On a hot and sunny afternoon in Orlando, the BYU offense came out scorching hot in a dominant 37-24 victory over UCF.

On its opening drive, BYU marched right down the field to score a touchdown, the first of many scores on a day full of offensive fireworks. Retzlaff looked sharp on the first drive and finished it with a 29-yard scramble for the touchdown.

On UCF’s first drive of the game, the Knights moved the ball to midfield and on fourth down and short, they decided to punt the ball, which set the tone of the game.

Deep in their own territory, the Cougars made their way to midfield when BYU head coach Kalani Sitake gambled and went for it on fourth down. Retzlaff rolled out and hit Darius Lassiter, who had to evade multiple UCF defenders to make the line to gain.

On the same drive, BYU faced another fourth down in field goal range and went with some trickery.

While that drive ultimately ended in a Will Ferrin field goal to put the Cougars up 10-0, BYU’s aggressiveness compared to UCF’s passiveness was the difference in BYU’s dominating win. It sent the message to UCF that BYU wasn’t just there to win.

But to dominate.

After the Cougars forced another stop, LJ Martin found his way into the end zone to put his team up 17-0 in the second quarter. Martin ran rampant on UCF, carrying the ball 15 times for 101 yards and one touchdown.

Down 17 points, it was a do-or-die drive for the Knights, and their bell cow running back RJ Harvey delivered a 54-yard run to the 3-yard line, setting up the Knights’ only touchdown of the game.

After BYU’s only punt in the first half, UCF’s quarterback Jacurri Brown connected with Jacoby Jones for 40 yards to put UCF in scoring position at the BYU 15-yard line. Down 17-7, the Knights had all the momentum as they were about to cut BYU’s lead and get the ball to start the second half. However, Brown was flagged for taunting after a short run, backing UCF up to third and long. After an unsuccessful third down attempt, the drive ended in a UCF field goal.

With less than a minute on the clock in the first half, BYU turned the game on its head when Retzlaff hit Chase Roberts on the sideline for a 62-yard, monumental touchdown. BYU grabbed the momentum back from UCF and went into halftime up 24-10.

Down big at halftime, the Knights needed a spark on offense to try and trigger a comeback. But BYU’s defense did what it has done all season. The Cougars forced a three-and-out on the first drive of the second half when Isaiah Glasker tipped Brown’s pass at the line of scrimmage, forcing the Knights to punt.

Retzlaff and BYU’s rushing attack put the game away on the ensuing drive, scoring a touchdown to go up 31-10 in the third quarter.

The following two UCF drives resulted in interceptions by Glasker and freshman safety Faletau Satuala, forcing UCF head coach Gus Malzahn to bench Brown and play their fourth quarterback of the season.

BYU defense vs UCF

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BYU has only allowed 24 total points in third quarters this season and held UCF scoreless in the third quarter again. Up 34-10 after three quarters, the rest of the game was a formality for BYU as UCF put up two garbage-time touchdowns to make things respectable.

Takeaways

The Cougars offense against UCF ran as smoothly as it has looked in years. The offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, where Retzlaff, Martin, and Hinckley Ropati carried the load. The Cougars finished the game rushing for 252 yards on 51 carries.

Coming off the biggest drive of his career last week, Retzlaff was at his best as a Cougar from start to finish. He finished the game having thrown for 228 yards on 16 of 24 completions, including two touchdowns. He also rushed 14 times for 38 yards, one touchdown and some significant third-down conversions.

The Cougar offense has improved in every game since they stumbled out of the gate against SMU, and their performance against UCF was the best they have functioned in a long time. Now that the BYU offense has come to life, especially the run game, the Cougars look like a complete team heading into the season's final four games.

BYU's defense struggled in their last game against Oklahoma State, giving up 35 points to a team that had previously struggled on offense. Against UCF, the defense was determined to prove that their performance against the Cowboys was a blip on the radar.

This week, the defense responded, holding the Knights to 24 points and 379 total yards of offense. The Cougars were much better at stopping the run and forced multiple turnovers in the second half to keep UCF at bay, just as they have done all season.

BYU (8-0) has a bye this week before visiting arch-rival Utah on Nov. 9. It will mark the first meeting between the two programs since the Cougars snapped a nine-game losing streak against their rivals in 2021 at LaVell Edwards Stadium.