Ground game pushes No. 11 BYU to 26-14 win at Cincinnati

CINCINNATI – In a Big 12 road game where No. 11 BYU never trailed, a potent rushing game along with timely defensive stops and takeaways gave the Cougars a 26-14 victory on Saturday night.

LJ Martin racked up a career-high 222 rushing yards on 32 carries and added 44 receiving yards to lead BYU to the win. Martin scored twice, one halfway halfway through the third quarter and again late in the fourth. Tonight’s game also pushed Martin to over 1,000 rushing yards on the season (1,134). 

Bear Bachmeier totaled 127 passing yards and 46 rushing yards. The true freshman scored a record-breaking rushing touchdown in the first quarter, the 11th of his career, passing Steve Young, Taysom Hill and Zach Wilson for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season by a BYU quarterback.

BYU had 265 rushing yards in the game to Cincinnati’s 87.

Cincinnati took three trips to the red zone, but only capitalized on one of them. BYU’s defense held the Bearcats to three field goal attempts, all of which were missed.

Tanner Wall had an interception on the Bearcats’ first drive of the third quarter. His takeaway set the offense up for a touchdown, which put BYU up 10.

The defense was led by Evan Johnson, Tausili Akana and Siale Esera, who each recorded five tackles. Therrian Alexander III wasn’t far behind with his four tackles and final-minute sack.

The Cougars had possession for nearly 75 percent of the game, 38:25 to the Bearcats’ 21:35.

First Quarter

The Bearcats won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball in the second half. After a touchback, the Cincinnati defense quickly forced a third-and-five, where a false start penalty sent BYU five yards back for third-and-10. Martin took a screen pass 26 yards from Bachmeier to the Bearcat 49, but the Cougars were unable to get enough yards to move the chains after that point, forcing a punt from Sam Vander Haar.

A 37-yard punt set Cincinnati up at their own nine-yard line. Bodie Schoonover opened the drive with a tackle for loss, dropping running back Tawee Walker two yards back. The Bearcats gained two yards on second-and-12, but an incomplete pass forced an opening drive three-and-out with 9:58 remaining in the first quarter.

Bachmeier, Martin and the Cougar offense returned to the field and powered a 10-play, 50-yard touchdown drive. Martin recorded a 13-yard carry on first down, and after adding another yard on the next play, Bachmeier hit Carsen Ryan for four yards, bringing up third-and-four. BYU moved the chains on a Bachmeier-Chase Roberts 11-yard connection. Parker Kingston added another seven yards on the following play, putting BYU 13 yards away from the end zone. Two short Martin pickups helped the Cougars set up first-and-goal from the eight. On third-and-six, Bachmeier rushed up the middle for his 11th rushing touchdown this season. The freshman’s score marks the most single-season rushing touchdowns from a quarterback in program history. With Will Ferrin’s extra point, the Cougars took a 7-0 lead over Cincinnati with 4:39 on the clock.

On the following drive, BYU’s defense forced two fourth-and-ones. Cincinnati converted a first down with three yards on the first attempt, setting up first down at the Bearcat 37. Running back Evan Pryor then marched 28 yards into Cougar territory, and on the next play, Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby and wide receiver Jeff Caldwell connected for another 23 yards. Two short gains and a Sorsby scramble would force the second fourth-and-one at the BYU two-yard line before first quarter time would expire.

Second Quarter

On the fourth down attempt, Walker would take the direct snap but Keanu Tanuvasa and Akana came up with the stop, resulting in a Cincinnati turnover on downs.

Two-straight four-yard carries from Martin set up third-and-two from the Cougars’ own 11. On the keeper, Bachmeier was tackled three yards behind the line of scrimmage, which forced the second punt of the night for BYU.

Vander Haar’s punt put the Bearcats at the Cougar 47. Sorsby found wide receiver Noah Jennings for 20 yards, but the defense would hold Cincinnati to only four more yards after that. Back-to-back incomplete passes forced a field goal attempt, but from 42 yards, the kick went wide left, keeping the Cougars in front 7-0 with 11:37 left in the half.

On BYU’s next drive, Bachmeier-to-Kingston connections and a Martin rush moved the ball to the Bearcats’ 43. On third-and-six from that spot, Bachmeier rushed up the middle for 10 yards, but a holding penalty on the Cougars pushed them back 10 yards. The offense was unable to advance past that point, bringing up another BYU punt.

Cincinnati’s Manny Covey found space for a long punt return, dashing 57 yards to the Cougars’ 33-yard line. After a six-yard gain from Pryor, Sorsby hit an open Cyrus Allen, who took it into the end zone. With the extra point, the Bearcats tied the game at 7 with 6:34 to go.

After a touchback, Martin opened the drive with a 16-yard run. Bachmeier and the junior running back then moved the chains again in two plays. An incomplete pass and two yards from Enoch Nawahine forced another third down. Bachmeier found Jojo Phillips, who gained 13 yards to grab the first down. Despite an 11-yard catch from Ryan that nearly put BYU in the red zone, a BYU false start was costly and made the offense settle for a field goal. Ferrin’s 31-yard kick was good, retaking the lead 10-7 with 1:56 remaining.

Led by Esera and Viliami Po’uha, the Cougar defense put Cincinnati in another third down scenario to start their drive, but nine yards on the ground from Sorsby moved the chains. Tanuvasa stuffed Sorsby on the next play, and following two short pickups, Jay Hill’s defense made it fourth-and-two at the Bearcats’ 49. Sorsby kept the ball again and advanced five yards to get the first down. A deep ball to Allen gave Cincinnati a fresh set of downs, but Isaiah Glasker and Jack Kelly paired to hold it to a field goal. For the second time in the first half, Stephen Rusnak’s kick was no good, this one wide right. BYU kept their advantage, 10-7, going into the locker room.

Third Quarter

Coming out of halftime, Esera recorded two consecutive stops on Pryor, the second for a loss of two yards. On third-and-10 from the Cincinnati 25, Sorsby went deep but his pass was picked off by Wall, his fourth interception of the year to lead the defense. Wall’s takeaway gave Bachmeier and the offense the ball at their 34.

Martin gave BYU better field position with his 13-yard carry to start the drive. Bachmeier, Kingston and Martin grouped to move the chains again through two plays, but a gadget play attempt featuring Cody Hagen resulted in a loss of nine, setting the Cougars up for second-and-19 from their own 48. On the snap, Bachmeier aired it to Martin who found 11 yards. A face mask penalty was called on the Bearcats on the play, which pushed BYU 15 yards up the field with a new set of downs. From the Cincinnati 26, Martin took back-to-back runs to grab the first. Kingston and Bachmeier followed his lead and combined for 14 yards to reach the one-yard line. The first attempt to the end zone fell incomplete, but Martin took a trip to the end zone on second down, his seventh touchdown this season. Ferrin’s extra point was good, pushing BYU’s lead to 17-7 with 8:26 left in the third quarter.

On the first play of the drive, Sorsby hit Caleb Goodie for 19 yards before Faletau Satuala pushed him out of bounds. Two consecutive five-yard gains moved the chains again, but a false start penalty on the Bearcats pushed them back five yards. Despite the setback, Sorsby completed a 17-yard pass to Pryor to move the ball. The Cougar defense then gained momentum and would not allow further progress, holding Cincinnati to another field goal attempt. For the third time tonight, Rusnak’s kick was no good, this time it went wide left. BYU kept its 10-point advantage with 5:13 on the clock.

BYU took over and after a three-yard rush from Martin, a drop by Kingston and third-down play for a short gain forced a punt. On the punt, a Bearcat offside moved the chains for BYU and allowed the Cougars to keep possession. Martin kept running the ball, with four straight carries for seven, four, four and 16 yards. Bachmeier then picked up 11 yards on the next play, for another first down, as the Cougar rush-heavy offense continued to move the chains. BYU ran the ball on 15 of 20 plays in the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

BYU started the final quarter at the Cincinnati 16. A short gain by Martin and incomplete pass brought up fourth down and Ferrin knocked through his second field goal of the game to make it 20-7 with 14:07 left in the game.

With the lead widening, the Bearcats were forced to go for it another fourth down, four plays into the drive on their own side of the field. Sorsby connected on the fourth-down play to Caleb Goodie for seven yards and Cincinnati was marching. Sorsby completed two more passes and had a long scramble to move the ball all the way down to the BYU 17. At that point, a pass out to the flat was caught and BYU’s Tayvion Beasley spun the player down to the field with the ball coming loose. Initially called an incompletion with the play blown dead, after a lengthy review, the call was overturned, ruled a fumble and the recovery by the Cougars gave them the ball at their own 22.

On the first play for the Cougars, Martin darted through a hole on the left side of the line for a 21-yard gain. Three yards from Martin and a short pass to Kingston brought up third-and-four at the BYU 49. On the play, Cincinnati’s defense took down Bachmeier for a loss of five, forcing the Cougars to punt.

From their own 14, Sorsby completed to Isaiah Johnson for a gain of 20. Po’uha stopped the junior quarterback at the line of scrimmage on the next play. A five-yard quarterback carry and a short pass moved the chains to the Bearcat 48, where Sorsby shot downfield to Covey, who reached BYU’s 15-yard line. A gain of one yard through two plays forced third-and-nine, where a false start penalty was called on Cincinnati. The penalty wouldn’t keep the Bearcats out of the end zone, as Sorsby went 19 yards to Caldwell into the end zone. With the extra point, the Bearcats trimmed BYU’s lead to 20-14 late in the fourth quarter.

With 4:30 remaining, the BYU offense would start a clock-draining series. The Martin-Bachmeier duo would work together through three runs to gain the first down. Martin rushed right for another seven yards before the Bearcats would call a timeout with 2:10 left.

Out of the timeout, on second-and-three, Martin was hit at the line of scrimmage but bounced off the tackle and kept driving forward to get the first down for the Cougars going into the two-minute timeout. Bachmeier returned from the timeout and advanced eight yards, forcing Cincinnati to call a timeout of their own at 1:53.

Martin moved the chains on a five-yard rush up the middle. The El Paso, native added another five yards, reaching the Cincinnati 33. On second down, Martin took off for the end zone, pushing the BYU lead to 26-14. The offense attempted a two-point conversion, but Bachmeier’s pass was picked off in the end zone.

With 56 seconds left, Ferrin’s kickoff was returned to the Cincinnati 23, but a holding penalty on the Bearcats pushed them back to the 13-yard line. On third-and-six, Sorsby hit Walker for nine yards to get the first down with 32 seconds left. Therrian Alexander III closed the game with a sack, sealing the 26-14 win for the Cougars.

Up Next

The Cougars return to LaVell Edwards Stadium for their final regular-season game against the UCF Knights on Saturday, Nov. 29. Listen to live play-by-play with Greg Wrubell on BYU Radio, with broadcast information and kickoff time to be announced tomorrow.