BYU Football: What to Know for Cougars vs. Central Florida

Going into last week’s games, it looked as though BYU and Central Florida might come into this week’s spotlight Friday night game on ESPN with a national interest and one or more national rankings.

That all went out the window after both teams suffered devastating losses.

Central Florida lost a close game to a Sun Belt team in Florida International—a game that a team looking to step onto the national stage cannot afford to lose.

BYU may have lost to a Pac-12 team, but after a close first half, lost in humiliating fashion and appeared to have given up against arch-rival Utah.

Now, these two programs must pick up the pieces and rebound. Here’s what to watch for:

BYU Defensive Pressure on the Quarterback

Central Florida gave up six sacks in last week’s game against Florida International, and Cougars linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Jordan Pendleton ought to find themselves in the backfield frequently Friday night.

Getting pressure on UCF quarterback Jeff Godfrey will be key to BYU’s success in this one.

BYU Quarterback

This is the test Jake Heaps has faced once before. After last year’s humiliating loss to Utah State, Jake Heaps led the Cougars through a stellar rally to finish the season 6-2.

This week he’s in similar territory, needing to show his teammates that he has the leadership quality it takes to help a team rebound from an even worse loss.

If Heaps comes out and struggles again, it may be a very long game, and season, for the Cougars.

If he comes out firing, we may see a rally to rival last year.

Turnover Game

BYU’s turnover disasters were well-documented Saturday. But what you may not know is that the Knights had trouble with TOs themselves, giving Florida International two giveaways, one as they were about to take the lead and momentum. Sound familiar?

Both of these teams have to win the plus-minus turnover game this week if they hope to right the ship and pull out a W.

Central Florida Running Game

UCF has gotten some notoriety of late, with a prolific offense.

But this is no one-dimensional team.

The Knights have a stable of able backs behind Jeff Godfrey, who runs very well himself. In fact, including Godfrey, four UCF players have already rushed for over 100 yards this season.

There’s no one standout, but three guys that BYU will need to contain, while keeping an assigned man on Godfrey.

BYU Running Game

Conversely, the BYU running game has been AWOL for most of the season.

While J.J. Di Luigi has had his moments, the lack of productivity on the ground has halted the BYU offense and left it as anemic as it’s ever been.

BYU absolutely must find ways to make holes for Di Luigi, Josh Quezada and Brian Kariya, and Brandon Doman has to become much less predictable in the run game, especially on first down, for this team to succeed.

Coaching and Mental Game

Much of the performance against Utah can be attributed to coaching. Penalties, turnovers, confusion in offensive sets and poor execution have all been problems.

All of these factors point to a need for more attention to detail, and that starts with coaching.

Bronco Mendenhall and Brandon Doman absolutely have to guide this team from the depths of despair it fell to after the Utah loss and recover. Otherwise, it could be an ugly season.