BYU's undefeated season is in jeopardy, and the Cougars' fate lies on their defense

Oklahoma State ran all over the BYU defense on Friday night. Despite the Cougar defense being the team's calling card for the team's perfect 7-0 start, Gordon, Rangel, and other Cowboy rushers torched the BYU defense from start to finish.

A team that had locked up the rushing attacks of teams like SMU, Kansas State, and Arizona, met up with an abhorrent Oklahoma State offense, only to allow 269 ground yards. Gundy's Cowboys moved the ball at will in Provo and would have handed the Cougars their first loss of the season if it weren't for last-minute heroics from the BYU offense.

This matchup exposed the design flaws in the BYU defense, and hopefully served as a wakeup call for a team that likely felt highly confident against a .500 OK State squad. But this week's upcoming clash with UCF in Orlando could spell disaster for BYU's undefeated season if Jay Hill's side of the football doesn't tie up its loose ends.

UCF has a powerful running attack that is motorized by RJ Harvey. Harvey has already racked up games with rushing totals of 196 and 180 against Iowa State and TCU. While TCU's defense certainly won't win any awards for their efforts this season, Harvey gave a stout Cyclone defense all they could handle and then some in a battle that nearly saw Iowa State fall short at home.

Strong, powerful, and explosive, Harvey runs like an old Ford Pinto. Much like OSU, UCF struggles to produce through the air, so their rushing attack is where they do most of their damage. In the Big 12, this hasn't been a winning formula, as the Knights stand at 3-4, with a 1-3 record in the Big 12 (their lone win being a comeback victory over TCU).

As KJ Jefferson has struggled to execute in Gus Mahlzan's offensive system, Jacurri Brown stepped up against a tough-as-nails Iowa State squad and kept the Knights in contention to the very end. With this weekend's matchup taking place in Orlando, Brown will look to spread out the Cougars defense so as to roll out the red carpet for an RJ Harvey runway.

BYU's pass defense has been great, but if they can't stop the run, UCF may give BYU their first loss of the year. No doubt stopping the run will be a point of emphasis in the Cougars game week preparations--a chance at the Big 12 championship (and a playoff berth) could be at stake.

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