Chase Roberts celebrates his 59-yard touchdown reception (Photo by BYU Athletics)
BYU by the Numbers: The passing game.
Kedon Slovis started the game one of seven for two yards all the way until there were only 38 seconds left in the first half for the Cougars. From that point on he was 12 of 17 for 221 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions. BYU and Slovis still have some work to do about not forcing things too much sometimes, but I prefer him doing that and trusting his receivers and letting them make plays than being afraid to throw at all. Slovis is 98 of 165 for 1,240 yards and 13 total touchdowns on the season.
Andrew George-Jonny Harline Game Winning Play: The touchdown catch by Darius Lassiter.
Lassiter’s catch ended BYU’s first offensive touchdown drive that started with 38 seconds to go in the first half. It’s the game-winning play because it showed that BYU was adjusting and going to do whatever it needed to do to move the ball and get their offense on track. The offense came to life and would feed on the home crowd for the rest of the game in route to a win.
Jaren Hall Offensive Player of the Game: Chase Roberts.
Chase Roberts is BYU’s player of the year so far like Puka Nacua was last year. He is absolutely filling those big shoes that Nacua left behind. His biggest play was a 59-yard touchdown catch where he bailed out Slovis and with a great run took the ball to the house. Roberts had six catches for 131 yards and that touchdown to lead the Cougars’ receivers. On the season he has 24 catches for 358 yards and three touchdowns.
Kyle Van Noy Defensive Player of the Game: Jakob Robinson.
Jakob Robinson was a ball hawking, lock-down corner on Friday night. He showed early why it’s dangerous to throw at him when picked of a pass (the seventh of his career) and ran it back for a huge early touchdown. He showed it throughout the rest of the game with a big pass defended, and six tackles to anchor the Cougars’ secondary. His interception returned for a touchdown was the Kai Nacua Pick of the Game and Robinson’s first pick-six.
Zach Wilson Newcomers of the Game: Harrison Taggart and AJ Vongphachanh.
It’s not every day you get a fifth-year senior and a true freshman as your guys who showed they are stars for the future. That’s what Taggart and Vongphachanh did though. Taggart the true freshman from Draper, Utah and Vongphachanh the transfer from Utah State both played very well. They each had ten tackles in a game where the linebackers got a lot of work in because Cincinnati was attacking the middle of the field a lot. Vongphachanh may not be at BYU as long as Taggart but they both had huge games in the win over UC.
Royal Blue-Collar Player of the Game: L.J. Martin.
L.J. Martin is RB1. Deion Smith, Miles Davis, Aidan Robbins, are all solid guys but this running game has to start with L.J. Martin. The long, slashing runs to the sidelines and the stretch plays need to go out the window. They need to get Martin going north and south in the running game. Have him make one cut at the most and go forward. He’s good at it, and it helps a young offensive line that is struggling to maintain blocks on slower developing runs. If BYU starts doing this, it will tremendously help the rushing attack. Martin had a solid game against UC with 16 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Dax Milne Quietly Doing Your Job Award: Ryan Rehkow.
Often the field position game isn’t appreciated until it’s not there so BYU fans everywhere are appreciating this man. His flipping the field gave the BYU defense room to work. They could give up some yards while they figured out how to make stops because this man kept pinning Cincinnati back. He had six punts for 306 yards, averaging 51 yards per punt. Five of those six were touchbacks or downed inside the opponents 20-yard line. Rehkow made UC have to go great lengths to even attempt points, and this is a background, underrated asset to the Cougars.
BYU Bounce Back: The turnover battle.
Against Kansas BYU was minus three in turnover margin, giving up three and forcing none. This week against Cincinnati, the Cougars were plus two, forcing two and giving up none. Despite giving up nearly 150 more total yards to UC than to Kansas, the field position game from Rehkow and the turnover battle being won gave the defense the leeway they needed and they won the game. In Coach Sitake’s tenure BYU is 28-4 when winning the turnover battle.
Payne Family Special Teams Player of the Game: Austin Riggs.
No, he’s no relation to yours truly (despite my nephew sharing his name). But it’s still awesome to see a Riggs play for BYU and it was even better to see him come up with a big play in a game against the team from the city I’ve lived in all my life. Riggs came up with a key turnover after BYU had punted the ball back to UC with a touchdown lead headed into the fourth quarter. The Bearcats couldn’t hang on to the ball and Riggs, the long snapper, came up with it. The Cougars would score on this extra possession and this would prove the deciding margin in the 35-27 win.
Loyal, Strong and True: Max Tooley, Kedon Slovis, and the BYU faithful.
Mad Max Tooley after a game where he led the team in tackles has over 250 in his BYU career. Tooley had 16 tackles for BYU as he stepped his game up with fellow standout linebacker Ben Bywater out with an injury. Kedon Slovis also had a career milestone as he went over 11,000 career passing yards in his college career with his solid game against the Bearcats.
The BYU faithful showed up big with 63,834 in attendance, the most since the ’09 win against Utah. The ROC has made LaVell Edwards Stadium a big home advantage for BYU ever since the beginning of the 2021 season. Home games had been criticized as too quiet for the Cougars but this student section turned that around beginning with that season and home games have been a big asset to BYU ever since.
LaVell Edwards Elite Coaching of the Game: Attacking late in the second quarter.
As noted, BYU had had a conservative and unproductive first half when after a Cincinnati punt they got the ball back with 38 seconds left on the clock. Down only 10-7 the Cougars of the earlier days of the Coach Sitake Era would have run the ball and been happy to go to halftime in a close game. Not this time.
The first half had been the most conservative BYU had played in 2023 and it was like a light switched on and they decided that was not the way they were going to play anymore. It was the right adjustment for a team with a very experienced coaching staff, quarterback, and an elite receiving corps. With those weapons in their arsenal, they attacked, and it set the tone for the rest of the game, leading to 35-27 win and a 4-1 record on the season for BYU.
1984 National Champions of the Game: The receiving corps.
The offense has to go through it’s talented receiving corps. Chase Roberts, Keanu Hill, Kody Epps, Darius Lassiter, Keelan Marion, Parker Kingston, and Isaac Rex. With the struggles in running the ball early, BYU needs to lean on these guys and their senior quarterback Kedon Slovis to get the offense going. Passing to open up the run is the way the Cougars are going to get the ground game going the rest of this season. The Cougars and Coach Kalani Sitake are 41-3 when they score 30 or more points. The passing game this year will add more wins to that record.
Next Week BYU has a BYE before going on the road to TCU.
Read about the Cougars games so far this season.
