You cant always hold on for dear life. Eventually you either pull yourself up or let yourself go. In this instance, BYU fell after holding on for about 3 quarters. Will they be able to better control the game against Cincinnati at home?

BYU vs Kansas Breakdown

BYU, from the beginning, looked like they were hanging on for dear life against Kansas. It was neck and neck the whole game but BYU didn’t seem in control at all and it was a very nerve racking game. BYU led the game only once, 17-14, heading into halftime. But the second half came and about halfway through the third quarter, BYU was only down a point, 20-21. But Kansas scored a touchdown making it 28-20 and then scored another touchdown at the beginning of the fourth quarter to make it 35-20 and very hard to come back from. After that BYU scored a touchdown but then could not stop the Kansas offense who kicked a field goal with about 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter making it a 10 point game.

BYU looked okay. There were a couple of bright spots. Our offensive passing game is great. Slovis’ connection with the WRs and TE Rex seem to be on point and there are no questions there. Slovis had 357 passing yards and 2 touchdowns. We also seem to have a kicking game again! Will Ferrin, a transfer from Boise State, knocked down his two field goal kicks in the game. One from 34 and one from 33. On the season he has only missed 1 extra point and 1 field goal and has a long of 43.

But Slovis also had 2 interceptions and we lost a fumble on our first drive that led to points. On both of Slovis’ interceptions he didnt really need to throw them. He didn’t need to force it to Rex even though the refs should have called defensive holding and the long ball down the sideline was a bad throw and not nearly as strong as it needed to be. Having 3 turnovers to their 0 is a recipe for disaster and when you spot the opponent 2 touchdowns on a fumble and interception your chances of winning are slim.

BYU also had some injury concerns. Parker Kingston, the dynamic, quick freshman left the game with a concussion and never returned. Ben Bywater, BYUs leading tackler for the season, left the game with a shoulder injury and is unlikely to play against Cincinnati, and Kingsley Simulateia left the game with an injury, but Sitake has said that he should be good to go against Cincinnati. The biggest concern is Bywater. He had shoulder surgery last year and spent most of the preseason recovering from it. The team is waiting on an MRI to see what his status it but its not looking good for this week. Next in line would be redshirt Freshman Harrison Taggert, former four star linebacker, who transferred to BYU from Oregon this year.

BYU vs Cincinnati Preview

Are you guys ready for this? Are you truly excited for Friday night? Well you better be because its BYUs first Big 12 Conference game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. That is wild. There is a lot of anticipation for this game and rightfully so, this is the first game for BYU, EVER, in a Power 5 conference and it comes against newbie Cincinnati.

Like Kansas, Cincinnati has a very good offense. They are ranked 14th in the nation in total yards per game with 488. Kansas is ranked 25th just for comparison. Cincinnati is a running team. They are also ranked 14th in the nation in total rushing yards per game at 214.8. They are also ranked 39th in total passing yards per game at 273.5. So however you look at it, this offense is great. Basically on Kansas’ level. Expect a high dose of running against BYU to control the clock and wear BYU down. Defensively, they are very similar to BYU. They are ranked 36th in rushing yards allowed and are outside the top 50 in passing yards allowed. I think I found where BYU needs to attack this defense. Luckily, that is also the strongest part of BYUs offense. Look for BYU to pass the ball a lot and often.

Cincinnati is only 2-2 on the year though. They have wins against Easter Kentucky and Pitt and losses to Miami OH and Oklahoma in their first Big 12 game ever. Like BYU, they will probably come out with some fire for this game looking for their first Big 12 win. The game against Oklahoma last week was an interesting one. They held Oklahomas offense to 20 points but were only able to muster 6 points themselves. The main reason for this was they lost the turnover battle and were horrible on 3rd down going 3-15.

Cincinnatis QB, Emory Jones, threw 2 interceptions and led the team in rushing yards. He had 15 running attempts himself with 10 rushing attempts for their actual running back. Jones is a a good QB though, who can run and throw. He likes to run and probably prefers to run, but also throws a nice ball. They also have a very capable running back in Corey Kiner who rushed 20 times for 153 yards and 1 touchdown against Miami OH to pair with their athletic QB. In the two games that Cincinnati has lost, Jones threw 2 interceptions each game and 0 touchdowns total. In the 2 games that Cincinnati has won, Jones has 9 touchdowns both through the air and on the ground and 1 interception total. He could be the deciding factor for this game.

One last note, this game opened with BYU favored by 3 and has since swung to the other side with Cincinnati now favored by 2. I don’t know if its the news that Bywater is out is whats pushing it, but still, this should be a very close game. I think BYU can pull this one out thanks to being home and having the home fans. And they will be amped to be at home for their first Big 12 game. I have BYU winning this game in a shootout, 34-31. Also, side note, the game was just announced that it will be SOLD OUT.

BYU Football Uniforms and Field Update

BYU is going back to the all royal rush for the first time this year. The last time we saw this uniform was the game in Vegas against Arizona.

BYU is also updating the field for the rest of the season. It was previously announced that it would be for all home games at the beginning of the season but then was delayed till the first Big 12 home game. The field will stay like this for the remainder of the season. It is the first time that BYU will fill in the end zones for more than one game EVER!! It has never been done before only on a game by game basis! Must be all of that new Power 5 money.

BYU Basketball News

We have the official BYU basketball conference schedule and wow, it looks hard. We get to play 7 or 8 teams that made March Madness last year! A cool little note is that BYU will face Cincinnati in both basketball and football to open their Big 12 Conference games at home. BYU then goes on the road to face Baylor. Some fun home games are Houston, Texas, Kansas St, and Baylor. Some tough road games are Baylor, Texas Tech, Kansas St, and Kansas. WE GET TO PLAY KANSAS THIS YEAR IN BASKETBALL. The toughest stretch is home against Baylor, at Kansas St, and then at Kansas. Those are going to be a crazy 3 straight games in a row.

Big 12 Conference Update

Texas beat Baylor handily, 38-6, behind 2 touchdowns from their running back Brooks. Oklahoma beat Cincinnati in a weird low scoring game, 20-6. TCU played their final non-conference game after playing Houston in a conference game the week before, beating SMU, 34-17. Kansas outplayed BYU on offense to win 38-27. West Virginia had stifling defense to beat Texas Tech 20-13. Iowa St beat Oklahoma St in a MUCH needed win for the program, 34-27. Houston finished their last non-conference game after playing TCU last week, beating Sam Houston, 38-7. Kansas St won a VERY entertaining game against UCF in an offensive shootout, 44-31.

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