Instant Reaction to BYU's Back-Breaking Loss to UCF in Double Overtime

On Saturday, no. 2 BYU lost to UCF in stunning fashion. The Cougars came up a couple yards short in double overtime in a 31-39 loss. Just one week after earning the benefit of the doubt for beating no. 2 Notre Dame, the Cougars' undefeated season comes to a disastrous end. Here are our instant takeaways from the game.

Sloppy Play Caught Up to BYU

Against Arizona, BYU was sloppy, but we chalked it up to the first game against a P4 opponent. Against Colorado State, untimely and unnecessary penalties were a concern, but the game was out of hand. Against Notre Dame and Iowa State, muffed punts and special teams miscues kept points off the board. BYU has not played a clean game all season, but they've been talented enough to overcome those mitakes. BYU's sloppy play finally caught up to them against UCF.

Against UCF, those untimely penalties came at times where you simply couldn't afford them. UCF nearly won the game when Keanu Tanuvasa shoved a UCF player into the turf after the play was over. That penalty gifted the Knights 15 yards and setup a potential game-winning field goal.

In the third quarter, BYU had a 21-17 lead and was about to get the ball back. Facing a 3rd & 17, UCF threw a screen pass near the boundary. Isaiah Glasker was in pursuit and, instead of wrapping up and making the tackle, lunged into the UCF ball-carrier who not only got the first down, he nearly took it the distance. Instead of getting the ball back with a lead, UCF scored a touchdown and re-gained the lead.

BYU missed too many tackles to count in this game. After BYU scored in the first overtime, the Cougars had a chance to sack Keyon Jenkins when Braxton Lindsey came flying off the edge. Lindsey missed the tackle and Jenkins extended the play and threw a touchdown pass.

On offense, BYU had to burn multiple timeouts due to substitution miscues, and the Cougars struggled to get lined up on time in other moments of the game. Those small, simple mistakes flipped the game in UCF's favor.

Back to the Drawing Board for the Defense

Coming into this game, UCF was one of the worst offenses in college football. BYU, meanwhile, was one of the best defenses in college football. Despite that mismatch, the Cougars simply couldn't generate enough stops to win the football game.

BYU came into this football game allowing a 37% success rate. The UCF offense was successful on 51% of plays.

There was nothing fluky about the way UCF moved the football on BYU's defense, either. UCF was more physical on the line of scrimmage and BYU couldn't disrupt the Knights on early downs. BYU scored in the first overtime and BYU needed one stop to win.

Instead, the Knights scored on one play and sent the game to double overtime.

It was a head-scratching performance by a BYU defense that had been so good through six games. It's back to the drawing board for Kelly Poppinga and his staff. Not in terms of scheme, necessarily, but the execution and effort was very poor from start to finish.

And while all that is true, the defense also deserves credit for a goal-line stand that sent the game to overtime in the first place. The Cougars had been pushed around all night, but in a pivotal moment, BYU's defense got the stop they needed.

So About That Ending...

You will never find another ending like the one we just witnessed in Orlando. The sack that was ruled a fumble then overturned. Not only was it overturned, Keanu Tanuvasa was flagged for a 15-yard penalty on the play. That was a 25-yard swing that put UCF in field goal position.

On UCF's field goal attempt, Faletau Satuala made a fantastic play to block the kick and send it to double overtime. What happened after the kick? Words don't do it justice. Somehow, the game ended up going to overtime.

In the first overtime, Bear Bachmeier made one of the most clutch throws of his career for a touchdown to Legend Glasker.

In double overtime, BYU's defense finally gets a stop and forces a field goal. But wait...there's more. Kendal Wall is flagged for one of the most bizarre roughing the kicker penalties you will ever see. In our opinion, it was clearly the wrong call. Wall came through the line of scrimmage and only hit the kicker because he pushed back the offensive lineman.

That call gave UCF a first down and the Knights capitalized with a touchdown.

In double overtime, BYU quickly marched inside the UCF 10 yard-line before stalling. The game ended when Bear Bachmeier threw a pass for Walker Lyons that fell incomplete. Double overtime was headlined by some head-scratching calls, including one play where Jojo Phillips was tackled in the end zone and no flag was thrown.

UCF was the better team in this game, but the referees did BYU no favors in overtime.

Weird Ending Aside, UCF Was the Better Team

UCF had a success rate of 51% in this game compared to 42% for BYU. BYU went three-and-out 36% of the time compared to 17% for UCF. UCF was the better team in this football game. There were concerns that after an emotional win over Notre Dame, the Cougars would suffer a letdown against UCF.

The execution and the effort weren't enough, and when the ball didn't bounce BYU's way, UCF was the team that capitalized, not BYU.

When Bear Bachmeier Has a Chance to Win the Game, Trust Him

With 1:36 left in the fourth quarter, BYU got a goal-line stand to give the ball back to the BYU offense. The game was tied at 24 and the BYU offense had a chance to win the game. First, however, they had to get out of the shadow of their own end zone. BYU accomplished that with runs on first and second down.

On 3rd & 6, BYU had a chance to move the chains and transition into a two-minute offense to go win the game. Instead, the Cougars handed the ball off to avoid a bad play, throwing the white flag and giving the ball back to the UCF offense.

Bear Bachmeier has been clutch at nearly every turn this season. In the opinion of this author, that was a chance for BYU to trust its quarterback to go win the game. Instead, the Cougars played conservatively and nearly lost the game in regulation. Bachmeier was effective throwing the ball downfield throughout the game. We would have liked to see BYU trust Kyler Kasper (more on him in a moment) or get Legend Glasker out in space.

The Kyler Kasper Game

Speaking of Kyler Kasper, the overtime loss overshadowed what was a career night for the Oregon transfer. Kasper led BYU in receiving with 6 catches for 129 yards. He had a critical fourth down catch in the second half where Bachmeier threw a jump ball and Kasper came down with it. He could have had another touchdown in double overtime too, except Bachmeier skipped the pass off the ground just short of Kasper's long arms.

Kasper's performance was another data point that he needs to be the focal point for the BYU passing attack along with Legend Glasker.

There Goes the Wiggle Room...and the National Respect

For two years, BYU has been fighting for national respect. After taking down no. 2 Notre Dame at home, the Cougars had finally earned national respect. That goes out the window with a loss to a 3-3 UCF team.

BYU, and the rest of the Big 12 for that matter, don't get the benefit of the doubt in games like these.

BYU will still be ranked in the top 10 when the rankings come out tomorrow, but this is the kind of loss that will really hurt BYU in the eyes of the CFP committee. BYU's CFP hopes are not dashed, but they took a major hit on Saturday. BYU has no more wiggle room. The Cougars probably need to win out to make it to Arlington, and they probably need to win out to earn a CFP bid, too.

Even with a win over Notre Dame, a 10-2 BYU team is probably not going to get the benefit of the doubt.

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