Friday night lights in Provo, Utah. BYU is playing Cincinnati at Lavell Edwards Stadium to a sold-out crowd of 63,834 in attendance. Tonight will be the night one of these two teams will win their first Big 12 game. Let’s see how the game went.
First Quarter
BYU got the kick-off, and they couldn’t produce and punted it away. Cincinnati came out, and they threw a pick-six, and BYU was up.
| Cincinnati | 0 |
| BYU | 7 |
Bearcats couldn’t convert on third down at the 37-yard line, and they went for it. They dropped the pass in the flats. BYU takes over. They didn’t do much, and they had to kick it away. Cincinnati came out and established the run game and worked their way down the field. However, some plenties hinder the march. The OB ran it, and they got about 10 yards.
First down to end the First Quarter
| Cincinnati | 0 |
| BYU | 7 |
During that first quarter, the running game is still lagging for BYU. The Bearcats can run the ball pretty well against Jay Hill’s defense.
What does the 2nd Quarter hold in store for BYU?
Total Yards
Bear Cats 108
BYU 29
2nd quarter
The Bearcats came out and kept adding to that yardage. Cincinnati drove it down, and a player was wide open, and they scored a TD.
| Cincinnati | 7 |
| BYU | 7 |
Now, BYU will have to come out and do something. The yardage sucks. They will have to figure out something to get going.
Well, BYU didn’t do anything. They added a few yards to the total yards. They punted it away. I think that is the 3rd or 4th time.
The Bearcats couldn’t convert on 3rd down on the BYU 41
They called a timeout after running the clock down.
Bearcats decided to punt the ball. BYU caught it on the 5-yard line.
BYU has the ball with 4:41 left in the 2nd. It was almost a safety, but Solvis got it off in time. Nope, they didn’t do anything. I think they gained 4 yards. They were punting it away again. It was a good punt. But there was a flag on the play. BYU stepped out of bounds and came back in. 5 yards plenty.
Bearcats kicked a field goal to make it
| Cincinnati | 10 |
| BYU | 7 |
With 48 seconds left in the 1st half, BYU came down and scored after a couple of great throws. BYU leads
| Cincinnati | 10 |
| BYU | 14 |
What do the stats look like for the 1st half?
| Cincinnati | Stats | BYU |
| 100 | Passing | 71 |
| 154 | Rushing | 36 |
| 254 | Total Yards | 107 |
| 1 | Turnovers | |
| 14 | 1st downs | 6 |
| 21:28 | Time | 8:32 |
3rd quarter
Bearcats got the ball, but they couldn’t do anything. BYU went 73 yards in 5 plays with a Touchdown via the freshman running back Martian, who took 29 yards to score.
| Cincinnati | 10 |
| BYU | 21 |
After going three and out on their first drive of the 2nd half, They came out and drove the ball down the field. The QB had some great runs, and he kept the drive going. However, it was an incomplete pass on 3rd down. This led to a field goal.
| Cincinnati | 13 |
| BYU | 21 |
BYU took over on the 25-yard line after the kick left the end zone. BYU did a 4-play 75 yards for another TD. Chase Roberts with the long catch and run.
| Cincinnati | 13 |
| BYU | 28 |
The last two drives for BYU look like the BYU of old. The running game still needs to be worked on, but it will come.
Cincinnati starts on the 25-yard line, and the running game is good.
BYU has an issue with calling timeouts early in the 2nd half. They only have one left.
After the time out, the Bearcats came out and made a good passing play. The QB can run the ball. He just got a lot of 1st downs.
Touch down Bearcats
| Cincinnati | 20 |
| BYU | 28 |
BYU will get the ball with only 0:59 Seconds left in the 3rd. But didn’t do much. BYU punted the ball, the Bearcats touched the punt, and BYU recovered the ball on the 18-yard line.
4th quarter
BYU came out and scored a TD after that mistake on the Bearcats
| Cincinnati | 20 |
| BYU | 35 |
Bearcats came out and went three and out. Technically, four and out.
BYU got the punt and drove down the field. After a bad snap, they had to kick the field goal but missed the 44-yard kick.
Cincinnati had to get the first down to continue the drive. BYU held them and turned the ball over on downs.
With 2:36 left in the game. BYU must keep the clock going, but the running game isn’t working. BYU had to punt the ball.
Bearcats came down the field and scored a TD with 0:26 left
| Cincinnati | 27 |
| BYU | 35 |
Roberts got the ball on the kick-off, and then BYU knelled it and won.
| Cincinnati | 27 |
| BYU | 35 |
Here are the total stats
| Cincinnati | Stats | BYU |
| 25 | 1st Downs | 17 |
| 256 | Passing | 225 |
| 242 | Rushing | 70 |
| 498 | Total Yards | 295 |
| 2 | Turn overs | 0 |
| 35:01 | Time | 24:59 |
So, the stats once again show that Cincinnati owned this game. However, those two turnovers, one pick-six, and one fumble, well, touching the punt and not jumping on it. This led to 14 of BYU’s points.
BYU got their first Big 12 win in Provo. It puts them at 4-1 overall and 1-1 in Big 12.
This is just my opinion, and I am a lazy boy coach
From what I have seen so far this year, BYU needs to do the following during the bye week:
- Work on that running game
- Get the offensive line blocking better
- They have good running backs. Use them
- Better organization
- Stop calling timeouts early in the 3rd quarter.
Sloviz is coming along. He has a good arm and has the potential to become a good QB like the ones before him at BYU. Considering this is his last year, he must make a name for himself. We have a good running back. BYU must get the running game going, blocking and opening up holes.
TCU is a good team and it will be a challenging game in Fort Worth, Texas. I am unsure if their bye week will be good or bad for BYU. We will see on Oct. 14, 2023
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