Brown, Tahi Run Past Rams

COUGAR TOWN -- The one-two punch of running backs Curtis Brown and Fahu Tahi was too much for Colorado State as the Cougars (3-3, 2-2) rolled past the Rams (3-3, 2-1) giving BYU a 24-14 Homecoming victory, and giving Colorado State their first conference loss of the season.

"A gratifying victory," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think our team played very hard, with the physical being the undertone of the night. We executed at a higher level than we have to this point this year."

BYU racked up a season high 274 yards rushing, the most since BYU ran for 410 yards against Colorado State in 2001. Brown, who also had a season high, led the way with 147 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. Tahi gained 86 yards on 14 carries and John Beck added 37 yards with five carries.

Defense came up big for the Cougars, holding the Rams to only 30 rushing yards. The Cougar defense also had a season high four sacks in the game with Justin Luettgerodt leading the way with two and a half.

"They sacked us more tonight they we've been sacked all year long," Colorado State head coach Sonny Lubick said. "We couldn't find a way to stick them or slow them down."

After two solid drives ending in turnovers in the first quarter, the Cougars struck first with 12:27 left in the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown run by Curtis Brown ending a 10-play 65-yard drive.

The Cougars put seven more points on the scoreboard with 1:32 left in the second quarter when Daniel Coats made a spectacular catch in the back of the end zone on a two yard pass from John Beck, the only pass attempt in the second quarter. The touchdown capped a 10-play 74-yard drive and gave BYU a 14-0 halftime lead.

The Cougars added three more on a 28-yard field goal by Jared McLaughlin with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter.

Colorado State reached the end zone for the first time in the game on the last play of the third quarter with a 14-yard pass form Justin Holland to Kory Sperry. The touchdown ended a 13-play 74-yard drive.

The Rams cut the BYU lead to three at 17-14 when they reached the end zone for the second time with 9:00 left in the game on a 19-yard pass from Holland to David Anderson ending a six-play 63-yard drive.

Brown put the game away for the Cougars with his second touchdown of the game on 2-yard touchdown run with 2:07 left in the game. The touchdown came at the end of a 14-play 76-yard drive.

Beck finished the night 13-of-18 for 168 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His 168 yards moved him into fourth-place all-time in the Mountain West Conference for career passing yards with 5,329 yards, passing Alex Smith.

Jonny Harline, who was the National Tight End of the Week for his play against New Mexico last Saturday, was the Cougars leading receiver with 81 yards on four catches.

"I like the way our football team is developing," Mendenhall said. "Again this is the beginning of the road, but we're making significant strides in gaining momentum daily and weekly. We look forward to the next contest that we have after we enjoy this one for the remainder of the night."

The Cougars take a break from conference play next week as they hit the road to take on No. 9 Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

Box Score (Final)
         Colorado State vs Brigham Young (Oct 15, 2005 at Cougar Town)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Colorado State......  0  0  7  7  - 14       Record: (3-3,2-1)
  Brigham Young.......  0 14  3  7  - 24       Record: (3-3,2-2)
  Scoring Summary:
  2nd 12:27 BYU - BROWN, Curtis 4 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN, Jar kick), 10-65 
            5:03, CSU 0 - BYU 7
      01:32 BYU - COATS, Dan 2 yd pass from BECK, John (MCLAUGHLIN, Jar          
            kick), 10-74 4:44, CSU 0 - BYU 14
  3rd 06:40 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN, Jar 28 yd field goal, 11-74 5:52, 
            CSU 0 - BYU 17
      00:00 CSU - SPERRY, Kory 14 yd pass from HOLLAND, Justin (MARK, Kevin 
            kick), 13-74 6:36, CSU 7 - BYU 17
  4th 09:00 CSU - ANDERSON, David 19 yd pass from HOLLAND, Justin (MARK, 
            Kevin kick), 6-63 3:17, CSU 14 - BYU 17
      02:07 BYU - BROWN, Curtis 2 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN, Jar kick), 14-76 6:
            47, CSU 14 - BYU 24
                                      CSU      BYU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       15       23
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    21-30   52-274
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      281      168
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  30-22-0  18-13-1
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   51-311   70-442
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0      1-3
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-68     1-18
  Interception Returns-Yards....      1-9      0-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-44.8   1-38.0
  Fumbles-Lost..................      4-1      2-1
  Penalties-Yards...............     8-50     6-55
  Possession Time...............    24:48    35:12
  Third-Down Conversions........  3 of 10  8 of 13
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 2   1 of 1
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-2      4-5
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     4-27
  RUSHING: Colorado State-BELL, Kyle 9-36; OHAERI, Nnamdi 3-17; WALKER,
  Tristan 1-6; GREEN, Jimmy 1-2; HOLLAND, Justin 7-minus 31. Brigham
  Young-BROWN, Curtis 31-147; TAHI, Naufahu 14-86; BECK, John 5-37; MEIKLE,
  Nathan 1-4; TEAM 1-0.
  PASSING: Colorado State-HOLLAND, Justin 22-30-0-281. Brigham Young-BECK,
  John 13-18-1-168.
  RECEIVING: Colorado State-WALKER, Johnny 8-100; ANDERSON, David 5-54;
  SPERRY, Kory 3-42; HILL, George 3-24; OSBORN, Dustin 1-19; ROBERTS, Luke
  1-19; GREEN, Jimmy 1-14; MORTON, Damon 0-9. Brigham Young-HARLINE, Jonny
  4-81; TAHI, Naufahu 2-17; COATS, Dan 2-14; ASHWORTH, Luke 1-23; COLLIE,   
  Zac 1-13; GRIFFIN, Joe 1-13; REED, Michael 1-4; ALLEN, Matt 1-3.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Colorado State-WILLIAMS, Darry 1-9. Brigham Young-None.
  FUMBLES: Colorado State-HOLLAND, Justin 3-0; WALKER, Johnny 1-1. Brigham
  Young-TAHI, Naufahu 1-0; HARLINE, Jonny 1-1.
  Stadium: Edwards Stadium       Attendance: 58165
  Kickoff time: 8:07 pm   End of Game: 11:10 pm  Total elapsed time: 3:03
  Officials: Referee: Rich Kollen; Umpire: Douglas Wilson;
  Linesman: Tim Schlenvogt; Line judge: Randy Campbell; Back judge: Gregory 
  Wilson; Field judge: Alan Wolf; Side judge: Michael Cuttone;
  Temperature: 66 F      Wind: 15 W      Weather: Cloudy, showers
  SACKS (UA-A): Colorado State-None. Brigham Young-LUETTGERODT, Ju 2-1; 
  WHITE, Spencer 0-1; HODGKISS, Corby 1-0.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Colorado State-JONES, Courtney 8-5; GARCIA, Travis 6-6;
  NICHOLS, John 5-5; KOCHEVAR, Miles 7-1; VOMHOF, Bob 3-4; HERBERT, Robert
  5-1; SANDIE, Erik 1-5; HORINEK, Jeff 2-3; NADING, Jesse 1-4; RADFORD, Jon
  1-3; WILLIAMS, Darry 2-1; HILL, Tommie 1-2; SMITH, Blake 1-0; RUCKS, Joey
  1-0; MARSH, Shane 0-1; BARTZ, Matt 0-1; DAVIS, Lukas 0-1; ANDERSON, David
  0-1; 35 0-1; CARTER, Terranc 0-1. Brigham Young-LUETTGERODT, Ju 5-3;
  SOELBERG, Natha 5-0; ROBINSON, Justi 4-1; JENSEN, Cameron 3-2; BILLS, 
  K.C. 1-4; HODGKISS, Corby 3-1; WHITE, Spencer 0-4; SITAKE, T.J. 2-1; 
  TAFUNA, David 1-2; GABRIEL, Dustin 1-1; GOOCH, Quinn 1-0; BROWN, Curtis 
  1-0; LOVELY, Gary 1-0; WALKENHORST, Pa 1-0; KEHL, Bryan 1-0; PAONGO, Hala 
  1-0; MADDUX, Justin 1-0; RHEA, Jeff 0-1.