BYU has been exactly who BYU is through three games in 2026. Three games, three double-digit wins. The Cougars have also run for 6.7 yards per carry and are averaging 262 yards per game on the ground. That kind of rushing efficiency does not happen by accident, and a big piece of it is how often BYU is putting a man in motion before the snap. Add a high rate of motion to that rushing attack and you can see why the Cougars have been frustrating for opposing defenses. Let’s get into how the Cougars are attacking defenses with motion in 2026.
Jet & Zoom Motions
We’ve seen this concept a lot at the FCS level and it’s filtering up, but this is a fun concept. Jet sweep one direction and Q Zone the other. Additionally, a lot of the time a defensive lineman is also read, so this helps in the numbers game as well. The Cougars make the correct read, find the edge, and finish with a touchdown.
Here we get a different variation of jet motion, a return version, with Q power by the Cougars. The running back will kick and the back side guard pulls for the play side linebacker. Great design, lots of moving parts, but simple power football.
Jet motion, power read with a give. They crack with Colorado State in man coverage and almost get a two for one, but they do gain leverage with the corner playing man on the receiver and the receiver going to crack the Nickel/overhang.
Now we see that jet motion paired with split zone. The play side linebacker, and corner in man, fly over the top, vacating where the run is going and leaving no defenders in the second level. The result is the running back walking into the end zone untouched for six.
The next few examples are more “zoom” motion than “jet” motion but the flow is still similar. We get this motion to the field, plus sprint out, combined with snag corner to the field. Between the motion, and moving parts we have defensive backs running into each other, assignments getting crossed and ultimately the snag comes wide open. Easy throw, easy catch, big gain for the Cougars.
Same motion, this time to leverage the defense on an “X under” screen. It looks like a play action deep shot, the secondary is bailing and the receivers are looking to block for the opposite receiver coming underneath. Well designed and catches the Rams bailing into coverage.
One more time with a similar concept into the boundary except this time it feels more like Stick or Dial into the boundary, again they overload the boundary, make the defense sort receivers, find the open one, and get them the ball.
Final Thoughts
The BYU Cougars do a fantastic job year in and year out doing more with less, and it shows here on tape. They use motion to out-leverage opponents at the point of attack, then combine that with creativity off of that motion to catch defenses with counter punches like screen and split zone. The Cougars are always a great team to watch if you want creativity and good football, and the best part is you can usually catch them at night after you’ve watched whomever else you’d like to see that day. In part two of this series we’ll discuss the “escort” and “orbit” motions used by the Cougars.
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