A needed spark: Pre-half TD drive propels BYU football to win over Cincinnati
-
- BYU senior wide receiver Darius Lassiter celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU senior wide receiver Darius Lassiter catches a touchdown pass during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis looks to pass during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU freshman running back LJ Martin runs the ball during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU defensive backs Jakob Robinson (left) and Eddie Heckard make a tackle during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU fans cheer on their team during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU junior cornerback Jakob Robinson returns an interception for a touchdown during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU fans cheer on their team during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU fans cheer on their team during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU defenders make a tackle during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU punt returner Hobbs Nyberg catches a punt during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis runs a play during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU fans cheer on their team during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU running back Miles Davis runs up field during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU’s mascot Cosmo fires up the crowd during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU senior quarterback Kedon Slovis throws a pass during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU sophomore wide receiver Chase Roberts runs toward the end zone during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts recovers an onside kick during the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU players run onto the field before the Big 12 game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo on Friday, Sept. 30, 2023.
-
- BYU’s Talmage Gunther, left, and Raider Damuni celebrate after a fumble recovery in a college football game against Cincinnati on Friday, September 29, 2023.
-
- A fire dancer performs at a BYU football game in LaVell Edwards Stadium during the 2023 season.
-
- BYU fans react to a play during a college football game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday, September 29, 2023.
-
- BYU mascot Cosmo plays a drum amidst a fireworks display during a football game against Cincinnati at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday, September 29, 2023.
Statistics can often be spun to tell any story you want, even in sports.
Anyone who just looked at the stat sheet from the first 29 minutes of Friday’s BYU football game against Cincinnati at LaVall Edwards Stadium likely would’ve come to the conclusion that the Bearcats were dominating.
Consider these comparisons at that point in the contest:
- Total yards gained on offense: Cincinnati 243, BYU 38
- Passing numbers: Cincinnati 7-of-9 for 83 yards, BYU 1-of-6 for 2 yards
- Total offensive plays: Cincinnati 47, BYU 17
- First downs: Cincinnati 14, BYU 2
- Total time of possession: Cincinnati 21:22, BYU 8:02
What all of the numbers by themselves wouldn’t have shown, however, was what was on the scoreboard: Cincinnati 10, BYU 7.
A 42-yard interception return for a touchdown by Cougar junior cornerback Jakob Robinson had been BYU’s only points, while the Cougar defense had also forced a turnover on downs to limit the Bearcat scoring.
Still, BYU certainly wasn’t happy with how it had performed offensively to that point.
“We were doing nothing offensively,” Cougar head coach Kalani Sitake said. “Cincinnati, took care of the ball, possessed it and just kept drives going. The only highlight that we had was the interception for a touchdown. We have to find way to put points on the board.”
After Cincinnati took its first lead on a 33-yard field goal by kicker Carter Brown with under a minute to play in the first half, BYU attempted to get a big special-teams play by running the kickoff out of the end zone only to have sophomore Keelan Marion get tackled at the 18-yard line.
The Cougars had just 36 seconds on the clock before the break and it might have been tempting to just run out the clock at regroup at halftime.
But BYU chose the riskier route, electing to attack instead — and it paid huge dividends.
Cougar senior quarterback Kedon Slovis rifled a pass to junior Keanu Hill for 23 yards, then stood tall in the pocket to get the ball to sophomore Chase Roberts for 24 more yards.
After a timeout and a 13-yard pass interference penalty on Cincinnati, Slovis avoided a Bearcat blitz and found senior wide receiver Darius Lassiter wide open for the 22-yard touchdown.
In just 30 seconds, BYU changed the entire tone of the game.
“It was huge,” Roberts said. “The locker room was hyped and ready to go in the second half. Defensively they were going to stop them and we were going to go put some points on the board and win this game.”
The Cougars rode that momentum into the second half, scoring touchdowns on three more possessions to build a lead and then hold on for the 35-27 win.
“I’m glad we got the win but give a lot of credit to Cincinnati,” Sitake said. “They did some really good things and put us in a tough spot. The things that stood out was how they possessed the ball and the number of plays they had (84) compared to how many we had (53).
“The fact that we have that many points and with that few plays means that we probably got some explosive plays, but we need to possess the ball. We need to convert some first downs and get some drives going. And then defensively, we’ve got to get off the field.”
BYU was able to do that to start the second half, forcing the visitors to punt after a three-and-out. The Cougars then extended their lead as freshman running back LJ Martin found an opening on the right side and scored from 29 yards out.
“That was really fun,” Martin said. “The offensive line does a really good job. I didn’t get contact until like 20 yards down the field almost, so they did a great job.”
After another long Bearcat drive resulted in another Cincinnati field goal, the BYU offense faced a second-and-21. A defender came unblocked on the play but Slovis managed to elude the rush and loft a pass deep down the field.
Initially it appeared like he might have overthrown Hill, who was running a crossing route — but instead the ball settled into the arms of Roberts who was a few yards further down the field with a lot of green grass in front of him.
“I was supposed to run a go route but I saw (Slovis) scrambling, so I came back to the ball,” Roberts said. “I’m going to say we drew it up like that but I’m just glad we could execute. It was a big play, giving us the momentum going forward.”
The 59-yard touchdown pass put the pressure on the Bearcats, who found themselves down by 15 points.
But Cincinnati answered with three big passes of their own, including a tipped-ball TD reception by sophomore Chamon Metayer from 22 yards out.
It was a one-possession game and BYU couldn’t get the offense going, resulting in Cougar punter Ryan Rehkow being called on to flip the field.
He did more than that, however, as his kick dropped in front of the Bearcat returner, who chose to attempt to field it on the bounce. The ball went higher than he expected, however, and it hit his hand, resulting in a wild scramble.
Eventually it was BYU junior long snapper Austin Riggs who alertly pounced on it, turning the muffed kick into a crushing turnover.
The Cougars needed five plays to cover the 15 yards but Martin bulldozed his way across the goal line from a yard out to again extend BYU’s lead.
The home team had chances to put the game away in the fourth quarter but a missed field goal and a short punt kept the door open a crack for Cincinnati.
The Bearcats scored the final points of the game with under a minute left on a 31-yard pass from Cincinnati senior quarterback Emory Jones to senior Braden Smith, but any hopes of a dramatic rally were dashed when Roberts recovered the ensuing onside kick.
The victory was the first ever for the Cougars in Big 12 Conference play, a milestone they were pleased to reach after falling at Kansas the week before.
“Being the first home game in the Big 12, we’re going to remember this for a long time,” Roberts said. “I feel like going into a bye week with a big win in the Big 12 is going to be huge for us for the rest of the season.”
