Broncos Run Away From Cougars

Boise State jumped out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter and caused four Cougar turnovers, beating BYU 50-12 Thursday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Broncos scored first on a blocked punt that safety Cam Hall recovered in the end zone. The Cougars would also throw four interceptions on the night--one of which was returned for a touchdown.

Head coach Gary Crowton said his team is improving, but they ran into a good football team tonight..

"This is a team this is moving up. It's not moving as fast as I want," Crowton said. "We're still not playing together and we're making too many errors."

Boise State forced the Cougars into a three and out on its next possession and scored its second touchdown of the game six plays later on a 13-yard rush by running back David Mickell.

BYU would get on the board after Broncos snapped the ball out of the end zone, giving the Cougars a safety to cut Boise State's lead to 14-2. The Broncos would add two more touchdowns in the first half to bring the score to 28-2 at halftime.

The Cougars scored the next nine points of the game--one safety and one touchdown--cutting the Bronco lead to 16 points.

The touchdown came after the Cougars drove 85 yards on 17 plays and scored on a 1-yard run by Tafui Vakapuna. Vakapuna was one of the bright spots for the Cougars, rushing for 87 yards on 16 carries and the one touchdown.

Boise State would hold the Cougars scoreless the remainder of the game while tacking on 22 more points.

BYU's defense put together another good game, holding the Broncos' high-powered offense that came into the game averaging 517 yards-per-game to just 381 total yards.

In the third quarter, Aaron Francisco intercepted Bronco quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie--the first interception Dinwiddie had thrown in 173 attempts.

POST GAME NOTES

BLOCKED PUNT

Boise State's Chris Carr blocked a Matt Payne punt attempt early in the first quarter, which was recovered in the endzone by Cam Hall for the Bronco's first touchdown of the night. The played marked the second time this season the Cougars have allowed a blocked punt for a touchdown. The first came during the season-opener against Georgia Tech.

FIRST BLOOD

Boise State drew first blood after a blocked punt led to a touchdown with 12:00 remaining in the first quarter. The Bronco touchdown marked the seventh time (in 10 games) this season BYU's opponent has scored first. In those seven games, the Cougars are 3-4.

NCAA RECORD

Following a team safety in the first quarter, which resulted from a botched BSU snap in to the endzone, BYU extended its NCAA-record streak to 360 games without being shutout. BYU was last shutout during the 1975 season (Sept. 27, 1975 vs. Arizona State.)

SAFETY

The Cougars' safety in the first quarter marked the second safety of the season. K.C. Bills sacked USC quarterback Matt Leinart in the endzone on Sept. 6 for the team's only other safety this season.

INTERCEPTION

BYU's Aaron Francisco picked off Boise State's Ryan Dinwiddie in the third quarter, marking his second interception of the season. The play also marked only the second interception of the season for Dinwiddie, his first since the second quarter of the Wyoming game -- a stretch of 173 consecutive attempts without an interception.

TURNOVERS

The Cougars were credited with four turnovers on the night on four interceptions. The past two weeks BYU has committed a total of nine turnovers.

COUGARS TIE 35-YEAR OLD RECORD

With the Cougars' 50-12 loss against Boise State, the Cougars extended its home losing streak to four games, marking the first time since the 1968 season BYU has lost four straight games in a single season.

ANOTHER FIRST

Including Colorado State's 58-points on Oct. 9 and Boise State's 50 on Thursday, the Cougars have given up a total of 108 points over the last two home games marking the most points ever allowed over a two-game home stretch.

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Boise State......... 14 14  8 14  - 50       Record: (8-1,4-0)
Brigham Young.......  2  0 10  0  - 12       Record: (4-6,3-3)
Scoring Summary:
1st 11:56 BSU-Hall 0 yd blocked punt return (Tyler Jones kick)
    07:56 BSU - Mikell 2 yd run (Tyler Jones kick), 7-57 4:00
    05:01 BYU - Team safety, , BSU 14 - BYU 2
2nd 10:11 BSU - Wes Nurse 42 yd interception return (Tyler Jones kick)
    05:52 BSU - Gilligan 28 yd pass from Dinwiddie (Jones kick), 9-69 2:43
    02:04 BYU - VAKAPUNA, Tafui 1 yd run (CHRISTENSEN, To pass), 18-85 5:32
    00:56 BSU - Tim Gilligan 4 yd run (Tim Gilligan pass), 3-73 1:08
4th 12:48 BSU - Ryan Dinwiddie 2 yd run (Tyler Jones kick), 5-62 1:44
    03:45 BSU - Gilligan 27 yd pass from Dinwiddie (Jones kick), 11-89 6:33
                                      BSU      BYU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       19       22
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   45-134   35-122
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      247      207
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  24-12-1  59-21-4
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   69-381   94-329
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     6-75     3-25
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     2-67    7-108
  Interception Returns-Yards....     4-42     1-36
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-41.8   8-37.5
  Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      2-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     6-75     4-39
  Possession Time...............    29:20    29:39
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-11      0-0
RUSHING: Boise State-David Mikell 23-113; Donny Heck 8-38; Ryan Dinwiddie
6-15; Tim Gilligan 3-13; Jared Zabransky 1-11; TEAM 4-minus 56. 
Brigham Young-VAKAPUNA, Tafui 16-87; HALE, Chris 1-13; WHALEN, Marcus 5-11; 
MORTENSEN, Todd 4-8; STANCIL, Thomas 2-7; BERRY, Matt 2-2; BROWN, Jackson
2-minus 1; BECK, John 3-minus 5.
PASSING: Boise State-Ryan Dinwiddie 12-23-1-247; Sean Steichen 0-1-0-0.
Brigham Young-MORTENSEN, Todd 5-24-1-51; BERRY, Matt 7-18-3-35; BROWN,
Jackson 5-9-0-57; BECK, John 4-8-0-64.
RECEIVING: Boise State-Tim Gilligan 8-209; Jerry Smith 2-28; Mark Onibokun
1-9; T.J. Acree 1-1. Brigham Young-CHRISTENSEN, To 9-68; SLATER, Ryan 4-59; 
KUKAHIKO, Jason 2-39; HALE, Chris 2-19; COATS, Daniel 2-17; WILKERSON, Rod
2-5.
INTERCEPTIONS: Boise State-Wes Nurse 2-42; Julius Brown 1-0; Gabe Franklin 
1-0. Brigham Young-FRANCISCO, Aaro 1-36.
FUMBLES: Boise State-Tim Gilligan 1-0. Brigham Young-BERRY, Matt 1-0; 
CHRISTENSEN, To 1-0.
SACKS (UA-A): Boise State-Tim Hefty 0-1; Korey Hall 1-0; Chris Barrios 0-1. 
Brigham Young-None.
TACKLES (UA-A): Boise State-Andy Avalos 5-5; Wes Nurse 6-3; Korey Hall 4-2; 
Chris Carr 3-2; Tim Hefty 2-3; Brad Allen 3-1; Julius Brown 3-0; Mike 
Williams 2-1; Cam Hall 2-1; Chris Barrios 0-3; Travis Burgher 2-0; Dane 
Oldham 1-1; G. Alexander 1-1; Legedu Naanee 1-1; Gabe Franklin 1-1; Mike 
Dominguez 0-2; Taylor Tharp 1-0; Ben Chuckovich 1-0; Ryan Putnam 1-0; Tyrone 
Tutogi 1-0; Deshan Cabaong 0-1; Terrial Hall 0-1; Mike Fine 0-1; Julius 
Roberts 0-1; Paul Allen 0-1; Andrew Browning 0-1; Chad McKibben 0-1. Brigham 
Young-FRANCISCO, Aaro 2-7; BOCKWOLDT, Colb 4-3; PILI, Ifo 2-4; NIXON, David
2-4; BARNEY, Chad 5-0; GILFORD, Jernar 4-0; BURBIDGE, Jon 1-3; POPPINGA,
Brady 2-1; SOELBERG, Nate 1-2; BROWN, Manaia 0-3; KOLBABA, Nathan 0-3;
PAYNE, Matt 2-0; TANNER, Mike 1-1; CARLSON-MADDUX 1-1; TAHI, Naufahu 0-2; AH
YOU, Matt 0-2; WRIGHT, Bill 0-2; ATKINSON, Bryan 1-0; JORY, Justin 1-0; 89
1-0; ALLEN, James 1-0; 48 0-1; WARNER, Chris 0-1; BILLS, K.C. 0-1; HOWELL,
O'Neil 0-1; Ah You, C.J. 0-1; DENNEY, John 0-1.
Stadium: Edwards Stadium    Attendance: 60554
Kickoff time: 5:45 pm       End of Game: 9:20 pm    Total elapsed time: 3:35
Officials: Referee: Gerald Wright; Umpire: Robert Collins; Linesman: Tim
Podraza; Line judge: Gary McKenna; Back judge: Scott Novak; Field judge: Judson
Howard; Side judge: Kent Payne; Scorer: Media Relations;
Temperature: 32              Wind: 5-8 SW           Weather: Snow