No. 22 BYU is 4-0 and still hasn't won Big 12 road game. Can Cougars break the trend?

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

WACO, Texas — Four games into the 2024 college football season, BYU has already overachieved in a lot of ways.

Picked to finish 13th in the 16-team Big 12 with a projected win total of 4.5 by Las Vegas sportsbooks, the Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) took a big step toward something a lot greater with last week's 38-9 win over then-No. 13 Kansas State.

The Big 12 title contender Wildcats looked anything-but under the lights of LaVell Edwards Stadium, where a raucous student section harassed rising star quarterback Avery Johnson, and a top-25 defense forced three turnovers for touchdowns even before Parker Kingston's upchucking, 150-yard sprint on a 90-yard punt return for another score.

Indeed, the Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) have a certain swagger back after re-entering the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time in two years and looking like bonafide conference contenders to some.

It's still early, and a lot can change in college football, but these aren't your grandmother's Cougars, either. They've already proven that.

But they haven't proven some key things, either.

"We haven't won a Big 12 road game yet. That's the challenge," offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said. "Nobody feels like we've arrived, by any means. We need to go get our first Big 12 road win.

"It's just the nature of the world we live in now, with social media and the media, that when you lose, the sky is falling and everything is lost; and when you win, it's like you've arrived," he added. "Neither one is true; you just have to stay level, prepare every week the same way, and be ready to play on Saturday."

BYU moves from the Wildcats under the lights of the Wasatch Front to a mid-day kickoff on the the banks of the Brazos River on Saturday, when it heads to Baylor (10 a.m. MDT, FS1). And wouldn't you know it: The Bears (2-2, 0-1 Big 12) opened as 3.5-point favorites a week after a heartbreaking 38-31 overtime loss to Colorado in Boulder.

"After last week, we're still underdogs in this game. We're always going to have that chip on our shoulder," BYU defensive end Isaiah Bagnah said. "We always knew what our plan was since the beginning of the season. It's only Week 4. We've emphasized being hungry and humble until the very end.

"Of course, it's cool to have a good win and climb in the rankings, but we know what our purpose is. We know exactly what we want, and we're not going to stop until we get it."

The Bears are among the more familiar opponents to BYU in recent history, having played them twice in the last four years thanks to a home-and-home series that played out as the Big 12 newcomers were being admitted to the conference. The overall series is tied 2-2, including BYU's 26-20 double overtime win in Provo in 2022.

The Cougars have done an about-face through the season's first month, from struggling newcomer in a power conference that ended last season on a five-game skid to lovable underdog with a bit more respect after demolishing the Wildcats to cap a four-game win streak.

But it's one thing to do what they did at home, with 64,000 of their closest friends, and quite different to put in the same performance in a hostile road environment. Perhaps that's why BYU players and coaches don't seem, to paraphrase legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban, to be drinking the rat poison of public adoration.

Asked to point out some weaknesses the team noticed from Saturday's 29-point win that dropped Kansas State to No. 23 in the AP poll, players and coaches offer a laundry list. Even Kingston admits he "dropped the ball" on his muffed-point-turned-touchdown that made SportsCenter's top 10.

He can laugh about it now, for obvious reasons, but he knows next time won't be so lucky.

"I just misread that one. That punter was super sporadic," Kingston said. "I saw it wobble, and I ran up on it before I realized it was actually carrying. So I just misjudged it."

Of course, Kingston isn't alone.

"In this game, it was glaring a couple of things that we've got to fix before we get to the Baylor game," special teams coordinator Kelly Poppinga said. "Our whole thing this week is being humble and hungry. I think our whole team is doing it, and we have the right mindset going forward. If we make those proper corrections, I think it'll go well with us on Saturday."

Cleanup starts Saturday at McLane Stadium.

"In the Big 12, if you want to win a championship, you've got to win on the road," Bagnah said. "We're coming in with the same mindset as we do at LES."

How to watch, stream and listen

No. 22 BYU (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) vs. Baylor (2-2, 0-1 Big 12)

Saturday, Sept. 28

• Kickoff: 10 a.m. MT
• TV: FS1 (Alex Faust, Robert Smith)
• Radio: BYUradio SiriusXM 143, KSL 1160AM/102.7 FM (Greg Wrubell, Hans Olsen, Mitchell Juergens)
• Series: Tied, 2-2
• Conference weekend. BYU is off to a 1-0 start in the Big 12. Last year, BYU finished 2-7 in league play so the Cougars have an opportunity to match their win total in the conference with a win at Baylor. The Bears also finished at 2-7 in the Big 12 in 2023.
• Da Bears. BYU and Baylor are meeting for the fifth time and first time as members of the same conference. The series is even at 2-2. The Cougars won the last game, a 2022 contest in Provo that went to double overtime before BYU came out on top 26-20 in a defensive battle. In the last game in Waco, Baylor won 38-24 in 2021. BYU's Gerry Bohanon was the quarterback of the Bears in 2021 and went 18 of 28 for 231 yards with one touchdown and one interception against the Cougars. Bohanon led the Bears to a Big 12 title and No. 5 final ranking in 2021 before transferring to USF and eventually to Provo.
• Aranda-vision. Baylor's Dave Aranda and BYU's TJ Woods spend time on the same staff together at Utah State (2012) and Wisconsin (2013-14) under Gary Andersen. Aranda was the defensive coordinator under Andersen at both schools and TJ Woods was the offensive line coach.

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Sean Walker

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KSL.com BYU and college sports reporter