No. 2 BYU goes back on the road Saturday to play UCF in Orlando, carrying a 6-0 record and the kind of national attention that comes with beating Notre Dame 28-24. The Cougars left for Florida two days before kickoff and will try to turn one of the biggest wins in the program’s recent run into another road result.
The kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. MDT on Fox, and the matchup has the feel of a test of balance as much as talent. BYU has won its last four trips to Florida, including a 25-21 win over Georgia Tech in the Pop-Tarts Bowl last December at Camping World Stadium, but this trip comes with a different kind of pressure after the emotional finish against Notre Dame.
Kalani Sitake called UCF a dangerous opponent and said the Knights could easily be 5-1 or 6-0 themselves. He also pointed to the schedule edge UCF has this week, noting that it is coming off a bye and should be rested and ready for a ranked team coming into Orlando. BYU, by contrast, has had to reset quickly after a win that drained energy as much as it added belief.
That is where the warning light flashes for BYU. An undefeated team that just beat Notre Dame can bring momentum into a game like this, but it can also bring the risk of a flat start, especially on the road against an opponent that has had two weeks to prepare. BYU saw what can happen in Orlando last year, when UCF jumped out to a 14-0 lead before the Cougars recovered and pulled away for a 41-21 win at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
The bigger cautionary tale, though, may be what happened to Oklahoma State. After the Cowboys beat Oklahoma 27-24, they went to UCF on Nov. 11, 2023 and lost 45-3. Sitake said going back to the East Coast is not an easy thing to do, but added that most of his players have done it before and that BYU just has to adjust its schedules and be ready. That is why the Cougars departed for Orlando two days early, with travel and routine part of the challenge now, not just the matchup itself.
BYU will still have to manage its own injury list. LJ Martin remains sidelined with a lower leg injury, Kyle Sfarcioc is listed as questionable, and Sione Moa is available after missing the last five games with a knee injury. For a team trying to avoid the kind of letdown that can follow a signature win, the return of one player and the absence of others may matter more than usual. The question Saturday is not whether BYU has already proved itself. It is whether the Cougars can show it again, in a different setting, against a rested UCF team that has been waiting for this chance all week.
