Martin's Career Night Helps No. 11 BYU Beat Cincinnati — Here’s The Reactions

It was one of the biggest games in BYU history as the Cougars took on Cincinnati in a must-win road game at Nippert Stadium.

With Houston losing earlier in the day, a win Saturday essentially locks up a spot in the Big 12 title game due to all the tiebreaker scenarios. Yet despite being up 13 points late in the fourth quarter, Cincinnati stormed back to make a game of it with a touchdown to make it a six-point game (20-14) with less than 5 minutes to go in the game.

With the game on the line and both BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier and running back LJ Martin wincing in pain due to some hard hits, Martin left it all out on the field and put the game on his back with multiple first down runs, before his 33-yard touchdown run put the game away to give BYU a 26-14 road victory.

Martin ended up having a career night as the junior rushed for 222 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cougars to victory. It was almost a historic night for 6-foot-2, 220-pounder as he now sits in third place all-time with a rushing average of 6.94 when having more than 30 carries in a game. The top two were Jamaal Williams (9.53) and Ronney Jenkins (8.06).

As a team, the 265 rushing yards by the Cougars were the most they've had against an FBS team since 358 against Stanford in 2022.

For Cincinnati, quarterback Brendan Sorsby had a decent day passing as he threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, however, he also threw an interception and overthrew his receivers a number of times as the Bearcats lost their third game in a row. BYU's defense played well for much of the game, and most impressively, allowed just 87 yards rushing for the game to the Bearcats, their lowest since December 17, 2022.

For BYU, the win was extra impressive as it was not only a road victory, but the team got it done without several key players, including star wide receiver Chase Roberts who left the game in the first half and did not return. Reports say the senior had a hamstring injury.

Lastly, a win against UCF in the season finale on Saturday at LaVell Edwards would give BYU its first Big 12 Championship title game appearance and would put the Cougars in another Top 10 showdown with the Red Raiders.

Here’s a look at the reactions from around the country in BYU’s win over Cincinnati:

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