CINCINNATI — Stop us if you’ve heard this before: Saturday’s Big 12 showdown with unranked Cincinnati at Nippert Stadium here in the Queen City is the most important game in the history of BYU football.
Hyperbole?
Perhaps, but it clearly is another must-win for the No. 11 Cougars, for a variety of reasons.
For starters, Kalani Sitake’s program’s reputation is somewhat at stake, after the embarrassing loss two weeks ago at Texas Tech, a blowout that still resonates throughout the country among doubters and with the College Football Playoff selection committee, apparently
The 29-7 setback has become fodder for critics who don’t believe BYU is worthy of being solidly in the CFP discussion. They point out that the Cougars were dominated on both sides of the ball by the Big 12-leading Red Raiders in Lubbock, ignoring the fact that Tech has done that to every other team on its schedule except Arizona State.
BYU might be able to put all that speculation to rest with a dominant performance Saturday, something similar to the 44-13 demolition of TCU last week. On the field, another prize might be at stake.
The No. 11 Cougars (6-1, 9-1) can clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game with a win over the slumping Bearcats (5-2, 7-3) and losses by ASU and Houston on Saturday. The Cougars can also clinch a berth in the title game with a win, a loss by Arizona State and a Utah win over Kansas State.
If BYU loses, it will still be alive for a spot in the championship game, but will no longer be in control of its own destiny. Chaos could ensue in the final week of the regular season, and a complex tiebreaker — similar to last year, when BYU was left out despite finishing in a four-way tie for first place — will likely come into play.
BYU is a 2.5-point favorite, but Cincinnati is no pushover, especially when playing at home.
The Bearcats will get a couple key offensive players back from injury, players who weren’t part of the 45-14 loss to Utah and the 30-24 loss to Arizona last week at Nippert. This will be the second-most raucous crowd BYU will face this season, behind only Texas Tech’s 60,000-plus.
“Our last road game, we didn’t handle the crowd noise very well, so we have to do better with that,” said BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick. “And then, it is a long trip. We’ve done it before, and we’ve won games on the road in the past. But it is a huge challenge, for sure. This is a team that is very good.”
Kickoff is at 8 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. MST, which is probably to the Cougars’ liking. They are 35-4 in their last 39 night games.
“Starting from the beginning of the season, having 8:15 p.m. games, we are just used to them right now,” said BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker. “The hardest part is waiting until you get to the game. You are in the hotel all day seeing all these other college games. You kinda get antsy to play. I feel like that is a big factor, too.”
BYU has gone 16-1 in 17 road or neutral site night games since losing at Coastal Carolina in 2020, including a 12-1 record in true away games that kicked off after 6 p.m. local time.
BYU football coach Kalani Sitake has avoided pumping up some games as being bigger than others, but acknowledged last Monday that the Cougars have played well enough the past two years to make November games meaningful.
“So there’s a lot of riding on these games at the end of the year, especially when you’re playing teams that are (also) in the mix, up there in the rankings (and) when it comes to the standings of our conference,” Sitake said. “We understand that, and just like playing TCU, they’re a great team that has won games and has got themselves ready for bowl games and things like that.”
Cincinnati, Houston, Utah and Arizona State all enter the penultimate week of the Big 12 season with 5-2 records, so the Bearcats are still alive for the conference championship game.
It is also Senior Night for the Bearcats, so emotions will be running high. Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” pregame show will emanate from Cincinnati, bringing a festive atmosphere similar to what the Cougars faced in Lubbock when ESPN’s “College GameDay” appeared and whipped the crowd into a frenzy.
“We’re expecting them to give us their best shot, just like (we get) every week. We know it’s their Senior Night, so they want to put on the best show for the seniors,” said BYU defensive end Viliami Po’uha. “Their (offensive) line looks pretty solid, from what I’ve seen so far. A lot of bells and whistles behind them.”
Thursday’s release of the Big 12-mandated availability report brought good and bad news for the Cougars. Sophomore receiver Cody Hagen has been cleared to play, as the Deseret News reported Thursday afternoon, but starting offensive lineman Weylin Lapuaho and a couple of rotation players on defense, linebacker Max Alford and freshman defensive tackle Ulavai Fetuli, are out.
For Cincinnati, quarterback Brendan Sorsby and running back Evan Pryor are listed as probable.
BYU defensive coordinator Jay Hill said Sorsby is a lot like the QB the Cougars faced last week, TCU’s Jon Hoover, but is probably a better runner.
Sorsby is “very good, obviously,” Hill said. “He can run it, he can throw it. I like the way he competes a lot. He’s got a lot of weapons around him. … He throws a really good ball. He is very athletic. He’s a little bit more willing to run than some of the quarterbacks that we faced the last couple weeks.”
Cincinnati’s defensive line is led by one of the best players in college football, tackle Dontay “The Godfather” Corleone, whom BYU coach Kalani Sitake said is one of his “favorite players” in the country.
“He does a great job up front, and I like his personality,” Sitake said. “I just like their overall team, the leaders that they have. … This is going to be a big-time game, and is going to require us being at our best. They are a dangerous team.”
