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USAFA -- BYU fell to 1-1 on the season after suffering a 35-14 defeat at Air Force on Saturday. The Falcons improved to 2-0 on the year.

After a solid first quarter, BYU lost the momentum and the early advantage as the Falcons went on to end the Cougars’ six-game winning streak in the series. The strong play of the Falcons' defense was noted by both coaches after the game.

"I was impressed with their defense," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "They played well, they had a good plan and they executed soundly. They deserved to win the game. They just played assignment football and played hard."

“I just thought our defense was absolutely special today," Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun said. "After the initial drive, we probably played as well defensively against Brigham Young as we have maybe ever."

A sellout crowd of 46,692 attended the game, marking AFA's first sellout since hosting Notre Dame in 2006.

BYU claimed a 14-7 lead after the first 15 minutes. The Cougars took the opening kick and put touchdowns on the board on two-of-three possessions in the first quarter with junior running back JJ Di Luigi scoring on a 1-yard rush and junior quarterback Riley Nelson on a 4-yard keeper. Sandwiched between those two Nelson-guided drives of 74 and 49 yards, freshman quarterback Jake Heaps led BYU on a drive that covered 80 yards and finished in the end zone but did not result in any points.

On back-to-back runs of 17 and 43 yards, Di Luigi carried the ball for 60 yards on the drive but was stripped from behind at the 10-yard line on his second gallop. Air Force linebacker Parker Hennessey eventually recovered the loose ball in the back of the end zone for a Falcon touchback to end the BYU threat.

The Cougars were effective on the ground in the opening quarter, rushing for 139 yards after totaling 140 during their win against Washington a week ago. Di Luigi topped his previous career-best of 71 yards against Tulane last season with 76 rushing yards in the first quarter alone. BYU totaled 183 yards to AFA’s 105 in the quarter.

The Falcons scored on their first possession of the game on 32-yard pass from Tim Jefferson to Mikel Hunter and evened the score at 14 to open the second quarter with Jefferson running it in from the 5-yard line. Turnovers marred the rest of the half for BYU with Nelson fumbling after converting a third-and-six play while Heaps threw his first interception of the season on a first-and-10 call. The Falcons converted one of the two short-field possessions for points to earn the 21-14 halftime advantage.

Nelson rushed for 77 yards in the first half with Di Luigi adding 76 on the ground. Air Force held the total yardage edge with 234 yards to BYU’s 206.

In the third, Air Force scored on a 46-yard run on a fourth-and-two play to swing the momentum heavily in the home team’s favor. Junior receiver Jonathan Warzeka broke free on a wide pitch to take it the distance. A highlight during the quarter for the Cougars was a one-handed interception by senior linebacker Shane Hunter to end a Falcon possession, Hunter’s first career interception.

Air Force took command of the game with a touchdown in the early fourth quarter to take a 35-14 lead.

Nelson finished with 95 yards rushing, a career high, while throwing for 73 yards, completing 8-of-19 attempts. Heaps went 2-of-6 for 15 yards on the first half and did not play the second half. Di Luigi led all Cougar rushers with his first-ever 100-yard game, totaling 103 yards on seven carries while adding three catches for 25 yards. Freshman wideout Cody Hoffman added three catches for a team-high 37 receiving yards.

On defense, BYU senior safety Andrew Rich earned a career-high 14 tackles, two for a loss, while adding a forced fumble. Vic So’oto added 11 tackles while Hunter earned 10 and Jordan Richardson had nine, both marks also individual career highs.

BYU will play Florida State next Saturday in Tallahassee in a 3:30 p.m. ET start on ESPNU.

BYU (1-1,0-1) vs. Air Force (2-0,1-0)

Date: Sep 11, 2010 Site: USAFA, Colo. Stadium: Falcon Stadium

Attendance: 46692

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

BYU................. 14 0 0 0 - 14

Air Force........... 7 14 7 7 - 35

Scoring Summary:

1st 09:43 BY - DI LUIGI, JJ 1 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 12-74 5:17, BY 7 - AF 0

08:34 AF - HUNTER, Mikel 37 yd pass from JEFFERSON, Tim (SODERBERG, Erik kick), 5-61 1:05, BY 7 - AF 7

02:29 BY - NELSON, Riley 4 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 5-49 2:43, BY 14 - AF 7

2nd 09:42 AF - JEFFERSON, Tim 5 yd run (SODERBERG, Erik kick), 17-80 7:47, BY 14 - AF 14

05:17 AF - HUNTER, Mikel 33 yd run (SODERBERG, Erik kick), 2-48 0:36, BY 14 - AF 21

3rd 02:24 AF - WARZEKA, Jon 46 yd run (SODERBERG, Erik kick), 9-76 3:51, BY 14 - AF 28

4th 12:34 AF - WALKER, Nathan 5 yd run (SODERBERG, Erik kick), 5-45 2:15, BY 14 - AF 35

BY AF

FIRST DOWNS................... 15 22

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 34-221 65-409

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 88 68

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 25-10-1 13-5-1

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 59-309 78-477

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-13 0-0

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-81 1-12

Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 1-1

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-29.3 4-41.5

Fumbles-Lost.................. 4-2 1-0

Penalties-Yards............... 7-45 10-125

Possession Time............... 23:01 36:59

Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 15 10 of 19

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 2 2 of 2

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 2-3

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-5 0-0

RUSHING: BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 7-103; NELSON, Riley 20-95; KARIYA, Bryan 7-23.

Air Force-CLARK, Asher 18-121; TEW, Jared 17-77; WARZEKA, Jon 6-62; HUNTER,

Mikel 2-53; JEFFERSON, Tim 9-38; WALKER, Nathan 7-28; HALDERMAN, Kyle 2-16;

JONES, Darius 1-9; SOUTHWORTH, Rya 2-7; TEAM 1-minus 2.

PASSING: BYU-NELSON, Riley 8-19-0-73; HEAPS, Jake 2-6-1-15. Air

Force-JEFFERSON, Tim 5-13-1-68.

RECEIVING: BYU-HOFFMAN, Cody 3-37; DI LUIGI, JJ 3-25; MUEHLMANN, Mike

1-13; ASHWORTH, Luke 1-8; QUEZADA, Joshua 1-4; KARIYA, Bryan 1-1. Air

Force-CLARK, Asher 3-8; HUNTER, Mikel 1-37; HALDERMAN, Kyle 1-23.

INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-HUNTER, Shane 1-0. Air Force-REMBERT, Reggie 1-1.

FUMBLES: BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 2-1; NELSON, Riley 2-1. Air Force-TEW, Jared

1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): BYU-SO'OTO, Vic 1-0. Air Force-None.

TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-RICH, Andrew 9-5; SO'OTO, Vic 3-8; HUNTER, Shane 5-5;

RICHARDSON, Jor 6-3; JORGENSEN, Aust 1-6; FRAZIER, Jameso 4-2; LOGAN, Brian 2-3;

PENDLETON, Jord 1-4; STOUT, Zac 2-1; UALE, Travis 2-1; BRADLEY, Brando 1-2;

FUGA, Romney 1-2; OGLETREE, Brand 1-1; MANUMALEUNA, Ea 1-1; THOMAS, Steven 1-0;

BRYSON, Thomas 1-0; HAGUE, Mike 1-0; PUTNAM, Matt 1-0; HOFFMAN, Cody 1-0. Air

Force-WAIWAIOLE, Jord 1-6; AMACK, Brady 4-2; RICKETTS, Rick 3-3; REMBERT, Reggie

3-2; HENNESSEY, Pat 3-2; DAVIS, Jon 2-3; MORRIS, Andre 3-1; LINDSAY, Brian 2-2;

ADEJI-PAUL, PJ 2-1; WRIGHT, Anthony 2-1; PAYNE, Zach 1-2; CHAMBERS, James 1-0;

REID, Colton 1-0; FREEMAN, Joshua 1-0; MCWILLIAMS, Har 1-0; GARDNER, Ryan 0-1;

HALL, Josh 0-1; KONEMANN, Caleb 0-1.

Game 2: BYU Cougars vs. Air Force Falcons

BYU begins MWC play on the road at Air Force on Saturday, Sept. 11, at 2 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast live from Falcon Stadium on VERSUS and KSL Radio 1160 AM and 102.7 FM.

BYU (1-0) at Air Force (1-0)

September 11, 2010

2 p.m. MT

Falcon Stadium

USAFA, CO

BYU vs. Air Force Series

BYU has a six-game win streak over Air Force heading into Saturday’s contest, including a 5-0 record with Bronco Mendenhall as head coach. During the win streak, BYU has won by no fewer than two touchdowns. All but one of Air Force’s six wins over BYU came between 1995 and 2003, the last year Air Force came out on top. However, Air Force defeated BYU in the only MWC opener between both schools in a 32-12 victory in 2000. Last season was an especially memorable matchup with the Falcons, as senior quarterback Max Hall passed Ty Detmer for most wins as a starting quarterback with 30 while also setting new MWC career total offensive yards and career passing yards records. Junior running back Harvey Unga also became BYU’s all-time leading rusher in the first quarter of the contest.

What to Watch For

- This week’s game is the conference opener for both schools and marks the last time the two will play as conference foes.

- The Cougars will look to win their seventh straight game in the series and fourth straight in Falcon Stadium

- Air Force is 10-1 all-time in Mountain West Conference openers including a current 10-game win streak.

- BYU will look to give Coach Mendenhall six wins against Air Force - the most versus any team under the head coach’s tenure.

- Air Force comes into the game as the top rushing team in the nation after gaining 437 yards on the ground last week against Northwestern State. The Falcons’ 616 yards of total offense is second-most in the nation while their 65 points and 238.6 passing efficiency are both good for third in the country. Air

Force has not finished lower than 10th in national rushing average since 1986.

National Rankings

BYU has been among the nation’s top-25 teams during 33 of the last 35 weeks from November 2007 to Week 1 of

2010, coming in at No. 24 in the USA Today Poll. BYU started the season just outside both major polls, coming in 28th

in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll and 34th in the Associated Press Top 25. Last year, the Cougars finished 12th in the

final USA Today and Associated Press polls and 14th in the final BCS rankings.

In the Game

A total of 16 Cougars saw the first action of their BYU careers against Washington, highlighted by freshman Joshua Quezada’s nine-yard touchdown catch, freshman quarterback Jake Heaps throwing 13-of-23 for 131 yards and freshman tight end Richard Wilson’s three catches for 45 yards.

Better Than Mario

In his first career start, junior running back JJ Di Luigi totaled 152 yards receiving and rushing to help lead BYU to a 23-17 victory over Washington. His all-purpose total set a new personal best for the third-year back. Di Luigi caught the game-winning touchdown on a 48-yard reception from junior quarterback Riley Nelson to turn a one-point deficit into the six-point margin of victory. The 5-9, 190-pound back earned the starting position after the departure to the NFL of BYU’s all-time leading rusher Harvey Unga this season. Di Luigi led BYU with 69 yards on the ground on 13 carries to average a strong 5.3 yards per carry. He added a team-best 83 yards as a receiver on four catches to average 20.8 yards per reception.

Playing Like It’s 2009

Junior defensive back Brian Logan continued where he left off last year, defending three Washington passes in BYU’s 23-17 win. Logan’s three passes defended are first in the Mountain West Conference and tie him for fourth nationally in that category. In 2009, Logan averaged 1.31 pass defended per game, ranking first in the MWC and tied for second in the nation.

Payne Closing in on Records

With one PAT against Washington, Payne is currently 17 PAT attempts from passing Kurt Gunther’s (1980-82) mark of 179 in the BYU record books and six PAT conversions from jumping Gunther’s BYU record in that category. He is also 80 points away from scoring the most points of any Cougar player in BYU history, a record currently held by kicker Owen Pochman (1997-00) with 333 points.

Longest Yardage

Quarterback Riley Nelson’s 48-yard touchdown pass to running back JJ Di Luigi was the longest scoring play for BYU since November 7, 2009, when Max Hall threw 78-yard and 44-yard touchdown passes to McKay Jacobson and Di Luigi, respectively.

Happy 50th!

The first win of 2010 gave BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall his 50th career win as a head coach in just his sixth season, all at BYU. He is only the second coach in Cougar history to reach the 50-win mark, with LaVell Edwards earning his 50th win in the middle of his seventh season against San Diego State, 21-3, in 1978. Mendenhall’s 49 wins in his first five seasons as a head coach is tied for 10th all-time among FBS coaches.

See the attached PDF for the complete Air Force game notes.