On Saturday, no. 2 BYU suffered a letdown on the road against UCF. The Cougars and the Knights went to double overtime and, after a controversial roughing the kicker call, BYU needed a touchdown to extend the game. The BYU offense came up a few yard shorts and BYU suffered its first loss to an unranked opponent since 2024. In this article, we're exploring the grades and stats behind BYU's first loss of the season.
Missed Tackles
UCF's gameplan in this game was to get its athletes in space. They believed their speed would create problems for BYU's defense, and they were right. BYU missed 17 tackles against UCF in this game. For context, UCF missed 10 tackles.
It wasn't just the quantity of missed tackles, it was when they happened. BYU had a chance to get off the field on a long third down when Isaiah Glasker bounced off the ball-carrier who went for 40+ yards. Instead of getting the ball back with a chance to take a two-score lead, UCF re-gained the lead.
By the numbers, BYU actually won the pressure battle in this game. BYU generated pressure on 45% of Keyone Jenkins' dropbacks. However, he was only sacked once. He was sacked on just 4.8% of pressures. If BYU would have brought Jenkins to the ground even one or two more times, it could have changed the outcome of the game.
After taking a lead in the first overtime, Braxton Lindsey came flying around the edge and made contact with Jenkins. Jenkins broke the tackle, moved out of the pocket, and threw the game-tying touchdown.
Pressure Allowed
The BYU offensive line has been one of the best in the country at preventing pressure. They took a step back against UCF. Bear Bachmeier was pressured on 31% of dropbacks. For context, Bachmeier was pressured more against UCF than he was against Notre Dame.
Bachmeier has been effective throwing the football under pressure this season, but that wasn't the case against UCF. From a clean pocket, Bachmeier was 13/22 for 209 yards. Under pressure, he was 3/10 for 48 yards.
BYU's tackles struggled against the UCF defensive ends. Paki Finau and Bott Mulitalo allowed three and five pressures, respectively.
BYU's Defense Couldn't Get Off the Field
BYU's defense forced two punts on the first two drives of the game. After those two stops, they forced two punts in UCF's final eight drives in regulation.
Look at UCF's drive chart starting with their third drive of the game. If there were yards to be gained, UCF was gaining them. This game could have been more lopsided if UCF wouldn't have dropped a ball in the end zone and came up inches short of a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
This was the most disappointing aspect of this game. The UCF offense has not been very good this season, but BYU's defense made them look like one of the best offenses in the Big 12. It was an uncharacteristic showing from Kelly Poppinga's unit who had been so good this season.
Inconsistent Offense
BYU's offense was in feast or famine mode against UCF. Two of BYU's first four drives ended in touchdowns. The other two resulted in three-and-outs. BYU scored on its first two drives of the second half, then it went three-and-out twice in as many drives in the fourth quarter. More than 1/3 BYU drives did not generate a first down.
On a night where BYU's defense was struggling to generate stops, an inconsistent offense did them no favors. BYU had two chances to take the lead in the fourth quarter and not only did they not score, they did not gain a first down. BYU really missed LJ Martin in this game - BYU averaged only 3.2 yards per rush. The inconsistency on the ground was the primary reason why the offense was inconsistent as a unit.
The Bright Spots
The gut-wrenching loss overshadowed a few notable individual performances. Kyler Kasper was the highest-graded player on BYU's offense. He had a career night with 6 receptions for 129 yards. He made a pair of contested catches, including a crucial fourth down catch that extended a BYU scoring drive.
Keanu Tanuvasa had one of his best games in a BYU uniform and he was the highest-graded player on defense. Tanuvasa had a team-high six QB pressures against UCF and he batted two passes at the line of scrimmage. It's head-scratching that one of those batted passes wasn't intercepted.
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