ORLANDO, Florida — It wasn’t the hangover from the big win over Notre Dame, or the fact that the UCF Knights were more rested and ready after a bye last week.
The reason why the No. 2 BYU Cougars saw their undefeated season ruined in front of 45,112 fans at the Bounce House on Saturday afternoon was that they were simply outplayed when it really mattered.
UCF won one of the wildest and craziest Big 12 games in recent memory by a count of 39-31 in double overtime when Bear Bachmeier’s 4th-and-goal toss from the 4 slipped out of Walker Lyons’ hands and onto the wet turf.
The drop on what would have been a difficult catch — but one Lyons made in last week’s 28-24 win over then-No. 2 Notre Dame — was a somehow fitting end for the No. 2 Cougars (3-1, 6-1), who made a season’s worth of mistakes to lose for the first time to an unranked opponent since the 2024 season.
“These mistakes shouldn’t be happening midseason,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake. “That’s on me.”
The biggest mistake the Cougars made, aside from the dropped passes in the second overtime, came on UCF’s second overtime possession when the Knights were given life by an iffy roughing-the-kicker penalty on Kendal Wall.
UCF coach Scott Frost took the points off the board after Will Stone’s 26-yard field goal, and Keyone Jenkins’ 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end and Utah County native Grayson Brousseau proved to be the game-winner.
“I didn’t get an explanation (on the roughing call),” Sitake said. “I don’t know. From what I saw, I don’t think that’s a personal foul (for) roughing the kicker, but we still didn’t score. … Sometimes the calls work out for us and sometimes they don’t, and that one, it didn’t.”
There were plenty of other controversial calls and plays to dissect from the end of regulation as well, but credit BYU’s Faletau Satuala for blocking a 46-yard field goal attempt by Stone to send the game into overtime.
Through all the postgame questions about the roughing-the-kicker penalty and others, Sitake took the high road and continually praised the Knights for earning the win, their first over a top 5 team at home in program history.
UCF fans stormed the field after the Knights came up with the big fourth-down stop, similar to what BYU fans did last week when the Cougars upset Notre Dame as a 10-point underdog.
“I don’t mind them rushing the field. They allowed us to get off the field (first),” Sitake said.
What he did mind was a plethora of mistakes by his players, perhaps the second-most egregious one coming when they couldn’t bring down UCF freshman receiver Tyren Hornes on a 3rd-and-17 play early in the second half.
Hornes caught a short pass from Jenkins, made multiple BYU defenders miss tackles and sprinted 56 yards for the first down.
Maybe that’s why they call it the Bounce House — Jenkins and Knight running backs and receivers bounced off and eluded BYU would-be tacklers all afternoon. Jenkins in particular was as slippery as the intermittent rain in Orlando.
“It really just came down to them executing versus us not executing,” said Cougar linebacker Cade Uluave, who led BYU with 10 tackles. “We struggled, obviously, and so yeah, this is a learning experience and something that we need to learn from and take on the chin. … But knowing the guys we have, these guys will be ready to respond and continue to keep getting better.”
A week after the Cougar defense was almost flawless against the Irish and all-everything quarterback CJ Carr, it struggled against UCF’s backup signal caller, as opening game starter Alonza Barnett remains out.
Uluave disputed that BYU came out flat after the biggest regular-season win in school history, a win that pushed the Cougars to the No. 2 ranking in the AP poll. Saturday’s loss could push them out of the top 10.
“I think once the time came to focus on UCF, I think everyone was bought in and did well,” Uluave said. “It really just came down to how we didn’t execute as well as we needed to tonight. … We have to look ourselves in the mirror and get better.”
After Satuala blocked the field goal to force overtime — officials may have botched that ending, too, in BYU’s favor — the Cougars had to work harder than the Knights to score in the first overtime.
But on third and 13 from the 28, Bachmeier found freshman Legend Glasker open for a 28-yard TD toss.
In losing to an unranked team for the first time, Bachmeier was 16 of 32 for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed 15 times for 37 yards.
He did throw an interception, but that came off a fluky play in which his pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage. Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper also played well, catching six passes for 129 yards.
The Cougars missed LJ Martin tremendously, and were only able to run for 116 yards.
“It was unfortunate, but we will bounce back,” Kasper said. “There’s nothing you can do about it but just focus on the future. We got (Arizona State) next week. We’re going to be focused on that tomorrow and keep going.”
In the second overtime, Raider Damuni almost came up with an interception two plays before the roughing the kicker penalty, and Kasper and Lyons were oh-so-close to making touchdown catches.
“Kalani said he just wants us to keep our heads high,” Kasper said. “We’re going to watch the film and (find) that there are plenty of things that we can clean up.
“Obviously we didn’t play our best game, but shoutout to UCF. They balled out. They deserved to win.”
In a back-and-forth game, a case could be made that it turned when BYU was driving with fewer than two minutes remaining in the first half.
On a third and 6 play from the UCF 39, Bachmeier’s pass was tipped by UCF defensive lineman Thomas Colins and intercepted by Tackett Curtis at the Knights 22.
So instead of the Cougars moving increasing their 14-10 lead just before halftime, UCF drove 78 yards in 11 plays to regain its lead, 17-14.
Just as important, the drive gave the Knights confidence that they could play against the No. 2 team in the country.
UCF finished the first half with 242 yards, spreading out the BYU defense and using its speed and quickness to attack the Cougars on the edges.
The home team finished with 463 yards, to 373 for BYU.
The Knights took the three-point lead on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Landen Chambers — a one-time BYU commit — when Cougar linebacker Isaiah Glasker was picked in the secondary, with nothing called.
The end of the first half ruined a great start for BYU, which forced a three and out on UCF’s first possession and then drove 84 yards in 11 plays to grab a quick 7-0 lead. Bachmeier’s 27-yard toss to Kasper put the Cougars on the board.
Then BYU’s offense went silent, with consecutive three-and-outs.
After the Knights had taken a 10-7 lead, the Cougars finally found their offensive groove again and went 75 yards in eight plays to take a 14-10 lead. Bachmeier’s 1-yard TD plunge when BYU was in its “tank” formation with nine offensive linemen did the trick.
The TD was set up by a 32-yard reception by Kasper in which he missed scoring by inches.
Missed by inches. It was that kind of afternoon for the Cougars, who won a similar game in double overtime last year against Arizona.
“Scott Frost is a great coach, man,” Sitake said. “I have been around him a long time, and he found ways to make things difficult for us, in all three phases.
“Credit to him and his staff. Their players played their hearts out. They really wanted this, and they got it. They earned it.”
And No. 2 BYU certainly did not.