LJ Martin ran for a career-high 222 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries and No. 11 Brigham Young shut down the high-powered Cincinnati offense to post a 26-14 road win on Saturday night.
Martin also had 44 receiving yards for 266 all-purpose yards. The junior now has 1,134 rushing yards to go with eight touchdowns on the season. Freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier completed 15 of 25 passes for 127 yards and rushed for a score as BYU (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
The Bearcats (7-4, 5-3), who were averaging 34.4 points per game and 194.5 yards on the ground per contest, was held to just 87 rushing total yards, while the Cougars played keep-away, holding a 17-minute advantage in time of possession. BYU totaled 392 yards, 265 on the ground.
Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby was 25-of-38 passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns as the Bearcats missed out on several chances to make it close. They missed three field-goal attempts, lost a fumble inside the 20 and were stopped near the goal line early in the game.
BYU struck first on Bachmeier’s 6-yard rush up the middle on third-and-goal with just under five minutes left in the first quarter, capping off a 10-play, 50-yard drive.
Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game when it had first-and-10 at the BYU 12. On fourth-and-1 from the BYU 3, Cincinnati’s leading rusher Tawee Walker was stuffed for no gain, and the Bearcats turned the ball over on downs. Walker, who was averaging 6.0 yards per carry this season, was held to 9 yards on five carries.
After Cincinnati cut the deficit to 20-14 on Sorsby’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Jeff Caldwell with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter, Martin and the BYU offense ran out the clock and he added a 33-yard TD run with 56 seconds left in regulation to seal the win.
It was a very tough game for the normally reliable Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak, who was 12 of 13 on field-goal attempts coming into the game. The left-footed kicker missed tries of 42 yards wide left on the drive immediately following the BYU stop in the red zone and 40 yards wide right with seven seconds left in the first half. He also missed a 48-yarder in the third quarter.
BYU took the lead for good with just under two minutes left in the first half when Will Ferrin converted from 31 yards for a 10-7 lead.
Tanner Wall intercepted Sorsby at the BYU 34 and the Cougars scored on their first possession of the second half when Martin ran it in from 1 yard for a 17-7 lead. Ferrin’s 32-yard field goal in the first minute of the fourth quarter pushed the advantage to 20-7.
–Field Level Media
