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Central Florida quarterback Jacurri Brown (11) hands off to running back RJ Harvey (7) against Cincinnati during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. | Phelan M. Ebenhack
After the euphoria of Friday night’s 38-35 win over Oklahoma State subsided a bit, the undefeated BYU Cougars turned their attention to this Saturday’s matchup with UCF in Orlando and quickly realized that if they want to keep their perfect 7-0 record intact they better figure out a way to stop the run better than they did at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Oklahoma State rushed for 267 yards in the loss, and put together scoring drives of 75, 75, 76, 79 and 76 yards. The Cowboys were 9 of 13 on third down and 2 of 2 on fourth down. Albeit with one of the best running backs in the country, Ollie Gordon II, they exposed BYU’s rushing defense as being less-than-stout.
That doesn’t bode well for this week’s Big 12 game, as UCF is No. 3 in the country in rushing offense, averaging 280.3 rushing yards per game. The Knights are averaging 5.98 yards per carry.
Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. MDT Saturday at 45,301-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium and the game will be televised by ESPN.
“They just had way too much success on us (after) what we have been able to do all year long,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of OSU’s offense, which totaled 421 yards. “We will just go back to the film and find ways to get better. You have to credit them for stressing us a little bit. I think UCF is going to do the same thing next week. So we gotta be ready for it.”
The Knights (3-4, 1-3) have lost four straight games after a 3-0 start which included a 35-34 win over TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. They let what would have been a season-defining win get away Saturday night, blowing a second-half lead and falling 38-35 to No. 9 Iowa…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-11-cougars-struggling-rush-002450564.html
Author : Deseret News
Publish date : 2024-10-21 00:24:50
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