​BYU offensive line coach TJ Woods looks on during the first practice of spring camp Feb. 27, 2026.
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Aaron Cornia, BYU Photo
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.“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.”BYU OL coach TJ WoodsFive 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.“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