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ORLANDO, Fla. — An injury-riddled BYU team dropped its second straight game with a 31-24 overtime loss against UCF Thursday night.
Less than a week removed from the end of its undefeated start, the Cougars have gone from the college football playoff at-large conversation to a two-loss team hoping it can still become bowl eligible.
Already without key defensive starters Alani Fua and Dallin Leavitt, who were sidelined by ankle injuries, coordinator Nick Howell’s unit lost cornerback Jordan Johnson to a broken arm and safety Craig Bills to a concussion in the first quarter.
The visitors' offense was missing lineman Brayden Kearsley and wide receivers Terenn Houk and Nick Kurtz prior to apparent ankle injuries suffered by Jamaal Williams, which occurred on BYU’s first play from scrimmage and was his only snap, and Adam Hine.
That was all on top of the fact that Timpanogos High graduate Christian Stewart was making his first start in replacement of Taysom Hill. The group of ailing players will be re-evaluated in the coming week. The seriousness of their physical setbacks could be bad enough to keep some of them — at least Johnson — out for the remainder of the season, along with Hill and Kurtz.
Sione Takitaki: The freshman linebacker supplied a much-needed pass rush for the Cougars by recording both their sacks, forcing a fumble and recovering it as UCF had reached the fringe of the red zone. The turnover kick started a string of 21 unanswered points that gave Bronco Mendenhall’s team a 24-10 lead.
Devin Mahina: Maybe LaVell Edwards’ methodical use of the tight end position will never again be seen by the Provo team, but Mahina was crucial to Stewart’s success. The senior from Ontario, Canada, showed playmaking ability in between the hashes on his two touchdowns.
Christian Stewart: He had a rough go finding his timing early on, including an interception in the end zone when BYU was at the UCF 20. But he had to deal with the challenge of leading the charge for a banged-up roster. While the first quarter play-calling left something to be desired, Stewart made more good decisions than he did bad as the night progressed. He also flashed his scrambling skills as the Cougars’ second-leading rusher with 65 yards.
Robertson Daniel: When you’re benched, as Daniel was for the start of the contest, you can gripe about it or step up when you get your chance. Daniel subscribed to the latter mindset Friday, registering two pass breakups and team highs of 10 total tackles and seven solo. Michael Davis got the nod ahead of Daniel, but Daniel was BYU’s best cornerback this time around.
Rushing attack: Williams' absence was felt significantly, and yet Algernon Brown and Paul Lasike made the most of their opportunities, helping their team gain more than 200 yards on the ground. Brown and Lasike ran with a bruising mentality and left a number of defenders sprawled on the field after running through them.
Offensive line: At times, the big men up front overpowered the UCF front seven. If it wasn’t for the Golden Knights’ Terrance Plummer — 17 tackles (11 solo), four and a half tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a pass breakup — the Cougars' lead blockers might’ve landed themselves in the level above. The problem was they couldn’t maintain it through four quarters. Stewart was able to escape duress several times but was hit to the ground far more than a coach nurturing a new quarterback would like.
Secondary: This one comes with an asterisk due to all of the subtractions. Kai Nacua’s interception was one of the plays of the game for this group, but he also committed a personal foul facemask that gave UCF a first down on its overtime-opening touchdown drive. Skye PoVey also came up with a timely pick. Overall, it was a solid job by a number of backups. Still, despite Golden Knights quarterback Justin Holman’s three turnovers, he threw for career highs of 326 yards on 30 completions.
Special teams: Punter Scott Arellano had another bright effort and kicker Trevor Samson made his only field goal try and all of his point after attempts. But two long returns — one a 58-yard kick return and the other a 32-yard punt run back — set up Holman and company in BYU territory. On a night where guys were gassed on defense because of injuries, special teams failed to ease the burden by positively contributing to the field position contest.
Third-down offense: The Cougars were just 6-of-18 attempting to move the chains on the all-important down. What’s worse is the frequency with which they set themselves up with third and short. For example, Stewart found Mitch Matthews for nine yards at the UCF 11 in the second quarter, and BYU followed it up with a Paul Lasike fumble he jumped on and a 1-yard Lasike run for loss on third-and-3, leading to Samson’s field goal.
Penalties: The questionable no-call on the final snap where Stewart passed to Jordan Leslie, who appeared to be interfered with or held, will be the referee decision most remembered. However, after only three calls went against the Cougars in the first half, the second half brought six infractions that helped shift field position and extended UCF drives while stifling BYU pushes. And the Golden Knights initial chance to win the game in regulation on a 43-yard field goal might not have been possible were it not for another facemask penalty.
