If there was a position group for the BYU football team last year that probably didn’t receive enough praise for the Cougars‘ 12-2 season and appearance in the Big 12 championship game, it was the offensive line.
The group was largely responsible for freshman Bear Bachmeier’s emergence, running back LJ Martin’s continued rise, and pass-catchers Chase Roberts and Carsen Ryan producing enough to earn NFL opportunities. Bachmeier and Martin have said as much, never letting a chance pass by since the 25-21 win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl to give the Big Uglies their flowers.
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“Without them, we do nothing,” Martin said last spring.
But if there was one disappointing aspect to the O line’s play in 2025, it was that it was dominated twice by Texas Tech’s defensive line. Of course, pretty much that entire Red Raiders front four is in the NFL now, but you get the point.
Which brings us to 2026, with the most-anticipated season in BYU football history beginning Sept. 5 when the Cougars play host to Utah Tech at LaVell Edwards Stadium (6 p.m. MDT, ESPN+). Will these guys be able to go toe-to-toe with not only Texas Tech, but Notre Dame, Utah and Arizona?
“There’s no microwaving an offensive lineman. That’s the way it works. You gotta you gotta smoke them. It’s a long, slow burn a lot of times with those guys.”
Five big blockers who saw significant playing time last year — Bruce Mitchell, Sonny Makasini, Andrew Gentry, Kyle Sfarcioc and Trevin Ostler — are back, and have been joined by several key additions, most notably Washington transfer left tackle Paki Finau.
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“Yeah, we feel really good about our group, especially in the two-deep,” head coach Kalani Sitake said after Saturday’s scrimmage in which the offense, led by the offensive line “getting some knock back on our defensive line,” got the upper hand over the course of 102 plays from scrimmage. “There are a lot of guys that have played a lot of reps. … I thought the offensive line was really physical today.”
With preseason training camp having reached its midpoint earlier this week, offensive line coach TJ Woods said he continues to feel good about the group, but is far from satisfied, as he enters his third season in Provo.
“I think we’re ahead in terms of the guys understanding the O line system,” he said. “… We run a lot of cool plays. We run some plays that everybody else runs, too. But I think the big thing is our system, our calls, our adjustments, the tools that we have in our tool belt. A lot of these guys now going into Year 3, they have a lot more (knowledge). They’re far better equipped to handle all the stressors that they see on the field.”
With Makasini (left guard), Mitchell (center), Sfarcioc (right guard) and Gentry (right tackle) mostly entrenched at their spots, Woods said the task was to get Finau assimilated into how things are done at BYU after he spent the last two seasons at a Big Ten school. The other returner with a lot of experience is redshirt senior Trevin Ostler, a 320-pounder from Bountiful High who can play a variety of positions.
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“Trevin has had meaningful snaps,” Woods said. “I kind of view Trevin as a 1B, if that makes sense.”
Makasini, Mitchell, Gentry and Sfarcioc are also seniors, and with Makasini, Mitchell and Gentry having served two-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before enrolling in college, the Cougars quite likely have the oldest offensive line in college football.
“We are obviously a veteran group, so the chemistry piece was something that we wanted to try to make sure that we were developing and that we were really investing into and leaning into,” Woods said. “These guys have played a lot of ball together already. … That’s really been the big focus, getting Paki (comfortable) and gelling with these guys.”
Woods said he and three of his assistants, including former BYU standout Connor Pay, “feel great about” their top six or seven guys. After that, they are still trying to identify the other three or four guys who will travel.
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“As we all know, two years ago we got down to that number (due to injuries to Pay, Isaiah Jatta, Weylin Lapuaho and Brayden Keim),” he said. “And we didn’t miss a beat, and played really well. So that’s kind of our challenge here for the next couple weeks of camp.”
Who are the all-important backups on the offensive line?
During Tuesday’s media viewing portion of practice, Trevor Pay was in at center with the first team offense, while Stanford transfer Zak Yamauchi played right guard with the ones. Woods said it was “just part of the routine” for Sfarcioc and Mitchell to be out, and nothing to worry about.
BYU offensive lineman Trevor Pay (67) stretches before a game against Arizona held at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024. | Isaac Hale
Along with Ostler, Pay and Yamauchi, others in the mix to make the two-deep chart are true freshman Bott Mulitalo, redshirt freshman Ethan Thomason, redshirt sophomores Joe Brown and Jr Sia and redshirt freshman Siosiua Latu-Finau, who appeared in three games last year.
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“We have a lot of pieces,” Woods said, after having been asked about Yamauchi, a Las Vegas product who was dinged up a bit in spring camp. “We needed to find out who seven, eight, nine are, the guys that we can throw in there and we’re not going to miss a beat.”
Latu-Finau is also an interesting case because he didn’t play football his last two years of high school in the Oakland-Fremont area of California, Woods said.
‘He’s doing a heck of a job. For Siosiua, it is a little bit of a crash course. … He just needs reps. He just needs the experience.”
Asked about Mulitalo, the four-star recruit from nearby Lone Peak High, Woods said it is just a matter of getting the phenom some experience.
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“We say this all the time in our room: ‘If you are good enough, you are old enough.’ That’s how it works,” Woods said. “We are going to play the best players. We’re excited about Bott. He’s very talented. A lot of things come real natural to him.”
Bottom line, Woods said, is that there’s no substitution for experience.
“There’s no microwaving an offensive lineman. That’s the way it works. You gotta smoke them. It’s a long, slow burn a lot of times with those guys.”
BYU offensive and defensive lines wait for the snap during practice March 6, 2026, at the indoor practice facility in Provo. | Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo
