PROVO, Utah — The Brigham Young University Cougars were at home against Cincinnati Friday night, and after trailing for much of the game BYU finally took a lead in the fourth quarter and then hung on for the win.
The scoring began on the Bearcat side, with Cincinnati taking a 3-0 lead on a field goal early in the first quarter. Before the quarter ended, Cincinnati found the end zone to make it 10-0.
The next Bearcat scoring chance was interrupted, though, as the Cougars blocked a field goal. Then, with 13:29 to play in the half, BYU got on the board with a field goal, though Cincinnati soon scored again to make it 17-3 their favor.
BYU managed to find the end zone before the end of the half, with the touchdown coming in the form of a rush from Algernon Brown with 4:30 left on the clock. With that score, the teams headed to the locker rooms at halftime with the Bearcats up 17-10.
During that first half, the Bearcats were 5/10 on third down while the Cougars hadn’t converted even once on third down.
BYU began with possession in the second half, and that drive was capped off with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Tanner Mangum to Nick Kurtz, making it 17-17 with 9:31 left in the third quarter.
Cincinnati was able to respond, however, and with 3:28 left in the third they hammered in the touchdown on a short rush, following an impressive scramble from QB Hayden Moore that converted on a third-and-long and set up the first and goal attempt they scored on.
Brown racked up another touchdown in the fourth quarter to tie things up at 24, and BYU took their first lead of the game on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Mangum to Kurtz. That one-play drive came as the result of a Bearcat punt on the previous possession.
The BYU defense once again forced Cincinnati to punt, and BYU’s Garrett Juergens broke off a 39-yard return to take BYU to the Bearcat 32. That prime field position resulted in another Cougar touchdown, an 11-yard run from Francis Bernard, making it 38-24 BYU with under 5 minutes left in the game.
That score would hold up through the remaining time, giving BYU the win at home. The Cougars are scheduled to play next on October 24, when they host the Wagner Seahawks. That game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Mountain Time.
