No. 11 BYU runs past Cincinnati to inch closer to Big 12 title game

CINCINNATI — With a chance to clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game, either mathematically or effectively, the 11th-ranked BYU football ran, then ran so far, and ran so far away.

At a school that once revolutionized the passing game under Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards, one of the late legend's former fullbacks is bringing the power-run game back in style.

LJ Martin ran for a career-high 222 yards, and quarterback Bear Bachmeier added 46 yards and a touchdown on the ground to help the Cougars escape the Queen City with a 26-14 win over Cincinnati in front of an announced crowd of 38,034 fans at Nippert Stadium.

The Cougars (10-1, 6-1 Big 12) gave up plenty of yards to a Cincinnati offense in its regular-season home finale.

But the Bearcats scored 0 points on four drives inside the 25-yard line, including a late fumble recovered by linebacker Isaiah Glasker at the BYU 17 in their third straight loss.

That, combined with 265 of their 392 offensive yards on the ground, propelled BYU to the cusp of the Big 12 championship game.

The Cougars got 3-of-4 scenarios to clinch a title game bid — including a win over Cincinnati, a loss by Houston to TCU, and Utah's comeback victory over Kansas State — but fell an Arizona State loss to Colorado short from cinching up the bid (the 25th-ranked Sun Devils scored 21 late to coast past hapless Colorado 42-17).

No matter; on to the next, with everything to earn against UCF (5-6, 2-6 Big 12).

"We'll take the result, and we'll keep learning and get better for next week," said BYU coach Kalani Sitake, whose team collected 312 of its 392 yards of offense through Martin and Bachmeier, who also threw for 127 yards and completed 15-of-25 passes on a night top receiver Chase Roberts missed all but the first minutes of the contest.

"We've got a senior night coming up for us, and whenever the game is, any time of day, we'll be ready for that."

Parker Kingston had seven catches to lead the Cougars' receivers for 39 yards. Sitake said Roberts pulled himself out after he made one catch for 11 yards — his 37th consecutive game with a catch.

Brendan Sorsby threw for 300 yards with two touchdowns to lead Cincinnati, but also delivered a pinpoint pass to BYU safety Tanner Wall to open the second half.

His 19-yard strike to Jeff Caldwell pulled the Bearcats (7-4, 5-3 Big 12) within 6 points with 4:37 remaining, but the Cougars added another score through Martin with a minute left to play to seal the victory.

"I was asking them if we were going to knee it instead," Martin said. "But then it was open, so I thought I might as well score."

BYU cashed in on the opening drive of the half, when Wall picked off his fourth interception of the year, and Martin eclipsed the 1,000-yard rushing mark before a 1-yard scoring dive to stretch the Cougars' lead to 17-7 with 8:26 left in the third.

The visitors ran for 170 yards in the first three quarters, including 132 on a staggering 22 carries through Martin. BYU then stretched its lead to 20-7 with a second field goal from Ferrin to open the fourth quarter.

The Bearcats weren't done, with Sorsby's touchdown to Caldwell.

But the hosts will rue several missed chances — including three missed field goals from 40, 42 and 48 yards, and an offsides call on a punt return that would've give Cincinnati an extra possession.

Lucky, or good? Maybe a little bit of both.

After all, good teams make their own luck. Or at least on Friday night, BYU did.

"I don't know what was so lucky about tonight," said center Bruce Mitchell. "There was a quote by the Texas A&M coach a couple of weeks ago, and we were reminded of it today, that this game wasn't won tonight but it was won months ago.

"This team's put in a lot of hard work," he added, "not a lot of luck, but a lot of hard work, a lot of discipline, and we're just being able to execute and show that discipline that we built all offseason."

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