Coming off an exciting and dramatic 38-35 win over Oklahoma State on Friday night, BYU coach Kalani Sitake knows his team has work to do as it prepares this week for a matchup at UCF.
However, that didn’t stop him from praising his team’s grit and perseverance on the team’s game-winning touchdown drive.
“We practice those situations all the time," Sitake said about his offense’s poise in that moment. "It’s just a matter of them going out and getting it done and executing and I’m glad they were able to make the plays.”
Sitake explained that his usage of the team’s timeouts during Oklahoma State’s final drive played a huge factor in allowing the offense to have enough time for a game-winning drive. He was able to save a timeout due to an Oklahoma State player going out of bounds.
Despite the miraculous win, Sitake knows his team must improve this week if it is going to keep its undefeated season alive.
“Defensively there are things that we could do way better than what we did,” he said.
Sitake highlighted the two big runs that the Cowboys were able to break as something the defense could clean up. He said they will need to fix some mistakes as well as missed tackles.
“We've got to find ways to get better and stay humble and find ways to improve, that’s going to be the key for us,” Sitake said.
The Cougars will travel to Orlando to take on UCF on Saturday and even though the 3-4 Knights are coming off a loss to Iowa State, Sitake knows BYU must be prepared for the matchup.
“We know we’re gonna get their best shot, we’re going into their home,” he said.
“They’re definitely a dangerous team but I like the matchup. It's got our attention, I like the challenge for our players,” Sitake added.
This will be the Cougars' first trip to Florida since they played South Florida in 2022 and it is their first game against UCF since the 2020 Boca Raton Bowl.