Provo • BYU had dreamed of this win for years.
The Cougars wanted it. Needed it even.
And eventually, in front of a sellout crowd on a historic night at LaVell Edwards Stadium, they did just enough to get it.
Never mind how ugly, bordering on unnecessarily difficult, it was at times, BYU can take Friday night’s win over Cincinnati, the first Big 12 Conference football game played in Provo, and be happy.
It did what it needed to do.
“Am I really happy about how we did it? No,” head coach Kalani Sitake said. “But I’m happy we won.”
Early struggles
It felt like Sitake was speaking for the entire BYU sideline after a 35-27 win over the Bearcats.
Early on, it looked bad for BYU. Through the first 29 minutes, quarterback Kedon Slovis had just two passing yards and one completion. The offense ran 14 plays compared to Cincinnati’s 34.
The Cougars’ defense, meanwhile, couldn’t get off the field. Cincinnati rushed for 154 yards in the first half, controlled the ball for 22 minutes and held a 10-7 lead right before the break.
That effort, Sitake knows, isn’t going to beat TCU on the road in two weeks. Or Texas on the road. Or Oklahoma at home. Even Texas Tech, West Virginia and Iowa State are tossups playing like that.
Which is partly why this game felt like a must-win for the Cougars. In BYU’s quest to get to six wins and earn a bowl bid, it needed to capitalize on a winnable game.
Whatever it takes
BYU fans cheer during the first half of the team's NCAA college football game against Cincinnati on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Against the Bearcats, BYU could have a bad half and still overcome it. And even if it took time, it did so on Friday night. That, as Sitake told offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, is the important part.
“I told A-Rod, I don’t care what you do,” Sitake said. “I don’t care if you throw the ball 100 times or run the ball 100 times, just get points on the board.”
With 44 seconds left in the first half, BYU’s offense seemingly snapped out of it. Slovis engineered an 82-yard drive in three plays and guided the Cougars into the end zone — and a 14-10 lead — right before the break.
He took that momentum and seemingly figured out the defense from there. BYU would score touchdowns on four of its final six drives. None were better than when Slovis danced out of a sack with 2:53 left in the third quarter and found Chase Roberts for a 59-yard touchdown.
It gave BYU a 28-13 lead and the game was never in doubt the rest of the night.
(Rick Bowmer | AP) BYU cornerback Jakob Robinson (0) makes an interception against Cincinnati during the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Provo. Robinson scored a touchdown.
Slovis, after starting 1-of-7, put together an 8-of-9 stretch for 182 yards and two touchdowns. He would finish 13-of-24 for 223 yards.
“We started looking at their tendencies and what they were doing,” Roberts said of what changed after the first 29 minutes. “Defenders, they were playing a lot of man. We needed to beat them on the outside and they were jumping on the outside. We started kind of slipping our routes on the outside and saw some openings. Talking as wide receivers, QBs and OC. Getting plays that kind of fit.”
BYU couldn’t extend the lead beyond that, much to Sitake’s chagrin.
Overcoming mistakes
The defense allowed 498 yards and Cincinnati continued to drive the ball at will, keeping it out of BYU’s hands. Ultimately, the Bearcats ran 84 plays to BYU’s 53.
When BYU was driving with a chance to go up three scores in the fourth quarter, inside the 10-yard line, the Cougars botched a snap that pushed them back 17 yards. It forced a missed field goal.
“We should have gone up three scores,” Sitake said. “Fortunate to get the win with those mistakes and those errors.”
BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts celebrates his touchdown against Cincinnati during the second half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
The conference’s schedule makers gave the Cougars as much of a gift as exists in the Big 12. With commissioner Brett Yormark watching, the Cougars’ first conference home game was a meeting with a fellow Power Five newcomer, during a short week, with the Bearcats traveling two time zones away.
Now BYU sits at 4-1 as it enters the heart of its Big 12 schedule. It will only have to win two games in the next seven to get to a bowl.
The Cougars need all the cushion they can get because there might not be another Cincinnati-type game for a while.
BYU will meet all the top teams in the league after this. TCU in two weeks. Texas soon after. Even the so-called easy ones, like West Virginia, don’t look that easy anymore (the Mountaineers have won three straight).
“Being in the Big 12 we can hold our heads high,” linebacker Max Tooley said. “4-1 is a good spot for us.”
Roberts agreed.
“5-0 would have been better,” he joked. “But we knew we had a great team. ... We fight, we are going to win some games. We are going to be a powerhouse in the Big 12.”
Sitake’s voice was hoarse after the game. He had lost it somewhere screaming, trying to make adjustments so BYU didn’t squander its precious chance on Friday.
He knew it. The Big 12 doesn’t give you many windows for wins like that. And when it does, you have to take them — however it may look.
“It is hard to win with this type of schedule in the Big 12,” Sitake finished.
