Previewing Cincinnati-BYU With BYU Insider Casey Lundquist

UC and BYU clash out west for a late-night affair on Friday night.

CINCINNATI — It's gameday UC fans!

Get an inside look at the BYU Cougars football team from Cougs Daily publisher Casey Lundquist ahead of tonight's 10:15 p.m. ET kickoff on ESPN.

How palpable is the altitude effect from what you’ve seen?

Generally speaking, the impact of the altitude is probably a little overblown.

The altitude might come into play in the second half of a close game, but the atmosphere is more likely to play a role than the altitude. On Wednesday, BYU announced that this game is sold out. Lavell Edwards Stadium holds over 63,000 fans and can get quite loud. In a game against Baylor last year, the student section forced multiple critical false starts in overtime.

In one game against Arizona State in 2021, the Sun Devils were flagged for multiple false start penalties on the same drive when they were on the side of the student section. After week one, Sam Houston head coach K.C. Keeler said BYU's stadium was louder than Texas A&M's.

If BYU makes a few big plays, it will get very loud.

How much does BYU's offense rely on the big play?

At this point in the season, a lot. BYU has struggled to run the ball thus far - BYU's most consistent offense has been chunk-yardage plays through the air.

The only game where BYU struggled to produce big plays was Sam Houston State - that was also the worst offensive outing by a wide margin. BYU scored only 14 points in that game. Against Arkansas, BYU made enough big plays to score 38 points despite gaining only 281 yards.

Is the run defense a paper tiger or just one bad week against Kansas?

BYU's defense has been really effective until the second half against Kansas. At this point, I think you can chalk that up to Kansas' unique rushing attack and talented backfield. Cincinnati will be a good test for BYU.

The Bearcats are a talented running team, but their scheme is a lot more traditional than Kansas. If BYU's run defense is effective against Cincinnati, you can consider last week a one-off for the BYU defense.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel on all things Bearcats athletics and Bearcat Blitz on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Make sure you bookmark All Bearcats for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more.

You may also like:

Look: UC Unveils Uniform Combination For Road Trip to BYU

Look: UC Flips to Favorites Against BYU in Dramatic Line Movement

Daniel Grzesiak on Altitude, Crowd at BYU: 'I Feel Like Nippert's Better'

Look: UC Men's Basketball Releases Full 2023-24 Schedule

Travis Kelce Discusses Taylor Swift Game: 'Shout Out to Taylor For Coming Through'

UC Announces Day One Ready Campaign Milestone

UC Struggling to Finish Red-Zone Chances: 'I Think We're Really Close'

Ray Guy Award Names Mason Fletcher to Weekly 'Ray's Eight' List

The Athletic Ranks Cincinnati Among 10 Worst Power Conference Teams

Grading The Cats: UC's Defense Carry's Program to Victory Over Pitt

Final Huddle: Cincinnati Survives 27-21 at Pitt Behind Strong Pass Rush

UC Football Opens as 16.5-Point Betting Favorites Over Miami (OH)

UC Receives Votes in Week 3 AP Poll

Highlights: Cincinnati Beats Pittsburgh 27-21

Watch: Corey Kiner on His Big Week 1 Outing, Blocking Feel, And More

Ivan Pace Jr. Ties For Team Lead in Solo Tackles During Vikings Loss to Buccaneers

Scott Satterfield on Nippert Stadium Environment: 'Inspirational' to Cincinnati Players

Watch: Walt Stewart Discusses System Change, Defensive Line Stars, And More

-----

Be sure to keep it locked on All Bearcats all the time!

Follow All Bearcats on Twitter: @AllBearcats

Like All Bearcats on Facebook: All Bearcats