BYU Football Has Made History in 8-0 Start

Casey Lundquist | Oct 29, 2024

BYU celebrates win over UCF / BYU Photo

On Saturday, BYU traveled to Orlando and took down the UCF Knights 37-25. Despite being 7-0 going into this game and taking on a UCF team that had lost four consecutive games, BYU was the underdog. Being the underdog has been a theme for BYU throughout the season.

BYU was an underdog against SMU before beating the Mustangs in Dallas. The Cougars were underdogs against Kansas State before winning 38-9. In both conference road games at Baylor and at UCF, BYU has been the underdog.

In fact, BYU has been doubted by oddsmakers so much that they have made history in 2024. According to ESPN, BYU is just the second college football team since 1990 to start 8-0 while being an underdog in four games.

It's been a historical run for the Cougars - and one that has actually been fueled by the doubters. In episodes of 'The Cut' against Baylor and UCF, the betting line has been used as motivation from team captains in pregame speeches.

The Cougars are aware of the skepticism surrounding their record, and they are using it to fuel their magical season.

While it's worked for BYU to play the underdog role, it's time for the national media to put down the metrics and watch BYU play. BYU's offense is much better with a healthy LJ Martin (something the metrics can't account for). BYU's defense is stout, but it has allowed some breakdowns late in games while true freshmen get their first playing experience. That final score against UCF? It wasn't indicative of the game. BYU allowed two touchdowns in garbage times and won 37-24. BYU had a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter and cruised to the finish line.

Referring to the betting line, College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard said, "The disrespect of the Cougars, you guys got to stop it. This is what's going to happen. They're going to stop UCF's running game which is the best in the conference and then force them to throw it, creating turnovers. BYU beats UCF."

Turns out, Howard was right.