Cougars slow UCF Knights' running attack, win 37-24 – Deseret News

ORLANDO, Fla. – Anyone who watched Oklahoma State and reigning Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon II overrun the BYU defense in Provo last week probably expected more of the same from the UCF Knights on Saturday afternoon.

After all, UCF has another standout running back in RJ Harvey, a running quarterback in Jacurri Brown, and happens to have the third-best rushing attack in the country.

Perhaps that's why the Knights were slight favorites, despite their 3-4 record and four-game losing streak.

But the Cougars' defense flipped the script near the fantasy land of the Magic Kingdom and mostly nullified UCF's strong running game in a 37-24 win before 42,144 fans at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

“Ollie Gordon definitely had a good day for us,” BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker said. “We knew we had to stop the run and we did.”

The Cougars (8-0, 5-0) actually outrebounded the Knights (3-5, 1-4), accumulating 252 yards on the ground; UCF finished with 181 rushing yards.

Harvey, who rushed for 198 yards in last week's 38-35 loss to Iowa State, finished the game with 127 yards and two touchdowns. He managed runs of 23 and 54 yards in the first half, but remained mostly quiet the rest of the way.

“It’s always nice to see good running backs in the Big 12,” Glasker said. “We know every team we play is going to have some good running backs. Going against them somehow makes our defense better.”

Glasker got his second interception of the season, while freshman safety Faletau Satuala got the first pick of his career.

Brown ran for more than 150 yards against the Cyclones last week, but was so ineffective against BYU that the redshirt sophomore ended up on the bench. Brown was 8 of 17 for 96 yards and two interceptions, for a passer rating of 71.

The Miami transfer was sacked once and rushed for just 9 yards on six attempts.

“We knew he was a runner. We prepared as if we were playing an options offensive. I thought we shut him down well and made some big passes on him,” said BYU defenseman Blake Mangelson, who had one of his best games as a Cougar.

Mangelson had four tackles, a sack and a pass breakup. Glasker and safety Crew Wakely led BYU with five tackles each, while Harrison Taggart and Tanner Wall also had four.

“The biggest thing the coaches emphasized this week was dominance on the front line, and I think the (defensive) tackles and (defensive) ends did a phenomenal job,” Mangelson said. “That was the main thing, just dominate up front.”

Perhaps the most striking metric was the time of possession; BYU had the ball for 40 minutes and 28 seconds. The Cougars had an 18-play drive that ended in a field goal and earned a whopping 29 first downs.

“The offense played well. Forty minutes of possession is crazy,” Mangelson said. “This ensures that our defense doesn’t tire, we have time to recover and can perform at our best.”

BYU was 2-for-2 on fourth down, which included a nifty fake field goal run by kicker Will Ferrin that gained 8 yards and a first down. BYU is now ranked 15th out of 18 in fourth place this season.

UCF was just 2 of 10 on third down, a week after Oklahoma State was 11 of 19. Glasker said he and the rest of the defense worked all week in practice to give Brown looks that would confuse him.

“We bluffed on plays and made sure he wasn’t really sure what defense we were on,” Glasker said. “I feel like that kind of helped us in the long run.”

BYU was also supported by about 10,000 Cougar fans, many of whom stayed until the end, while UCF fans flocked to the exits.

“I wasn’t surprised because I know how BYU fans travel,” Glasker said. “I am very grateful to them, especially for the fact that they can look up in the stands and see everything blue. It kind of motivated us too, especially when you hear chants from UCF fans and then you hear BYU fans being loud too.”

Quarterback Jake Retzlaff added: “We’ve been saying it for a long time – we have the best fan base in the country. They showed up today.”

And that also applied to BYU’s fast-paced defense.