CINCINNATI, Ohio — Were the No. 11 BYU Cougars impressive enough in their hardfought 26-14 road win over upset-minded Cincinnati late Saturday night to persuade some members of the College Football Playoff committee to bump them up a notch or two in the CFP rankings?
BYU football coach Kalani Sitake, who makes being humble an art form, could not care less.
All the 10-year coach knows is that if the Cougars (7-1, 10-1) win their next two games, rankings won't matter. BYU can clinch a spot in the Big 12 championship game — the winner in Arlington automatically goes to the CFP — if it can beat UCF next Saturday in Provo.
Simple as that. Sure, there are some who say the Cougars aren't ranked high enough right now — standing at No. 11 — to withstand a loss at AT&T Stadium and still make it as an at-large entrant, but Sitake doesn't concern himself with those negative thoughts.
"Not really worried about that. I am not here to campaign. I am just here to play football with our team, and we just try to find ways to win the game. Let the other experts figure that stuff out," he said after BYU's fourth Big 12 road win.
"We are just trying to get our next win next week and just be thankful for what we're able to do. Football is hard, man. I want these guys to embrace every moment of it. We made some really cool memories tonight."
In front of 38,034 fans at Nippert Stadium, famous for its raucous and rowdy atmosphere in night games, the Cougars stayed in the hunt with a solid game in all three phases.
Offensively, they were carried by a phenomenal effort from the offensive line — Bruce Mitchell, Kyle Sfarcioc, Isaiah Jatta, Andrew Gentry and Austin Leausa — and blossoming superstar LJ Martin .
BYU running back LJ Martin (4) celebrates with wide receiver Reggie Frischknecht (7) during game against Cincinnati, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025, in Cincinnati. | Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press
The junior from El Paso carried the ball a career-high 32 times for a career-high 222 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught three passes for 44 yards as BYU played the entire second half without leading receiver Chase Roberts .
Roberts caught one pass for 11 yards before leaving with an apparent hamstring injury. Sitake said after the game that he "expects" the senior to be back next week for Senior Night.
Martin's 222 rushing yards are the eighth-most in school history, and he became the 18th BYU ball carrier to go for more than 200 yards in a single game.
"To be able to touch the ball that many times and have a good outcome, have a win, it was real fun," said Martin, whose 33-yard TD run with 56 seconds remaining sealed it.
Did Martin think about taking a knee before reaching the end zone, or were so-called 'style points' on his mind?
"I did," he said. "I was asking them (before the run) if we were going to take a knee instead. They were like, 'No, we need to run the ball, so I was like, 'If you guys didn't want to score, then we should have never ran the ball.'"
But all is well that ends well, and Cincinnati was never able to get anything going, as it was out of timeouts in the final minute. Interestingly, the Bearcats finished with 387 total yards, to 392 for BYU. The game was that close — until Martin's big run.
"We could have gone into victory formation if LJ just went down, but that's OK," Sitake said, clearly not thinking about needing a bigger margin of victory to impress the committee.
"I don't blame LJ for the touchdown. The goal was to get a first down, but it was open, and you gotta take it."
Let's fact it. A 26-14 win — BYU's two-point try was intercepted — looks a lot better than 20-14 in the headlines.
"They made it super easy," Martin said of the offensive line, as BYU finished with 265 rushing yards. "I mean, they were (giving) me wide open creases. They did a great job of pushing up front. … It was probably the easiest night of my life."
Defensively, the Cougars played a lot of that bend-but-don't-break style that has served them well, and it helped that Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak missed three makable field goals from 42, 40 and 47 yards out. That from a guy who was 12 of 13 this season before the game.
Yes, the Cougars got a bit lucky, but they were also the more physical team, played without committing a turnover and were flagged for just three penalties.
"That's our kind of style," Sitake said. "We like winning (in) different ways. … We played clean football. When we do that, we have a really good chance of doing something special."
Of all the fortunate breaks BYU got, the biggest was accompanied by a bad one that kept it from getting a scoop and score.
With just over 10 minutes remaining, nickel back Tayvion Beasley tackled UC's Cyrus Allen for no gain. But as Allen was going to the ground, he lost the football a millisecond before his knee hit turf.
Cougar linebacker Isaiah Glasker alertly grabbed the loose pigskin, but officials ruled Allen down. After a replay review that took a good five minutes, officials awarded the football to BYU from the spot where Glasker grabbed it.
"A lot of people say we are lucky. I think we are diligent, and I think we expect to win," said BYU defensive lineman Keanu Tanuvasa . "So that's just allowed us to skyrocket from that loss (to Texas Tech) into where we are now."
In the battle between an experienced quarterback and a 19-year-old making his 11th college start, it was close to a tie. Redshirt junior Brendan Sorsby completed 66% of his passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed eight times for 38 yards.
But he was picked off by BYU's Tanner Wall, Wall's fourth pick of the season.
"I thought our front seven played outstanding," Wall said, noting that UC rushed for only 87 yards.
As for grinding out another win, Wall said that has become BYU's "personality," and the Cougars like it.
"We're going to find a way to win these games," he said. "Throughout the game, there might be some weird plays here or there… But we always find a way to win, and that's what it is going to take to get us to where we want to be."
The first half was fairly even, as BYU picked up 193 yards and Cincinnati 182. The Bearcats missed two field goals in the half, including a 40-yarder just before the break that would have knotted the score.
So the Cougars took a 10-7 lead into halftime, despite not playing particularly well in the first 30 minutes, aside from a 10 play, 50-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
Bear Bachmeier scored from 6 yards out, his 11th rushing touchdown of the season, which is a BYU record for a freshman quarterback.
Bachmeier became something of a game manager, but still finished with 127 passing yards. A couple of his passes in the first half could have been picked off, but generally he was poised and made good decisions.
"There are a lot of plays that we would love to have back, but I am really impressed with Bear's ability to play (within himself) and take care of the football," Sitake said.
"He made a lot of checks we gave him, and made a lot of audibles, and I think he put us in the right position."
Cincinnati will rue its blown chances in the red zone. It drove to the BYU 2 on its second possession, but Tanuvasa stuffed a direct snap on 4th and inches to force the Bearcats to turn the ball over on downs.
The Cougars made two crucial mistakes in the second quarter that prevented them from scoring and allowed Cincinnati to get into the end zone.
Bachmeier had apparently picked up a first down on a third and 5 run for 10 yards, but center Bruce Mitchell was flagged for holding. The Cougars eventually punted.
On that punt, Cincinnati returner Manny Covey scooped the ball up on the bounce when a few BYU gunners had ran past him, and he picked up 57 yards on the return.
Two plays laster, Sorsby found Allen streaking down the near sideline, alone, for a 27-yard touchdown pass.
BYU put together another decent drive to get inside the Cincy 20, but Cody Hagen was stopped a few yards short of the first-down marker by a nice open-field tackle, and the Cougars had to settle for a 31-yard field goal and a 10-7 halftime lead.
Cincinnati had five plays or 20 or more yards in the first half, while BYU had just one, a 26-yard reception by Martin.
"We gave up some big plays, but we know what the mistakes were and they are fixable," Sitake said. "We can fix them by next week. … It wasn't perfect, but we will take the result, and we will keep learning and get better for next week."
With a chance to play in the Big 12 championship game on the line, a remarkable accomplishment for a team that began the season with a rookie quarterback and facing one of the most difficult schedules in school history.
BYU players celebrate after a missed field goal by Cincinnati on November 22, 2025 in Cincinnati. | Jaren Wilkey/BYU
