BYU left Orlando with more than a loss on Saturday. The Cougars also came home watching two issues that could matter well beyond the 39-31 double-overtime defeat to UCF: the condition of cornerback Evan Johnson and a pair of injuries up front that forced BYU to keep reshuffling its line.
Johnson, BYU’s top cornerback and one of the nation’s better players at the position, was seen grabbing at his lower leg after UCF’s game-winning touchdown. He had been rolled up on after the play ended, and KSLSports.com recorded him being carried off the field by trainers afterward. For a BYU defense that gave up plenty already in the loss, the possibility of losing Johnson is a major concern.
“We have to evaluate it. I don’t know exactly the injury, but they’re still looking at him right now,” said BYU coach Kalani Sitake.
“So that that’s unfortunate, because he’s one of the best corners in the country, so we’ll have to see what that looks like. We had a couple guys go down, so this conference is tough, man.
There’s a lot of great teams in this conference, and we’re going to have to test some of our depth and see if those guys can perform better than what we did today.”
The offensive line took its own hit when right guard Trevin Ostler went down early in the second half. He had started in place of Kyle Sfarcioc, who was already listed as out before the game. Once Ostler exited, BYU was forced to lean on Stanford transfer Zac Yamauchi, a player who has seen limited action, alongside true freshman Bott Mulitalo on the right side.
Sitake said the Cougars expect Sfarcioc back next Saturday when they host Arizona State. More information on the full injury picture may come later in the week as BYU tries to regroup.
One of the biggest turning points came in the second overtime, when BYU got UCF into a field-goal try and thought it had limited the damage. Knight kicker Will Stone made the kick, but a flag came long after the ball was struck.
Officials ruled BYU linebacker Kendal Wall had fallen into Stone’s leg while blocking with a UCF player, and the penalty was judged roughing the kicker. That call gave UCF a fresh set of downs, and the Knights finished the possession with a touchdown four plays later.
“I didn’t get an explanation,” Sitake said of the consequential penalty. “From what I saw, I don’t think that’s a personal foul roughing the kicker. But, you know, we still didn’t score … The calls work out for us and sometimes they don’t, and that one didn’t.”
BYU then had its chance to answer, but tight end Walker Lyons could not secure a low throw in the corner of the end zone on fourth-and-goal.
There were outside reasons this game could have tilted against BYU from the start, with the Cougars making the cross-country trip to face a UCF team coming off a bye week. Sitake pointed several times to how well Scott Frost and the Knights had used that week. Still, BYU’s coach pushed back on the idea that his team simply walked into a letdown after one of the biggest wins in program history.
“It’d be easy for me to just say there (was a) letdown, but we started fast and we were in it. We were in the game,” Sitake said.
“You see the guys’ mentality - they were in it. I just don’t think I want to disrespect UCF by saying that this was a letdown from us.
We played hard, they just played better and they bested us. So, I just can’t sit here and tell you like, oh yeah, there’s just a letdown and all that.”
In Other News...
BYUs First Loss Came Down To A Brutal Late Mistake
BYUs first loss of the season came in a game that swung on one costly late sequence, as the Cougars fell to UCF 39-31 in double overtime. The offense had chances, but the night also reflected the challenge of playing without star running back LJ Martin, leaving Bear Bachmeier to shoulder more of the load through the air and on the ground.
After Bachmeier finished with 257 passing yards and one interception, BYU was still within reach in the extra sessions before a roughing-the-kicker penalty on defensive end Kendal Wall extended UCFs drive. The Knights cashed in with a touchdown to end it, turning a hard-fought road result into a frustrating reminder of how quickly one late mistake can decide a conference game. [Read more 🡒]
BYUs Stunning Collapse At UCF Demands One Painful Explanation
BYUs trip to the Bounce House turned into one of the most jolting results in the country, as No. 2 BYU fell 39-31 in overtime to UCF after a game packed with swing moments and frustration. The Knights found enough offense behind Keyone Jenkins, who threw for 293 yards and accounted for four total touchdowns, all while UCF was working without its starting quarterback.
The Cougars had chances to steady the night, but the game kept tilting the wrong way with a fumble overturn, costly penalties, a blocked field goal and, finally, a goal-line stand in overtime that sealed it for UCF. For BYU, the loss leaves behind a simple but painful question: how did a top-ranked team let so many breaks slip away in one of the most chaotic games of its season? [Read more 🡒]
BYU Faces A Complicated Ranking Drop After Costly Upset
Miamis win over Pittsburgh kept the top of the AP poll steady, but the ripple effects are much messier a little farther down the list. BYU entered the weekend in the thick of the top tier, only to see its ranking situation turn suddenly uncertain after a double-overtime upset loss to UCF, a result that almost certainly pushes the Cougars backward when the new poll comes out.
Ohio State is expected to climb into the No. 2 spot, but the rest of the top six is where the real debate starts. BYU, Notre Dame, Indiana and Georgia are all part of that crowded shuffle, and pollsters will have to decide how much to penalize the Cougars for a loss that landed at the worst possible time. [Read more 🡒]