024, made three receptions for 29 yards vs. Montana State.
• Sophomore Isaac McMullin hauled in both of his targets for 30 yards, including a 26-yard hook-up with Tiller for a first down on 3rd and 13 in the fourth quarter, in his first game as a Trailblazer.  
• Fifth-year DaJon Harrison collected 16 yards on two receptions in his season debut vs. Montana State.
 
TIGHT END
• Sophomore Brayden Hampsten hauled in three passes for 29 yards in his season debut vs. Montana State last Saturday night. 
 
DEFENSE LINE 
• Senior Brandon Jackson recorded his first collegiate sack and tallied four total tackles against Montana State. 
• Jackson also blocked a kick for the second time in as many season openers, swatting away a Bobcat PAT attempt late in the second quarter ... Jackson also blocked a field goal in last year's season opener vs. UC Davis (8/30/25).
• Junior Zayden Cook racked up a career high six tackles in his first collegiate start vs. Montana State. 
• Fifth year Fasitootai Sagapolu made four stops in the opener vs. Montana State.
 
LINEBACKERS 
• Senior Will Alovao collected his first sack of the season and made four total tackles vs. Montana State. 
• Alovao has recorded at least one TFL in eight of his last 10 games overall with three total sacks over that stretch. 
• Junior Moe Passi posted a six tackle night (3 solo) in the Montana State opener ... Passi's six tackles were two off of his career high of eight set in last season's home win over North Alabama (11/1/25). 
• Sophomore Daylen Love registered five total tackles and one TFL in his season debut vs. Montana State. 
• Senior RJ Jones II was credited with five tackles off the bench in the opener vs. Montana State. 
• Fifth year Helaman Ofahengaue was credited with four total tackles vs. Montana State.
 
DEFENSIVE BACKS 
• Senior safety Quincy Lejay racked up a game-high 11 tackles (6 solo) and on QB hurry in the opener vs. Montana State.
• Lejay's 11 stops were two off of his career high of 13 set in Utah Tech's 2024 home win over Central Arkansas (11/2/24), and was his third double-digit tackle game overall. 
• Fifth year safety Brevin Czosnyka picked up right where he left off from a season ago with a Utah Tech career high nine total tackles (5 solo) vs. Montana State.
• Junior CB Jeremiah Jimoh was credited with six tackles and his sixth-career PBU in his season debut vs. Montana State. 
• Junior reserve safety Brady Sorenson tallied a career high five tackles and his first collegiate TFL in the opener vs. Montana State. 
• Freshman CB Ryan Tillman made the most of his collegiate debut with four tackles and a TFL vs. Montana State. 
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Senior punter Ryan Marks punted four times for 187 yards (46.8 ypp), including a 55-yard boot in the second quarter, in the opener vs. Montana State.
• Marks' 55-yarder on Saturday night was his 21st 50-plus yard kick in 13 games as Utah Tech's punter.  
• Marks was Utah Tech's lone representative on the preseason all-Big Sky team. The senior also started the year on the 2026 FCS Punter of the Year Preseason Watch List, and was named a Stats Perform FCS Preseason Third Team All-American. 
 
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech continues the non-conference portion of its 2026 schedule next Saturday at nationally-ranked Montana. Kick-off inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium in Missoula is set for 1 p.m. (MT).