LOGAN -- Junior wide receiver Austin Collie recorded his third-straight game with more than 100 receiving yards as No. 7 BYU improved to 5-0 on the season with a 34-14 victory at Utah State (1-4) Friday night. The Cougars extended the nation’s top winning streak to 15 games.
Collie hauled in eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns against the Aggies, moving into eighth place all-time in career receiving yards (2,235) at BYU. Heisman Trophy candidate Max Hall threw for 303 yards and connected with seven different receivers while going 23-for-37. Running back Harvey Unga led the Cougar ground attack with 92 yards on 22 carries to help BYU total 406 yards of total offense.
The Cougars extended their streak of shutout quarters to 11 before Utah State running back Robert Turbin scored with 13:47 to go in the fourth quarter. Turbin broke a tackle attempt by BYU safety David Tafuna and raced 40 yards to the end zone. The Cougars had not given up a score since the fourth quarter at Washington on Sept. 6. BYU went on to score 137 straight points against UCLA, Wyoming and Utah State before the Aggies finally broke through with a score.
"Any time you win a football game, it's satisfying," said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Certainly, it's satisfying to have another win on the road and by a convincing margin. And yet we can play better football than we did. I give Utah State credit. They showed a lot of grit and determination in the second half."
The Cougars got off to a quick start Friday night at Romney Stadium. After the BYU defense forced an Aggie punt on the first possession of the game, the Cougars took only 60 seconds to get on the scoreboard.
Facing a third-and-six at the 26-yard line, Hall and Collie connected for the remaining 76 yards for the opening score of the game. On the play, Hall found Collie on a curl route at the 35 but the junior wideout wasn’t done as he broke away from the Aggie defense and raced down the sideline for the touchdown and BYU’s longest reception of the year.
The points started coming fast for BYU thanks to the Cougar defense. On Utah State’s next possession, cornerback Brandon Bradley picked up a fumble caused by linebacker Shawn Doman and raced 38 yards for the touchdown. It was the third touchdown scored by the BYU defense in the last two games.
On the Aggies next possession, USU quarterback Diondre Borel fumbled after a jarring sack by junior linebacker Coleby Clawson. Fellow linebacker Matt Bauman pounced on the ball at the Utah State 46, setting up an eventual 45-yard field goal by Mitch Payne for a 17-0 BYU lead with 1:46 to go in the first quarter.
BYU scored again before the end of the quarter thanks to its defense. Linebacker David Nixon intercepted Borel on the next Aggie play from scrimmage, returning the ball to the USU 23-yard line. A USU penalty after the play put the Cougars on the 11 — which was all Harvey Unga needed as he completed a one-play, seven-second scoring drive with a run up the middle to paydirt. With Payne’s third PAT of the quarter, BYU finished the first 15 minutes of play with a 24-0 lead.
The Cougars 24-point first quarter is the team’s second highest single-quarter output this year behind its 35-point second quarter during a 59-0 thrashing of UCLA at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Sept. 13. BYU totaled 120 yards of total offense in the quarter compared to 71 by the Aggies.
The Aggies got their first attempt at points in the second quarter with 5:39 to play, but a 46-yard field goal attempt by kicker Peter Caldwell was wide left.
Tight end Dennis Pitta caught six Hall passes in the first half to lead BYU while Unga carried the ball nine time for 46 yards to pace the Cougar ground attack. Hall went 11-for-18 for 171 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
Payne made his second field goal of the game on the first possession of the second half, this time connecting from 21 yards to increase the Cougar advantage to 27-0.
BYU scored its final points of the game with 1:26 to play in the third quarter when Hall connected with Collie on a 12-yard fade to the corner of the end zone. Collie’s second scoring reception of the game brought his team-best total to seven and gives him two touchdown catches in each of the last three games. Freshman Justin Sorensen converted the PAT in the first such attempt of his career to give BYU the 34-0 lead.
Utah State scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. After Turbin’s touchdown run, Borel connected with tight end Tarren Lloyd for a 5-yard touchdown to complete a seven-play 63-yard drive with just over nine minutes remaining. With the win, BYU improves to 42-33-3 all-time against Utah State.
BYU faces New Mexico in its next game, hosting the Lobos on Oct. 11 in a 4 p.m. kick televised on The Mtn.
CLICK HERE for postgame notes.
CLICK HERE to view the slideshow.Box Score (Final)
#8 BYU vs Utah State (Oct 03, 2008 at Logan, Utah)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
BYU................. 24 0 10 0 - 34 Record: (5-0)
Utah State.......... 0 0 0 14 - 14 Record: (1-4)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:51 BY - COLLIE, Austin 76 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 3-80 1:00, BY 7 - USU 0
08:09 BY - BRADLEY, Brando 38 yd fumble recovery (PAYNE, Mitch kick), , BY 14 - USU 0
01:46 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 45 yd field goal, 7-19 2:11, BY 17 - USU 0
01:23 BY - UNGA, Harvey 11 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 1-11 0:07, BY 24 - USU 0
3rd 11:21 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 21 yd field goal, 8-63 3:42, BY 27 - USU 0
01:26 BY - COLLIE, Austin 12 yd pass from HALL, Max (SORENSEN, Justi kick), 13-76 6:23, BY 34 - USU 0
4th 13:47 USU - Turbin, Robert 40 yd run (Caldwell, Peter kick), 7-80 2:39, BY 34 - USU 7
09:22 USU - Lloyd, Tarren 5 yd pass from Borel, Diondre (Caldwell, Peter kick), 7-63 2:50, BY 34 - USU 14
BY USU
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 23
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 30-103 43-129
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 303 193
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 37-23-2 27-16-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 67-406 70-322
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 1-38 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-9 1-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 2-54 4-72
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-2 2-40
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-42.5 4-45.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-0 3-3
Penalties-Yards............... 12-123 8-72
Possession Time............... 29:57 30:03
Third-Down Conversions........ 9 of 17 5 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-6 1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 5-29 1-4
RUSHING: BYU-UNGA, Harvey 22-89; VAKAPUNA, Fui 3-7; LATU, Wayne 1-6;
HALL, Max 4-1. Utah State-Turbin, Robert 8-74; Borel, Diondre 19-40; Marsh,
Curtis 7-13; Scott, Ronald 2-5; Butler, Marquis 1-2; Setzer, Sean 6-minus 5.
PASSING: BYU-HALL, Max 23-37-2-303. Utah State-Borel, Diondre
10-15-1-114; Setzer, Sean 6-12-0-79.
RECEIVING: BYU-COLLIE, Austin 8-132; PITTA, Dennis 6-70; VAKAPUNA, Fui
3-17; UNGA, Harvey 3-15; ASHWORTH, Luke 1-31; CHAMBERS, O'Nei 1-19; KOZLOWSKI,
Tyle 1-19. Utah State-Nelson, Otis 6-72; Turbin, Robert 3-35; Gwacham, Nnamdi
2-34; Sawyer, Omar 2-15; Morrison, S. 1-26; Marsh, Curtis 1-6; Lloyd, Tarren
1-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-NIXON, David 1-2. Utah State-Murphy, Kejon 1-40;
Hurst, Roy 1-0.
FUMBLES: BYU-HALL, Max 1-0. Utah State-Borel, Diondre 2-2; Marsh, Curtis
1-1.
SACKS (UA-A): BYU-BAUMAN, Matt 1-0; CLAWSON, Coleby 1-0; PUTNAM, Matt
1-0; SORENSEN, Danie 1-0; DENNEY, Brett 1-0. Utah State-Calderwood, Ben 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-BAUMAN, Matt 6-1; NIXON, David 4-3; DENNEY, Brett
6-0; TAFUNA, David 4-2; FOWLER, Kellen 3-3; DOMAN, Shawn 2-3; AH YOU, Matt 2-3;
JORGENSEN, Jan 2-3; PUTNAM, Matt 4-0; SORENSEN, Danie 3-0; JOHNSON, Scott 3-0;
CLAWSON, Coleby 3-0; PRITCHARD, Iona 2-0; BRADLEY, Brando 1-1; HOWARD, Brandon
1-1; COLLIE, Austin 1-0; ALISA, Michael 1-0; SORENSEN, Justi 1-0; KOZLOWSKI,
Tyle 1-0; UNGA, Harvey 1-0; ALLETTO, Nick 1-0; HADLEY, Spencer 1-0; TE'O,
Shiloah 1-0. Utah State-Hutton, Jake 6-4; Hall, De'von 5-5; Taylor, Caleb 1-6;
Fields, Daryl 0-7; Randle, Chris 3-2; Wagner, Bobby 2-3; Igboeli, Paul 2-3;
Brindley, James 1-3; Keiaho, Junior 2-1; Davis, Casey 1-2; Taylor, Joshua 2-0;
Calderwood, Ben 2-0; Murphy, Kejon 1-1; Golden, Darby 1-1; May, Antonio 0-2;
Nelson, Otis 1-0; Koskan, Levi 1-0; Royster, Nathan 1-0; Hurst, Roy 0-1; Garner,
Quinn 0-1.
GAME ON...
BYU (4-0, 1-0 MWC) returns to action after a bye week to take on Utah State (1-3, 1-0) at Romney Stadium in Logan on Friday. The Cougars have won 14 straight games, the program’s longest win streak since the 2000-01 seasons. A win on Friday would give the Cougars a 5-0 start to the season, their best since 2001. The Aggies recorded their first win of the season two weeks ago against Idaho in their WAC opener. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. (MT) and will be broadcast regionally on KJZZ and nationally on BYU-TV.
THE BYU-UTAH STATE SERIES
The Cougars will complete their non-conference schedule in Logan on Oct. 3, taking on in-state rival Utah State for the first time since the 2006 season. One of the state’s oldest rivalries, the Cougars and Aggies have met 77 times, with BYU owning a 41-33-3 record in the 84-year-old history. The two teams met every year from 1946 through 1994 and then played every year except 1995 and 1998 before the series stopped after 2002. BYU has won eight straight since the Aggies posted a thrilling 58-56 victory in 1993. In their last meeting in 2006, the Cougars recorded the program’s first shutout in seven years, defeating Utah State 38-0 in LaVell Edwards Stadium.
ON THE TUBE
Friday’s game will be broadcast live to a regional television audience on KJZZ and to a national audience on BYU-TV. Steve Brown will handle play-by-play duties with Mike Norseth providing analysis. Alema Harrington will serve as sideline reporter. In addition to being the play-by-play announcer for college football and basketball on KJZZ, Brown has also served as play-by-play announcer for several Jazz games over the years. Brown was the voice of the Utah Blaze Arena football team during their inaugural season in 2006. He has also hosted numerous studio shows including; “Jazz Tonight” and “Jazz Fever.” A former running back at BYU, Harrington currently co-hosts “Powerhouse” with Dave Fox on KFAN.
A LOOK BACK: BYU 44-WYOMING 0
No. 11 BYU continued its quest for perfection with another shutout victory, defeating Wyoming 44-0 at LaVell Edwards Stadium to begin Mountain West Conference play. With the win the Cougars extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 14 games, and remained perfect on the season at 4-0. BYU’s 44-0 victory against Wyoming and the previous week’s 59-0 win over UCLA marked the Cougars’ first back-to-back shutouts since 1985 and mark only the second time since 1938 that the Cougars have held opponents scoreless in consecutive contests. BYU has scored 103 unanswered points, holding its opponents to eight consecutive scoreless quarters. A large factor in the team’s performance, the BYU defensive unit rolled over Wyoming, forcing six turnovers and allowing the Cowboys to convert on only 4-of-13 third-down attempts. Linebackers David Nixon and Daniel Sorensen, along with defensive back Jordon Pendleton picked off a combined three interceptions against Wyoming. The Cougars allowed the Cowboys to see the red-zone only once during the game. On the offensive end junior quarterback Max Hall passed for 189 yards and three touchdowns, going 16-for-27. Among Hall’s highlights was a 62-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Austin Collie in the second quarter. Collie finished the game with 122 yards over eight receptions.
COUGARS CONTINUE TO WIN
With its 44-0 win over Wyoming, BYU currently owns the longest active winning streak among FBS (Division I-A) teams, having won 14 consecutive games. The Cougars have put together their longest win streak since winning 14 straight games during the 2000-01 seasons. BYU’s 4-0 record this season marks its best start since the 2001 season.
COMPETING AS A RANKED TEAM
Entering Friday’s game against Utah State, the Cougars have been ranked 234 weeks (incuding preseason, in season and postseason rankings), going 142-41 in those games. Dating back to 2006, BYU has won 11 consecutive games while nationally ranked, its longest win streak as a ranked opponent since winning 12 games in 1996.
AFTER A BYE...
BYU and Utah State will meet with a bye week under both their belts, with the Cougars having last faced Wyoming on Sept. 20. Over Mendenhall’s career as head coach, the Cougars are 3-1 coming off a bye week.
UNANSWERED POINTS
Including their win over Wyoming, the Cougars have scored 103 unanswered points, holding their opponents to eight consecutive scoreless quarters.
HE WHO SCORES FIRST...
Junior defensive back Scott Johnson’s fumble recovery for a 59-yard touchdown with 11:10 remaining in the first quarter against Wyoming gave BYU the early 7-0 lead. BYU has scored first in every game this season, marking the 26th time in the last 29 games. The Cougars are 24-2 in those 26 games. BYU has also scored an opening drive touchdown in 12 of its last 15 games.
SCORING HALL PASSES
Quarterback Max Hall’s touchdown pass to junior Austin Collie with 4:03 in the second quarter marked the sixth consecutive game Hall has recorded a touchdown pass, dating back to Dec. 1, 2007 at San Diego State. In fact, Hall has thrown a touchdown pass in 16-of-17 career games.
QUARTER REPORT
All totaled, BYU has recorded 10 shutout quarters thru the first four games of the season, including four scoreless quarters against UCLA and Wyoming. BYU has outscored or tied its opponents in every quarter except one against Norther Iowa.
DON’T LOOK BACK
In the Bronco Mendenhall era, BYU is 30-4 when leading at halftime and 29-1 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.
CONSECUTIVE STARTS
The UCLA game marked senior offensive lineman Dallas Reynolds’ 42nd straight career start. During that streak, Reynolds has started at every position on the offensive line, including tackle, guard and center. Reynolds’ younger brother Matt started at left tackle in the 2008 season opener. His father, Lance, is the associate head coach for the Cougars. Reynolds is currently tied at first for the most consecutive starts by an active Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) player. Reynolds has started in every game of his BYU career, beginning with the Cougars’ 20-3 loss to Boston College on Sep. 3, 2005.
TALE OF THE TAPE
BYU’s starting five offensive linemen weigh in at an average 326.4 pounds and average 6-feet-6. The front five will be going up against a Utah State defensive front that measures an average 6-feet-2, 262 pounds. Defensively, the Cougars’ front three average 6-feet-3, 278 pounds, while the Utah State offensive line tips the scales at an average 6-feet-4, 301 pounds per man.