Cody Hoffman - BYU WR
Despite a lack-lustered and unispired effort by the offense for much of the game, BYU’s defense and special teams stepped up. Heading into playing Utah State, BYU could be 0-4 without the efforts of Kyle Van Noy. Van Noy had the sack-fumble and recovery for a touchdown against Ole’ Miss and tipped a ball to cause an interception in the waning moments of this game. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall says the offense is improving, but not quite there. Please, somebody poke Bronco and whisper ” we’re four games into the season and the offense is still in training camp mode.” BYU had a lot of firsts in their game against UCF. THey registered their forst sacks of the season, their first rushing touchdowns of the season, and Cody Hoffman’s kickoff return for a touchdown was BYU’s first in 13 years. Here’s how the Cougars graded against our keys to victory.
#1 Run, Run, Run- B+
The Knights came into this game giving up only 75 rushing yards a game and BYU came in averaging on;y 47 yards on the ground per game. BYU came out early and was dead set on getting their run game going. In their first drive of the game, JJ DiLuigi and Josh Quezada had 2 rushes for 18 and 10 yards. After the first drive the running game cooled down until the 4th quarter. After the Knights muffed a punt return the Cougars took over at UCF’s 23 yards line. Bryan Kariya then ran the ball three consecutive times to score what would be the game-winning touchdown. BYU ended up with 127 yards on the ground and scored their first two rushing touchdowns of the year. Also worth noting was the return of fullback Zed Mendenhall, he is BYU’s premier blocking back and opened a lot of holes for the running backs.
#2 Prevent the Big Plays- D
BYU got their hand caught in the cookie jar more than once this game trying to keep taps on Knights QB Jeff Godfrey. UCF wide receivers A.J. Guyton and Qunicy McDuffie nearly doubled the receiving totals for the entire BYU team. The two combined had 14 catches for 213 yards. The Knights reeled off pass plays of 33, 54, and 58 yards that put the Cougar defense on the ropes. The Knights did not do a good job capitalizing on their big plays, walking away from three drives with no points because of a missed field goal, fumble, and interception late in the game.
#3 Keep Scoring- C
BYU’s running game made a lot of improvements, their passing game however struggled once again. BYU QB Jake Heaps had difficulty placing the ball in the right spots, especially to WR McKay Jacobsen. BYU did not converge on two first downs and a touchdown because Heaps either under or overthrew Jacobsen. Heaps finished the game with only 133 yards passing and only led the Cougars on one scoring drive that did not start in UCF territory. Without Cody Hoffman’s 93 yard kickoff return and Michael Alisa recovering a muffed punt, BYU would not have won this game. Heaps’ go-to-guy Ross Apo did go down in the first quarter with a mild concussion. Apo has caught all 3 of BYU’s passing touchdowns and that no doubt affected BYU’s ability to challenge UCF’s secondary.
#4 Contain Jeff Godfrey- A-
Despite giving up seven pass plays over 16 yards, the Cougars did an excellent job containing Jeff Godfrey. Sure he passed for 270 yards but Godfrey is a QB that does a lot more damage on the ground. BYU was able to sack Godfrey four times and hold him to a net 7 yards rushing on 11 attempts. With a little over three minutes left in the game, Godfrey was scrambling to his right looking for the game-tying touchdown. In hot pursuit, BYU LB Kyle Van Noy was able to deflect Godfrey’s pass and BYU DB Joe Sampson intercepted it. Godfrey’s 270 yards passing was the second highest single game passing total of his career, but his passing was ultimately UCF’s undoing.
Final Score
BYU 24 - Central Florida 17 – What can I say? I should have put money down on the game…
