Ben Bywater

Ben Bywater played his high school football at Olympus High School. In his senior season at Olympus, he totaled 95 tackles as a senior with 10.0 tackles for loss. He was region MVP in 2016 as he played both running back and linebacker. Out of high school, Bywater was listed as a 3-star recruit by Rivals.com and 247Sports, while receiving a 2-star rating from ESPN. He received offers from BYU, Utah State, and Air Force, and ultimately chose BYU as the next step in his football career. In his first two seasons at BYU, Bywater played in 6 games, 3 in each year. Over these 6 games, he made 15 total tackles, and was able to redshirt both seasons due to limited playing time in 2019 and Covid in 2020. In 2021, he started all 13 games for the Cougars, making 102 tackles, 8.5 TFL, and 1 sack. He was first on the team in both tackles and TFL in his first full season, which led to him being selected to the All-Independent First Team Defense by Pro Football Network. His success carried on to 2022 when he played in all 13 games, starting 7 of them for the Cougars. He recorded 98 tackles, 4 TFL and 1 sack, once again leading the team in tackles. This season, Bywater played the first 4 games and tallied 32 tackles including 3 TFL and 1 sack. In the fourth game of the season, he injured his shoulder, requiring season-ending surgery for the star linebacker and forcing him to the sideline for the remainder of 2023. He was on pace to lead the team in tackles for a third season in a row with another 100-tackle season before the injury.