No. 11 BYU preparing for ‘best 3-4 team in the country’

There are no easy games in the Big 12 — even against teams that have lost four straight games and have losing records.
That was the message BYU head coach Kalani Sitake and starting quarterback Jake Retzlaff delivered Monday as the No. 11 Cougars attempted to move past last Friday’s thrilling 38-35 win over Oklahoma State and focused on another team, UCF, that is not having the kind of season it expected.
Veteran coach Gus Malzahn’s Knights are 3-4 overall, 1-3 in the Big 12, and still licking their wounds after blowing a golden opportunity to knock off undefeated Iowa State in Ames on Saturday.
Kickoff for the fourth meeting between BYU and UCF, the first-ever meeting as conference foes, is Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MDT at 45,301-seat FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Florida.
“Their record does not speak to how good of a football team they are. They are probably the best 3-4 football team in the country,” Retzlaff said of the Knights, who have lost four straight after opening the season with wins over New Hampshire, Sam Houston and TCU.
“They do a lot of good things,” Retzlaff continued. “Defensively, especially, you guys saw the way the Iowa State game ended on Saturday. This is a really tough team. And they played them really tough and I know they are going to play us really tough especially because they will be at home.”
It is the first matchup between two of the Big 12′s four 2023 newcomers since the Cougars and quarterback Zach Wilson walloped the Knights and quarterback Dillon Gabriel 49-23 in the 2020 Boca Raton Bowl. Other than that game and a 50-21 rout of USF in 2022 in Tampa, BYU generally has not fared well in the Sunshine State.
With Christian Stewart filling in for an injured Taysom Hill, BYU led UCF 24-10 in the fourth quarter at the Bounce House in 2014 before falling 31-24 in a controversial finish.
“You look at what UCF did against Iowa State. They had a really close game, could have come out with the victory,” Sitake said. “It has got our attention, got our players’ attention. We know we are going to get their best shot.”
Sitake noted that his wife, Timberly, is from Polk County, Florida, and that he’s looking forward to seeing his in-laws and other family members, but his sole focus is on getting his team ready in one of the most difficult places to play in the country.
“It is not a vacation,” Sitake said.
He referenced all the upsets occurring throughout the Big 12 and around the country, saying that BYU’s No. 11 ranking puts a target on its back, just like last week when OSU visited Provo with nothing to lose.
“I love being a part of this conference,” Sitake said. “Every week, as you watched over the weekend, it is a challenge for everybody. Nothing that you can predict. … A lot of parity. A lot of great teams, well-coached teams.”
On Monday, Retzlaff received a couple more honors, as his ascension on the list of top quarterbacks in the country continues. He was named to the Davey O’Brien Award Midseason Watch List. The Manning Award named Retzlaff on Monday one of its eight quarterback stars of the week for his performance against OSU.
“It is all gravy, to be honest,” Retzlaff said of the national attention. “We are just keeping the main thing the main thing. It is all cool and fun and stuff like that. It is going to build up the BYU football brand more.”
But, the junior added, it won’t remove the underdog mentality that has carried the team to the top of the Big 12 standings, after it was picked to finish 13th in the 16-team league.
“We still have the mentality to prove people wrong. Being the underdog this week, or being the favorite last week, no matter what, we still want to go prove people wrong,” he said. “Every win we are still proving people wrong. So that’s what we are still kinda rolling with.”
Monday’s other top topic was the relatively poor performance turned in by BYU’s defense Friday against OSU, allowing the Cowboys to rush for 269 yards and rack up 35 points and 421 total yards. UCF’s offense is also potent on the ground, with seasoned RB RJ Harvey and new starting quarterback Jacurri Brown coming off big games against Iowa State.
Malzahn confirmed Monday in his news conference that Brown, a transfer from Miami, will be the Knights’ starting QB moving forward.
“You talk about potential, it is really off the charts,” Malzahn said. “He’s got as good an arm as probably anybody in college football.”
Sitake revealed that one of the issues with BYU not being able to stop the run against OSU was that the Cougars were surprised the Pokes went with the quarterback run game, after not doing a lot of that in its previous six games.
“We weren’t expecting that. We tried to make some adjustments. They had a bye week, so they had some time to do that. We had a short week, a quick turnaround,” Sitake said.
He acknowledged that UCF is similar to OSU, perhaps with quarterbacks who can run the ball even better than what Garret Rangel and Alan Bowman did.
“They have great skill in the receiver position, and a physical, tough O line. So that’s going to be difficult for us,” Sitake said. “Then you look at them defensively, they are stacked. They have athleticism. They create havoc. … They are definitely a dangerous team.”