BYU Football: 3 bold predictions for Big-12 battle against Cincinnati Bearcats

The BYU football team, coming off a frustrating loss at Kansas last week, looks to rebound at home Friday night against a wounded Cincinnati Bearcats team in their first-ever matchup as members of the Big 12 conference.

The Cougars (3-1) are hoping to shake off their loss against Kansas— a game in which BYU was in control for the entire first half, but couldn’t hold off a 24-point, second-half outburst from the Jayhawks.

The Bearcats (2-2) are hoping a win in Provo will stave off any panic creeping into the minds of the Cincinnati faithful. The Cats have lost back-to-back regular season games for the first time since the 2017 college football season. To add insult to injury, both of those losses were at Nippert Stadium, a venue in which Cincinnati has been nearly unbeatable for the better part of the last half-decade.

While neither of these teams enters Friday night’s game ranked in the AP Poll, this is an important game for these two teams trying to establish themselves in a soon-to-be overstuffed Big 12 conference.

Let’s take a look at some predictions for this important BYU football matchup, set to take place September 29 at 10:15 PM ET on ESPN.

No 1. BYU Football finally gets the ground game going against Cincinnati

The BYU Cougars rank dead last in the Big 12 this season in rushing yards per game and rank No. 129 out of 133 in college football. Only Sam Houston, Colorado, and Colorado State have worse running games than BYU right now, which clocks in at a meager 61 yards per game.

The good news is there’s nowhere to go but up for the Cougars. Head Coach Kalani Sitake has made it a point of emphasis during team preparations this week leading up to the game. Sitake called the poor run game “fixable,” but conceded that the team will have to show it during this game against Cincinnati.

“It’s all fixable and we’re working on getting it done. The proof will be what we do on Friday. That will be the attempt,” Sitake said.

Expect running back LJ Martin to set the tone on the ground. The El Paso, Texas native has shown flashes of potential, raising eyebrows with his 77 rushing yards and two touchdowns against a stringent Arkansas Razorbacks defense in Week 3 of the college football season.

Martin can’t shoulder the load alone, he’ll need some help from some of his teammates. Look for Deion Smith and/or Aidan Robbins to have a breakout game if healthy.