3 takeaways from No. 11 BYU’s win over UCF

BYU ends the regular season with a convincing win.

The Cougars overcame a slow start once again to punish UCF by a 41-21 margin on Saturday, moving to 11-1 on the year and heading to the Big 12 championship game a week from now.

3 takeaways

The Cougars clawed out of an early hole. The 11 a.m. local kickoff time had BYU sleepwalking early, as UCF’s final fight for bowl eligibility resulted in touchdowns on the Knights’ first two drives of the game.

But once the Cougars woke up, they were nearly impossible to stop — the only drives they didn’t score on outside of an initial three and out and late garbage time were due to a pair of missed field goals.

BYU responded to the early 14-0 deficit with 31 unanswered points. After allowing a third UCF touchdown in the third quarter, the Cougars scored another 10 points to wrap up the blowout.

Bear Bachmeier completed 21 of 25 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown, leading BYU to rack up 407 total yards of offense.

After surrendering 127 yards on UCF’s first two possessions, the Cougars held the Knights to just 169 yards the rest of the game. As a whole, BYU held UCF to just 2.2 yards per carry while getting two sacks and two takeaways.

LJ Martin had another career outing. Last week, Martin carried the Cougars to a gutsy road win at Cincinnati with a personal-best 222 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

On Saturday, Martin continued his recent hot streak with a hat trick.

BYU’s talented tailback scored three touchdowns against UCF, coupling the trio of end zone trips with 95 rushing yards and another 35 yards as a receiver.

Through 12 games, Martin has run 217 times for 1,229 yards and 11 touchdowns at an average of 5.67 yards per carry.

Don’t be surprised if he ends up with Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year honors in a few days. Martin has more than earned such recognition in 2025, which could be his final ride with the Cougars if he chooses to head to the NFL this winter.

If so, what a career it’s been. Martin may very well have a case to be a top five running back ever at BYU.

But Martin wasn’t the only Cougars star who had a big Saturday. Parker Kingston scored two touchdowns — one receiving, one on a punt return — as part of a career-high 181 all-purpose yards.

On defense, Jack Kelly racked up two sacks and a forced fumble, with his nine sacks the most for any BYU player in a season since 2015.

BYU protected LaVell’s house. With Saturday’s victory, the Cougars will finish the regular season 6-0 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

It’s only the second time BYU has gone undefeated at home in Kalani Sitake’s tenure, with the other occasion being the 2020 COVID-19 campaign.

Running the table in Provo against teams such as Troy, Texas State and North Alabama is one thing. Going 6-0 at home with five Power 4 wins — including four league victories and a rivalry triumph over Utah — is a completely different universe.

Additionally, BYU ends the regular season with a 11-1 record, the best non-COVID-19 finish for the program since 1996.

The Cougars defeated six different bowl eligible teams, with four of those wins coming on the road. They boast the No. 7 strength of record mark in the country. Their only blemish has been a road loss to national title contender Texas Tech.

The College Football Playoff committee may not agree, but what Sitake’s squad has accomplished this season — with a true freshman starting quarterback, no less — has been nothing short of extraordinary.

This has truly been one of the marquee seasons in school history.

Luckily for BYU, there’s a guaranteed way to take the ball out of the Committee’s hands in regard to Playoff fate.

With a win next week in Arlington, the Cougars would clinch an automatic Playoff bid. It will be quite the uphill battle, as a rematch with the same juggernaut Red Raiders lies ahead, but BYU is no stranger to shocking the college football world under Sitake.

And thus, the Cougars control their own Playoff destiny.

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