The Cougars were opportunistic enough to hold off the Bearcats 35-27 in a battle of two Big 12 newcomers.
Chalk up the first conference win of the Big 12 era for BYU football.
The Cougars outlasted visiting Cincinnati 35-27 on Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium, overcoming some first-half struggles before pulling ahead in the second half.
Here’s three good (and bad) takeaways for BYU (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) from the contest:
1. BYU scored on defense, and had special teams set up another short field. One week after the Cougars gave up two defensive touchdowns in a 38-27 loss to Kansas, they took advantage of the game’s only two turnovers.
BYU scored the game’s first points, courtesy of cornerback Jakob Robinson. On Cincinnati’s first possession, Robinson picked off Cincinnati’s Emory Jones and ran 42 yards for the score. It was Robinson’s third interception of the season.
COUGS STRIKE FIRST.
???? ESPN – https://t.co/JF3bVPdNe2 pic.twitter.com/4Nm7E50B7l— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 30, 2023
Then on the final play of the third quarter, the Cougars forced a turnover on special teams. Cincinnati returner Braden Smith misjudged a bounce on a punt and touched the ball but couldn’t wrap it up. BYU long snapper Austin Riggs recovered at the Cincinnati 15.
pic.twitter.com/h35eZayBNd— no context college football (@nocontextcfb) September 30, 2023
While Cougars gunner Marcus McKenzie didn’t recover the ball, he kept it away from Smith on the play and kept the loose ball alive until Riggs could pounce on it.
On the ensuing drive, BYU scored on a 1-yard LJ Martin touchdown run to go ahead two scores, 35-20.
2. BYU’s offense came alive enough to secure the win. The Cougars got off to a terribly slow start offensively (more on that in a minute).
BYU, though, turned its offensive woes around with an impressive three-play, 82-yard touchdown drive in the final minute of the first half.
Kedon Slovis completed three straight passes on the drive — of 23, 24 and 22 yards — and a Cincinnati pass interference helped move the ball downfield before a wide-open Darius Lassiter caught a 22-yard touchdown with 6 seconds until halftime.
QUICK STRIKE to take the lead before the half!!
???? ESPN: https://t.co/JF3bVPdNe2 pic.twitter.com/5Uw6YX3AtP— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) September 30, 2023
That started a stretch where BYU scored touchdowns on four of five possessions. Despite the Cougars’ offensive struggles through a good portion of the game, BYU took control at this time and never trailed in the second half.
3. BYU got a big win — its first Big 12 conference victory. The Cougars came out on the short end of several statistics, but all that mattered was the win.
That’s in no small part because BYU made several key plays in clutch situations in the final two quarters to make that happen.
The Cougars had a stop on fourth-and-1 — safeties Ethan Slade and Tanner Wall bottled up the runner just short of the line to gain — giving BYU the ball back with just under three minutes to play.
BYU only had one sack on the night, but Tyler Batty’s sack early in the fourth quarter came just moments after the Cougars went back up two scores and it helped force a punt.
The offense also had some clutch plays in the second half.
Chase Roberts, who ended the night with six receptions for 131 yards, scored on a 59-yard touchdown catch on a second-and-21 to give BYU a 28-13 lead with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
