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Orlando, Fla. • In their first full game without injured quarterback Taysom Hill, the BYU Cougars got one carry and one yard from the other big running threat on their roster, Jamaal Williams.

Recipe for disaster, right?

Not really.

Williams had a sore ankle all week, didn't practice until Wednesday, and got just one carry in the eventual 31-24 loss in overtime to Central Florida before coaches decided he just couldn't play effectively.

So they turned to the bruising combination of Paul Lasike and Algernon Brown, and the other Cougar running backs delivered some big-time performances — but not enough to keep the Cougars from dropping to 4-2.

"I was really impressed by Paul Lasike and Algie Brown," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Those two I thought ran the ball really, really physical. They were really tough."

Brown also recovered a punt that hit a UCF player, but he had a critical fumble himself the first play of the fourth quarter on the 13th play of a long drive that had reached the UCF15-yard line with BYU leading 24-17.

"We were about to put the game out of reach, I thought," said quarterback Christian Stewart, who added to the Cougars' 189-yard rushing total with 52 net yards on 13 carries.

Brown finished with 16 carries for a career-high 80 yards. Lasike added 51 yards on 12 carries.

"Algie and Paul just did a phenomenal job," Mendenhall said. "I thought those two changed the game."

But it wasn't enough.

After taking a 24-10 lead on tight end Devin Mahina's second TD catch of the game with 9:05 remaining in the third quarter, the Cougars couldn't get into the end zone.

In overtime, Stewart ran seven yards on first down, and a 5-yard connection to Mahina gave BYU a first down.

Next, Stewart threw a 5-yard pass to Mitchell Juergens. After an incompletion, Stewart scrambled on third-and-5 and picked up 2 yards to the UCF 6.

Mendenhall and Anae said the Cougars were looking to throw a slant to Jordan Leslie, but it failed.

"They brought pressure, which was just right [for the play]," Mendenhall said. "I couldn't really see it but it looked like there was contact."

All in all, Mendenhall said he was encouraged by how Stewart played in the place of Hill, who suffered a broken leg in last week's 35-20 loss to Utah State.

"His resiliency was really positive and the things we gave him a chance to do were more effective in the second half," Mendenhall said. —

BYU's run game against UCF

Algernon Brown • 16 carries, 80 yards

Christian Stewart • 13 carries, 52 yards

Paul Lasike • 12 carries, 55 yards

Adam Hine • 5 carries, 5 yards

Jamaal Williams • 1 carry, 1 yard