Instant Takeaways From No. 11 BYU’s Win Over UCF

PROVO, Utah – BYU football closed out the 2025 regular season with a 41-21 win over the UCF Knights.

The Cougars close out the regular season with an 11-1 record. It’s the first time since 2001 that BYU has won 11 regular-season games.

Next up for BYU is a rematch opportunity against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Here are some instant takeaways from BYU’s victory over the Knights.

BYU needed a quarter to wake up

Saturday had a strange vibe. It was a morning game, which in this era of BYU football is odd. If it were the 1990s, BYU at Noon would have been a staple. These days, playing a morning game at LaVell Edwards Stadium is odd.

Then you add in the fact that the Big 12 Championship Game was already wrapped up. It felt like BYU hit the snooze button to open the game.

After digging themselves into a surprising 14-0 hole, BYU quickly answered, scoring 31 unanswered.

The sluggish performance reminded me of last year’s Houston game, when BYU found out they were no longer in the running for the Big 12 Championship Game and let Houston hang around. Then BYU woke up and realized, hey, we don’t want to lose this game.

That was the vibe on Saturday morning. I’d expect a far different energy level at AT&T Stadium next week. If they don’t start strong, they already know what could happen against Texas Tech.

Bear Bachmeier was elite in his completion percentage

First off, what a season for Bear Bachmeier. The true freshman has helped lead BYU to the Big 12 Championship Game. An impressive accomplishment after arriving on campus in June.

What has been impressive about Bachmeier is his ability to get better each game.

On Saturday, Bachmeier had his best performance in terms of accuracy this season. Bachmeier finished by completing 84% of his passes.

Sack total is the highest since Kalani Sitake’s first year as head coach

BYU had two sacks in Saturday’s win over UCF. Those two sacks gave BYU a season total of 28 sacks on the year. That’s an average of more than two sacks per game in the regular season.

It’s the highest total of sacks in a season since the 2016 campaign, Kalani Sitake’s first, when BYU put together 29 sacks.

Parker Kingston had a strong showing as WR1

On a day when Chase Roberts was out of the lineup, BYU receivers Parker Kingston and Jojo Phillips were looked upon to step up and carry the load. Kingston stepped up.

In a No. 1 wide receiver role, Kingston looked every bit of a number one pass target, hauling in six catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.

BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick said in May that Kingston was going to be an “every down” type of player this year. He’s far exceeded that, and Saturday was an example of that.

Kingston reminded everyone why he’s one of BYU’s best punt returners in the past 25 years

Along with his strong output in the receiving department, Kingston also popped off his first punt return for a touchdown this season.

Midway through the third quarter, Kingston returned a UCF punt 55 yards for a touchdown. It was Kingston’s third punt return for a touchdown.

The greatest punt returners in BYU history are probably Vai Sikahema and James Dye. For the 21st century of BYU football, that title might belong to Parker Kingston.

UCF rolled out all of the stops

You knew UCF was not going to roll over and give in to BYU to close out the regular season. The Knights had a lot on the line with a chance to reach a bowl game.

To their credit, they rolled out a lot of great trick plays and looks that had BYU’s defense on its heels at times.

UCF also had a strong performance stopping Bear Bachmeier from having any big gains on the ground.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast daily on KSL Sports YouTube and KSL NewsRadio (SUBSCRIBE). Harper also co-hosts Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL NewsRadio.

Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram: @Mitch_Harper.

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