No. 2 BYU’s run of perfection ended in a jolting way Saturday night, with UCF outlasting the Cougars 39-31 in double overtime in Orlando.
BYU entered the game coming off one of the biggest wins in program history, a victory over No. 2 Notre Dame last week.
But the Cougars couldn’t turn that momentum into another road win, and UCF seized the kind of moment that can redefine a season. It was the biggest win of Scott Frost’s second stint with the Knights, and it left BYU with its first loss of the year.
The Cougars dropped to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in Big 12 play. UCF moved to 4-3 and 2-2 in conference action.
BYU struck first when Bear Bachmeier hit Kyler Kasper for a 27-yard touchdown. UCF answered with 17 points in the second quarter and carried a 17-14 lead into halftime.
From there, the game kept swinging.
Sione Moa’s one-yard touchdown run put BYU back on top, 21-17, but UCF quarterback Keyone Jenkins responded with a one-yard touchdown run of his own. Matthias Dunn later tied it at 24 with a fourth-quarter field goal, setting up a frantic finish to regulation.
The final minutes were pure chaos. UCF drove to the BYU one-yard line with less than two minutes left, only for the Cougars to stop Jenkins on fourth-and-goal.
BYU then went three-and-out, handing the Knights one more chance. After a wild sequence that included a replay reversal and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against BYU, UCF lined up for a game-winning field goal.
BYU blocked it.
That sent the game to overtime, where the wild ride only got louder.
In the first overtime, Bachmeier found Legend Glasker for a 28-yard touchdown. UCF answered on the next play, with Jenkins throwing a 25-yard touchdown to Josh Derry.
The second overtime brought the finish. Jenkins hit Grayson Brousseau for a touchdown, then connected with Tyren Hornes on the required two-point conversion to push UCF ahead 39-31. BYU got to the UCF four-yard line on its next possession, but Bachmeier’s fourth-down pass was incomplete, and the Knights celebrated as fans rushed the field.
UCF finished with a 463-373 edge in total yardage, including a 170-116 advantage on the ground. Jenkins was sharp all night, throwing for 293 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. Bachmeier finished with 257 passing yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The loss doesn’t shut the door on BYU’s Big 12 or College Football Playoff hopes, but it changes the picture. After climbing to No. 2 and looking like a team with a path to the top spot, the Cougars now have far less room to breathe.
And in a Big 12 race that already had plenty of chaos, Saturday’s result only turned up the volume.
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BYU Just Made Its Support For Kalani Sitake Very Clear
BYU is backing up its public praise for Kalani Sitake with real money, as athletic director Brian Santiago confirmed the school is investing more than $25 million into football capital projects. The message coming out of Provo is that the university wants to keep building around its head coach, even as the athletic department works through administrative changes behind the scenes.
Santiago said the football oversight structure will be a collaborative one with Vice President Keith Vorkink, and the focus is on lifting the program even higher. That comes at a time when BYU is sitting No. 2 nationally, its best ranking since 1984, which only adds to the sense that the Cougars see this as a moment to push forward rather than reset. [Read more 🡒]
GameDay Backed BYU But One Warning Still Looms At UCF
ESPNs College GameDay had plenty of confidence in No. 2 BYU heading into its matchup at UCF, with Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit all backing the Cougars to come away with a win. The pregame chatter centered on BYUs ability to handle the stage, with analysts pointing to the teams key players and the composure it has shown during this run.
Dalton Kincaid was the one voice on the set who went the other way, picking UCF and highlighting the kind of emotional letdown that can follow a big week. He also leaned into the Knights homecoming setting, a reminder that even when the national spotlight is tilted heavily in one direction, a road game can still carry plenty of traps for a highly ranked team. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Saban Just Put BYU And Kalani Sitake In The Spotlight
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The praise landed with even more weight because Saban pointed to the confidence BYU carried into its game against Notre Dame, a performance that helped fuel the buzz around the program. The Cougars College GameDay appearance drew more than 3 million viewers, and 9.2 million watched the upset of Notre Dame, so the spotlight on Sitakes team is no longer just local or regional. The bigger question now is how much more attention this run can keep generating. [Read more 🡒]