If BYU intended to stay undefeated on Saturday against UCF, the Cougars were required to successfully keep three important words front of mind, back of mind, left of mind, right of mind, middle of mind. If the three words remained out of mind, no way BYU could keep a bagel on the back end of its record.
Stop. The. Run.
There were three other words, even more important that we’ll get to in just a minute.
Defensive coordinator Jay Hill said he didn’t want his side of the ball to overreact to BYU’s trouble limiting Oklahoma State on the ground the week before, and just like that …
It didn’t have to.
Why? Because the offense was BYU’s best defense. (The defense wasn’t bad, either.)
How so? Because not only did that offense roll forward for 37 points, against UCF’s 24, it also kept the Knights’ greedy run game off the field. where it could cause little harm.
Time of possession doesn’t always write the script, but on this occasion, it told a compelling story: BYU 40:28, UCF 19:32.
Kalani Sitake gave the impression he knew what was coming in this game before it played out in front of everyone. “I feel really good about the team, the overall mindset of the team,” he said. “I love the team dynamic.”
He loved it even more after Saturday’s win, a victory that blew past the lopsided numbers up on the board.
“That’s a really good team,” UCF coach Gus Malzahn agreed.
All of us are — or should be — far past wondering whether the 8-0 Cougars are for real. They are real enough to competitively kick opponents in the chiclets and laugh at their disfigured pain.
As mentioned, it’s not as though their defense had no hand in substantiating the point.
When Isaiah Glasker took an interception with just over five minutes left in the third quarter, setting up a BYU field goal that gave the Cougars a 24-point lead, and ending any lingering question about the game’s outcome, it was clear to all but the most doubting of college football’s Thomases, that BYU is, in absolute fact, a complete team, a dangerous team, a talented team, an authentic contender for the Big 12 championship.
The strange happenings that helped BYU along earlier this season, such as its offensive, defensive and special teams scoring contributions against Kansas State and other opponents, too, turned out to only seem strange. As has become apparent, the Cougars earned those happenings, forcing turnovers, taking advantage of fumbles and interceptions, playing legitimate defense, and smoothing its potent attack, hitting on clutch plays when the moment called for them. You can wipe the word fluke off the charts for BYU.
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, Center, is sacked by Central Florida's defense during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Kevin Kolczynski)
There is and has been no luck, no happenstance, no freakishness in what the Cougars are up to. Just rocksteady football through the undulations that are bound to come.
The guy who plays the most important position on the field, quarterback Jake Retzlaff, is the place, the person to commence with the accolades. On Saturday, he hit on 16 of 24 passes for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns, no picks. He also ran for 38 yards and a 29-yard TD. He did get sloppy early in the fourth quarter when a tight end missed a block on a defensive end and Retzlaff had the ball knocked loose. It mattered little when BYU subsequently intercepted a pass to retain possession.
On the season, Retzlaff’s stats look like this: 229 throws, 137 completions, 1,872 yards, 18 touchdowns, 303 rushing yards.
Before this season even started, observers noted that the Cougars’ overall success would hang, in large part, on Retzlaff’s positive development. They were correct. And it has. He’s been aided, though, by a talented receiving group, led by Darius Lassiter and Chase Roberts, and a fistful of others.
Moreover, BYU has demonstrated that it can run the ball, evidenced by Retzlaff and a now healthy LJ Martin (101 yards against the Knights) and Hinckley Ropati (83 yards) and an offensive line that is consistently creating space for the backs to get free.
The defense did lapse against Oklahoma State, but did what seemed necessary against UCF … you-know-what. If it didn’t stop the run, it slowed it. But there’s more, a kind of collective energy emergent in this team.
Underscoring how surprising the rise of BYU has been this year is this little ditty: BYU, according to ESPN, is the second team since 1990 to win its first eight games without a loss despite being underdogs in four of those games.
Who says a team is favored or disfavored, anyway? Sitake said back in August that his team “is better than anyone knows, and everyone will eventually see what I see.” He said it with such conviction when all the rest of us were dogging the Cougars that it appeared almost believable.
It’s believable now.
It turns out, that the Cougars couldn’t give two spits about what observers thought. They do care about what folks think now. And what they think, a whole lot of them anyway, is that BYU to date is one of the best college football stories of the season. To go from 2-7 in league last time around to 5-0 at present is not just notable, but remarkable.
Many times, you hear coaches say they want their teams to find fun in football, and Sitake is no different. He’s said it again and again. He said it Saturday.
Well. Winning is fun. And the Cougars are doing it and having it.
They soundly beat a team on its home field on Saturday that last week pushed the other undefeated team in the Big 12 — Iowa State — to the limit, rushing for some 350 yards against the Cyclones.
Yeah, BYU gave up 181 ground yards, 379 in total, but it got 252 rushing back, 480 total yards.
When UCF scored a TD and converted two points with nine minutes left, cutting the lead to 34-18, BYU’s offense rallied for an additional field goal, game over. A meaningless UCF touchdown later was … meaningless.
The primary takeaway?
Three words. Three other important words. Front of mind, back of mind, left of mind, right of mind, middle of mind.
Win. The. Game.
It’s what BYU has to do. What it has learned to do. What it’s done. And what it does.
