Elite 8: No. 11 BYU pulls away from UCF for 8-0 start

ORLANDO, Fla. — With 7:01 remaining in the third quarter of Saturday's college football game, Mata'ava Ta'ase touched down with a 1-yard touchdown reception on a play-action from BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff, as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off about 30 miles away at Cape Canaveral.

Apparently, that was all that Knights fans needed to see.

Jake Retzlaff threw for 228 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 38 yards and another score as No. 11 BYU pulled away from UCF 37-24 to stretch its season-opening winning streak to eight in a row at FBC Mortgage Stadium.

Isaiah Glasker and freshman Faletau Satuala each had an interception for BYU (8-0, 5-0 Big 12), making it 11 different players to record a pick for the Cougars' defense.

But Saturday's game wasn't all grit and defensive determination.

The Cougars put up 483 yards of offense, including 255 on the ground led by LJ Martin's 101 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. BYU converted 7-of-14 third downs — and 8-of-14 when adding two "conversion downs" in the first half — while the Cougars held UCF to just 2-of-9 third-down conversions while getting 86 yards from Folau Ropati.

"That's my guy; ever since I've been out here, I feel like he's really taken me under his wing," Martin said of Ropati after eclipsing the century mark for the second consecutive game. "To see him go out there and perform the way I knew he did, I knew he was capable of doing it. I've seen him put in the work to do it."

It wasn't perfect — nothing is anymore, right? But the Cougars overcame a 2.5-point deficit in Las Vegas and never trailed despite a UCF team that occasionally showed the athleticism, speed and power run game that could have (maybe even should have) given BYU fits.

And then, there were the penalties: eight of them, in particular, for 50 yards to go along with two fumbles (but only one lost after Martin recovered his own fumble right before scoring a touchdown).

"I'd like to be a little bit more efficient," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "I can't be too pick when you get the win here, on the road, traveling multiple time zones to get here."

RJ Harvey ran for 127 yards and two touchdowns for UCF (3-5, 1-4 Big 12), including a 5-yard score that pulled the Knights within 34-18 with 9:14 remaining.

Most of the latter came as the Cougars salted away the remaining time with an 11-play, 57-yard drive capped by Will Ferrin's third field goal with 3:10 remaining.

BYU had the ball for more than 12 minutes in the first quarter, outgaining the Knights 144 yards to 24 including the only touchdown of the opening stanza on Retzlaff's career long-tying 29-yard run after the first drive.

Martin ran for 84 yards in the first half, including a15-yard drive where the sophomore shed three tackles en route to the end zone just one play after recovering his own fumble with 8:13 left in the half to put the visitors up, 17-0.

Harvey, the nation's sixth-leading rusher who averaged 6.7 yards per carry, scored on a 2-yard touchdown that followed his own 54-yard sprint, and the Knights pulled within 17-10 with a field goal with 59 seconds left.

But anyone who watched the final drive of BYU's thrilling 38-35 win over Oklahoma State last week knows just how Retzlaff feels about two-minute drills.

The redshirt junior signal caller led a 75-play drive over just four plays in 32 seconds, capped by Chase Roberts' 62-yard touchdown that lifted the Cougars to a 24-10 halftime lead.

"You guys know how I feel about two-minute drills; we love it," Retzlaff said. "We take advantage of two-minute drill in every way we can.

"We were excited. That's a funny route; I don't think I completed one time all fall camp. But completing it in a game was fun. Just knowing we're prepared for anything that comes to us was fun."

Ta'ase piled on with his short touchdown to open the third quarter, and Ferrin drilled a 37-yard field goal during a 10-0 third quarter that helped the visitors pull away before Harvey's second touchdown and a late 29-yard pass by fourth-string quarterback Dylan Rizk with 56 seconds remaining.

BYU has a bye next week before capping a two-game road trip Nov. 9 against rival Utah.

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