No. 11 BYU finding several ways to win in 7-0 start

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• BYU's football team continued their undefeated run, improving to 7-0 with a narrow 38-35 victory over Oklahoma State.
• The Cougars managed to secure the win with a total of 421 offensive yards, including key contributions from LJ Martin and a resilient defensive effort.
• Friday's outcome underscored their ability to succeed through offensive strength, as they prepare for their upcoming match against UCF.

PROVO — All season long, BYU head coach Kalani Sitake has talked about making "statements" with each game of the 2024 campaign.

It started with Statement 1, when the Cougars topped FCS Southern Illinois through Statement 6 with a home win over Arizona with Fox's "Big Noon Kickoff" in town.

So what was the Cougars' "statement" after Friday night's heart-stopping 38-35 win over Oklahoma State?

"Statement 7 was just like: It's a good team win," Sitake said after dancing in a celebratory locker room after his team improved to 4-0 in Big 12 play. "I can't sit there and say that one phase out of the three was the key, but all three just stuck together, and just finally found a way to get a win.

"We made mistakes, and that's two mistakes (on Jake Retzlaff's interceptions), but we were able to find a way to get this done. We're gonna have fun and enjoy it. It's a huge accomplishment where they're at right now. But, man, you can't take anything lightly, and not that we did, but we know we're going to give our best shot."

In a season where BYU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) has relied on a top-25 defense to force turnovers and shut down opponents, defensive coordinator Jay Hill's second-year unit that led the country in pass efficiency defense looked surprisingly mortal.

Paced by the best game of the season from reigning Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon II, Oklahoma State (3-4, 0-4 Big 12) gave BYU all it could handle — and then some — in piling up 421 yards on offense. That included 107 yards and two touchdowns on the legs of Gordon, who also caught two passes for 20 yards and a score.

Alan Bowman, who was benched for first-time starting quarterback Garret Rangel, came on in reserve to throw for 85 yards and a touchdown — that one being a 6-yard strike to Brennan Presley with 1:13 remaining that gave the Cowboys a 35-31 lead.

Oklahoma State carved up BYU's defense on the drive, converting a pair of fourth downs during a 17-play, 76-yard run over more than eight minutes and converting 9-of-13 third downs overall.

The Cougars did pick off the Cowboys twice, through Tanner Wall's second straight game with an interception and Tommy Prassas' career-first, to do some of what the chaotic, havoc-inducing defense does as well or better than any team in the country. BYU's 10 takeaways on the season ranks behind only Cal, Iowa State and San Jose State.

The offense has taken advantage, too, converting 11 total forced turnovers into a nice 69 points on the season.

But BYU's latest win didn't come down to a defensive masterpiece. The 38 points scored is tied for the Cougars' second-most against an FBS opponent, behind only last week's 41 against the Wildcats that included Isaiah Glasker's pick six to seal the final margin.

The 35 points allowed is a season-high, 7 points greater than a 34-28 road win over Baylor.

"We believe in each other in all three phases," Wall said. "Guys who don't play believe in the guys who do play throughout the week. The level of belief on this team is very high. We expect a lot from ourselves, too. I thelps us to have an expectation to win. Everyone buys into their role. That is ultimately what allows us to put together drives at the end of the game like that."

On Friday night, every point BYU scored came from an offensive player (or kicker), including two rushing touchdowns from LJ Martin's career-high 120 yards, another from Retzlaff, the game-winning touchdown toss to Darius Lassiter as part of his BYU-high 129-yard game, and another through Keelan Marion.

Whereas, BYU's defense has boosted the offense for most of the season, Friday was a chance for Retzlaff and Co. to return the favor.

"It was a dog fight," said Glasker, who finished second on the team with eight tackles to go along with a tackle for loss against Gordon. "We knew coming into halftime that we'd have to come back out there strong."

Seven games after then-No. 21 Oklahoma State kept BYU out of the postseason with a 40-34 double-overtime win in Stillwater, the Cougars figured out just how much they've grown with their first win over the Cowboys in four tries.

And they made another statement eight days before a trip to Florida to face UCF (1:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN).

"We needed our defense to wake up a little bit," Glasker said. "In the the loss last season against OSU, they made us lose bowl eligibility. So we wanted this win."

Cougars on the air

No. 11 BYU (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) at UCF (3-4, 1-3 Big 12)

Saturday, Oct. 26

• Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. MDT
• TV: ESPN
• Radio: BYU Radio / KSL 102.7 FM, 1160 AM

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Sean Walker

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KSL.com BYU and college sports reporter