Bearcats Beat: Missed Chances And LJ Martin Make Nipp at Night Frustrating In 26-14 Loss To No. 11 BYU

CINCINNATI — You can’t score if you don’t have the ball and you can’t win if you don’t score when you have the chance. The Bearcats learned that the hard way Saturday on a disappointing Senior Night at Nippert.

On a night to recognize 22 seniors, it was BYU’s bulldozer LJ Martin running for a career-high 222 yards on 32 carries and two touchdowns to help No. 11 Brigham Young shut down the high-powered Cincinnati offense and post a 26-14 road win Saturday night on Nipp at Night.

Martin, who had 44 receiving yards, finished with 266 all-purpose yards. Martin now has 1,134 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 for BYU (10-1, 7-1), which kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive.

Cincinnati (7-4, 5-3), which was averaging 34.4 points per game and 194 yards on the ground per contest, was held to just 89 rushing total yards, while BYU played keep-away, holding a 17-minute time of possession advantage.

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. Cincinnati missed three field goals, lost a fumble inside the 20 and were stopped near the goal line early in the game.

BYU struck first on a Bachmeier six-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 they 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 six yards per carry this season, was held to nine yards on five carries.

After Cincinnati made it 20-14 on a 19-yard Sorsby touchdown pass to Jeff Caldwell with 4:37 left in the fourth quarter, Martin and the BYU offense ran out the clock to seal the win.

It was also a very tough game for the normally reliable Cincinnati kicker Stephen Rusnak, who was 12-of-13 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 as time expired in the first half. He also missed a 48-yarder in the third quarter.

Cincinnati did manage to tie the game, 7-7, thanks to a 57-yard punt return by Manny Covey to the BYU 33. Two plays later, Sorsby found a wide-open Cyrus Allen down the left sideline for a 27-yard score. It was the 11th touchdown reception this season for Allen, the most in the Big 12 and tied for third-most in a single season in Cincinnati history.

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 took their first possession of the second half and scored when Martin ran it in from one yard for a 17-7 lead.