RECAP: The First Conference Win!
Throughout its storied history, LaVell Edwards Stadium has played host to many incredible moments. From the Cougars' historic win over #1 Miami in 1990, the catalyst for Ty Detmer's Heisman Trophy campaign, to their 1984 victory over Utah State, which clinched their #1 ranking heading into the Holiday Bowl, the legendary venue has seen some of the greatest triumphs in program history. And from Max Hall's overtime heroics against Utah to Tanner Mangum's Hail Mary miracle against Boise State, some of the Cougars' most dramatic finishes have been celebrated by the deafening roar of a chocolate-milk-inebriated Provo crowd.
But with the possible exception of the 1984 Utah State game, which propelled the Cougars towards their one and only national championship, all of those highlights pale in overall significance compared to what happened at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Friday, September 29, 2023. You see, no achievement in all of BYU football—not Ty Detmer's incredible Heisman season, not Max Hall's dominant reign over the Mountain West, not even the national championship itself—ever got the Cougars the ultimate prize they sought: sustained, institutional relevance. Despite the excellent product it put on the field, BYU was excluded from the ranks of the most prestigious athletic conferences, stuck in a succession of less impressive leagues like the WAC or Mountain West. Now, after wandering in independence for over a decade, BYU has finally received what it's deserved for years—membership in a power conference. Yes, for the first time in its incredible history, LaVell Edwards Stadium hosted a P5 conference football game.
And what a game it was! The Cougars entered their Friday night matchup with Cincinnati having plenty to prove after a disheartening loss to Kansas in their conference opener. In particular, the play of the offensive line has been highly suspect for most of the season. There were a lot of questions to be answered. How did the Cougars measure up?
The Good:
The Cougars seem to have rediscovered their offensive mojo, especially in the heretofore sluggish run game. LJ Martin rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns while averaging over four yards per carry, and Miles Davis had a couple productive carries as well. While that doesn't look like any kind of special rushing performance on paper, the fact that the run game contributed anything to the offense was refreshing. When the offensive line is able to generate momentum up front, LJ really runs well—and he needed to, given that Deion Smith hasn't been terribly productive running the ball to this point, and Aidan Robbins continues to nurse a rib injury.
This was arguably (at least from the 0:44 mark of the second quarter on) Kedon Slovis's best performance of the season. He looked comfortable in the pocket and made great decisions with the ball. It's up for debate whether his best play—a 59-yard third quarter TD bomb to Chase Roberts—was actually intentional; some have argued that the pass was meant for Keanu Hill and overthrown such that it fortuitously landed in Roberts' hands. Whether he meant to make that particular play or not, overall, he had a nice game and once again wrenched the offense out of stagnation.
A couple of young defensive players really stepped up for the Cougars in this game. Tanner Wall, who replaced Malik Moore at safety, had a great game, playing aggressively and with good form as he collected five tackles. But the backup who shined the most was Harrison Taggart, who recorded his first start at linebacker in place of the injured Ben Bywater. Taggart recorded ten tackles and performed like a much more experienced player, filling in admirably for one of the Cougars' most dynamic defenders in Bywater.
Ryan Rehkow's leg continues to be a very real weapon for the Cougars, flipping fields with a regularity that belies how difficult it is to be as consistently good as he is. The Ray Guy award is very much in play for Rehkow this year.
The Bad:
It seems to be a weekly tradition at this point, but BYU once again started this game very slow. Painfully slow, in fact. With 44 seconds left in the first half, the Cougars had 39 total yards and trailed 10-7, with their only points having come from a Jakob Robinson pick-six. The ineptitude of the offense in the first half was jarring, even given how much the Cougars have struggled on that side of the ball. Kedon Slovis found his groove—and his receivers—for a lightning fast drive right before halftime, and the offense was solid throughout the second half. But this was against Cincinnati, one of the worst offensive teams in the P5. The Cougars' next game is in Fort Worth against TCU, one of the best rushing teams in college football. If they get off to another disastrous offensive start, it could be very difficult for them to recover before the Horned Frogs bury them.
Because the Cougar defense has improved so much from last season, it can be easy to overstate exactly how good the unit is. Compared to the 2022 unit, Jay Hill's current group is a revolution. But as it turns out, they aren't that good, at least on a national level. BYU ranks 82nd in the country in run defense right now, and that lack of run stopping ability showed up painfully as this game wore on. Cincy rushed for a total of 242 yards, with 94 of those coming from quarterback Emory Jones. Jones isn't exactly a cannon-armed passing wizard, but he is a great athlete and I can't quite understand why the Cougars didn't do a better job spying him to keep him honest on the ground. The Bearcats kept multiple possessions alive with devastating run plays that the BYU defense didn't seem to have an answer for.
Thankfully, the Cougars were ultimately the better team in virtually every phase of this game except rushing—but Cincinnati is a Big 12 bottom feeder. If this BYU team is going to have a prayer of leaving Fort Worth with a win, they'll need to drastically improve both in running the ball and stopping the run. I think they can—the Horned Frogs are a talented but vulnerable team and will be without their starting quarterback against the Cougars. I think BYU can pull it off, and I'm predicting a 30-26 Cougar victory.