BYU’s offense was a little less Bear Raid and a little more Martin Mania in BYU’s 26-14 win. The cougars won over the Bearcats in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Saturday night. LJ Martin put the team on his back and carried them (along with some UC defenders) to victory. The Big 12’s leading rusher had 32 carries for 222 yards and two touchdowns, with three catches for 44 yards. MartinMania ran wild in the Queen City on Saturday night!
BYU’s 26 points were lower than the 34.1 points per game they had been averaging as the 25th-ranked team in scoring when they came to Ohio. Their 127 passing yards were tremendously below their season average of 221.8 yards per game, which already ranked 77th at the start of the contest. The bright side is, when you can run like Martin, Bachmeier, and company, you don’t need to worry too much about the passing game.
THAT is how you pay off a Tanner Wall interception! An LJ Martin heavy drive (thanks!), that Martin pays off with a one-yard touchdown run!!! #BYU https://t.co/Umld09TA7p
— Phillip Riggs (@phillipriggs85) November 23, 2025
LJ Martin’s career game would rocket the Cougar offense, and the running game would total 265 rushing yards on 49 attempts, and they’d find the end zone three times. BYU entered this game with one of the best rushing attacks in college football. They were averaging 195.1 yards per game, good enough to be ranked 21st best in the nation.
Ask and ye shall receive! https://t.co/AXHjlo9nHd
— Phillip Riggs (@phillipriggs85) November 23, 2025
There are some stats where it’s good to see a zero for the offense. Zero interceptions, zero fumbles, zero turnovers (BYU is 24th in fewest turnovers) , and zero sacks allowed (they rank 12th in fewest allowed) is great to see in BYU’s favor. Eliminating negative plays keeps you from stopping yourself and raises your odds of winning substantially. They also found ways to stay on the field, converting 7 of their 14 third downs. Their 50% conversion rate was much higher than the 39.2% they had coming into this game (which ranked 73rd in college football).
Moving forward it would be good to see BYU develop their downfield passing game more. Just to have that in your pocket if you need it for whoever the foe is after UCF. Especially if it is a rematch against a very good Texas Tech defense. It was smart to let LJ Martin carry them to victory, and they shouldn’t hesitate to utilize his best football going forward. Via the running game leading the way, BYU's offense was elite in this win, and will be elite again this season.