Huge Half Buries Aztecs

COUGAR TOWN -- BYU (4-2, 2-0 MWC) remained undefeated in Mountain West Conference play and extended its winning streak to three games, as the Cougars mauled San Diego State (0-5, 0-2) 47-17. BYU quarterback John Beck continued to add to his record-chasing season, passing for 267 yards and four touchdowns in just three quarters.

Beck now has 59 career touchdown passes, a new MWC career record. His efficiency rating of 245.85 was a career-high and the highest for a Cougar quarterback since Steve Sarkisian posted a 260.8 mark against Rice in 1996.

"They had a good game plan against us, and we were facing a great quarterback and an excellent offense," San Diego State head coach Chuck Long said of BYU. "We had a lot of young guys playing in the secondary. What a baptism that was for them, playing against one of the best quarterbacks in the country."

Beck's final touchdown pass, an 18-yard fling to Manase Tonga with 9:41 left in the third quarter, sealed a dominating day for Beck and the Cougars. The score put BYU up 47-10, a cushion comfortable enough to allow BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall to rest Beck for the entire fourth quarter.

"I was proud of our football team today," Mendenhall said. "It was an exceptional win for the program from the standpoint that it gives us another conference win. It gives us a great chance to continue our momentum in a quest to win a conference championship."

Mendenhall also got another gritty effort out of sophomore Fui Vakapuna as the determined running back rushed for 56 yards on just four carries, good for 14 yards per carry. Unfortunately, Vakapuna suffered an ankle injury and exited the game for good with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

San Diego State started the game with a trick play by opening with an onside kick. The gamble did not pay off for the Aztecs, as BYU senior Andrew Stacey made a heads up play by signaling for a fair catch and was subsequently hit by an Aztec defender. The ensuing penalty placed BYU on San Diego State's 43-yard line to begin its opening drive.

On a third-and-one during the same drive, Vakapuna converted a first down somewhat unconventionally when he stepped onto, and then over, the pile of linemen battling for position. It was Vakapuna crossing the goal line on the next play for a 14-yard touchdown run, putting the Cougars up 7-0. The score capped a five-play drive that took just 1:39 off the clock.

After a SDSU field goal by Garrett Palmer made the score 7-3, Beck orchestrated a seven-play, 81-yard drive, which increased BYU's lead to 14-3. Beck hooked up with fellow senior Zac Collie for a 29-yard touchdown reception to end the drive. Collie finished with three receptions and 79 yards on the day.

A little more than four minutes later, Curtis Brown trotted in for a touchdown as Brown scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a four-yard run. The Aztecs blocked the PAT, giving BYU a 20-3 lead going into the second quarter.

BYU would not be denied on its next possession. A 38-yard Beck to Nathan Meikle connection set the table for the Cougars' second passing touchdown of the day. Beck found tight end Jonny Harline in the corner of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown reception that put BYU up 26-3. BYU kicker Jared McLaughlin once again missed the PAT.

The Cougar defense forced a turnover on SDSU's next drive when junior Dustin Gabriel intercepted a pass from Aztec quarterback Kevin Craft. Gabriel ran it back 38 yards for his first career touchdown.

Leading by 30 points in the second quarter, BYU's offense showed no signs of letting up. Beck showed why he has twice been named MWC player of the week this season by directing his team on another long drive (seven plays, 80 yards). Brown, who finished with 46 yards on 11 carries and 33 receiving yards, put the exclamation point on the drive with a four-yard touchdown reception, his second touchdown of the game.

BYU's 40-3 halftime lead marked the first time the team has scored 40 in the first half since 2001 when the Cougars put up 42 against Air Force.

"It was the best half of football I've seen our team play to this point," Mendenhall said.

SDSU came out in the second half looking to chip into BYU's huge lead. A six-play, 80-yard Aztec drive capped by running back Brandon Bornes' one-yard rush into the end zone notched the score at 40-10, BYU.

The Cougars scored on its next possession via the aforementioned 18-yard Beck to Tonga touchdown reception. The Aztecs then answered with a one-yard touchdown run by running back Tyler Campbell with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter making it 47-17, BYU. That would be as close as it got for SDSU as BYU went on to take its second conference win of the season.

BYU has a bye next week, but returns to action Saturday, Oct. 21, when it hosts UNLV for homecoming. Kickoff will be at 1 p.m. MST at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The game can be seen live on The mtn.

Box Score (Final)
      San Diego State vs Brigham Young (Oct 07, 2006 at Cougar Town, Utah)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  San Diego State.....  3  0 14  0  - 17       Record: (0-5,0-2)
  Brigham Young....... 20 20  7  0  - 47       Record: (4-2,2-0)
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 13:19 BYU - VAKAPUNA 14 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick)
      10:12 SDSU - PALMER 48 yd field goal, 7-41 3:07
      06:47 BYU - COLLIE 29 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 7-81 3:06
      02:38 BYU - BROWN 4 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick blockd), 6-55 2:03
  2nd 10:06 BYU - HARLINE 8 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick failed), 2-46 0:50
      08:13 BYU - GABRIEL 38 yd interception return (MCLAUGHLIN kick)
      03:03 BYU - BROWN 4 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 7-80 2:17
  3rd 12:20 SDSU - BORNES 1 yd run (PALMER kick), 6-80 2:35
      09:41 BYU - TONGA 18 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick)
      04:35 SDSU - CAMPBELL 1 yd run (PALMER kick), 12-74 4:56
                                     SDSU      BYU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       21       23
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   38-141   32-152
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      216      267
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  32-20-1  21-16-0
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   70-357   53-419
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     1-10      0-0
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-48     3-94
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0     1-38
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-41.6   2-47.5
  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      2-1
  Penalties-Yards...............   10-110     5-17
  Possession Time...............    38:55    21:05
  Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 13   6 of 9
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   0 of 1
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      4-5
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     2-13
  RUSHING: San Diego State-HENDERSON, Atiy 21-93; BORNES, Brandon 9-31; WESLEY,
  Mekell 1-14; CRAFT, Kevin 5-2; CAMPBELL, Tyler 2-1. Brigham Young-VAKAPUNA, Fui
  4-56; BROWN, Curtis 11-46; TONGA, Manase 5-23; HAGUE, Mike 5-18; HUDSON, Ray
  5-12; BECK, John 1-5; TEAM 1-minus 8.
  PASSING: San Diego State-CRAFT, Kevin 20-32-1-216. Brigham Young-BECK, John
  16-21-0-267.
  RECEIVING: San Diego State-PORTER, Ramal 8-70; SCHILENS, Chaz 4-77; SWAIN, Brett
  4-41; BORNES, Brandon 2-18; HENDERSON, Atiy 2-10. Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis
  4-33; COLLIE, Zac 3-79; JACOBSON, McKay 3-60; TONGA, Manase 2-32; MEIKLE, Nathan
  1-38; REED, Michael 1-13; HARLINE, Jonny 1-8; HAGUE, Mike 1-4.
  INTERCEPTIONS: San Diego State-None. Brigham Young-GABRIEL, Dustin 1-38.
  FUMBLES: San Diego State-HENDERSON, Atiy 1-1; BORNES, Brandon 1-0. Brigham
  Young-TONGA, Manase 1-1; TEAM 1-0.
  Stadium: Edwards Stadium       Attendance: 60804
  Kickoff time: 12:06 pm  End of Game: 3:03 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:57
  Officials: Referee: Rich Kollen; Umpire: Doug Wilson; Linesman: Tim Schlenvogt;
  Line judge: Randy Campbell; Back judge: Gregory Wilson; Field judge: Alan Wolf;
  Side judge: Mike Cuttone; Scorer: BYU;
  Temperature: 54        Wind: 3mph S    Weather: Cloudy
      San Diego State vs Brigham Young (Oct 07, 2006 at Cougar Town, Utah)
  SACKS (UA-A): San Diego State-None. Brigham Young-NIXON, David 1-0; POPPINGA,
  Kelly 1-0.
  TACKLES (UA-A): San Diego State-STURM, Brett 7-2; MARTIN, Joe 4-4; ALLEN,
  Russell 1-4; BASS, Ray 4-0; MAZE, Terrell 3-1; APPLEWHITE, Ant 2-2; MOORE, Aaron
  3-0; LAOLAGI, Luke 2-1; OSBORN, Nick 0-3; NWANSI, Ornan 1-1; ARMSTRONG, Gera
  1-1; SANDFORD, Nick 1-0; METROKA, Emil 1-0; DEMARTINIS, Ton 1-0; MARTIN, Brett
  1-0; FIFITA, Siaosi 0-1; AMANO, Frederic 0-1; SCHANTZ, Andrew 0-1; BAILES,
  Jonatha 0-1; NELSON, Peter 0-1. Brigham Young-NIXON, David 5-4; KEHL, Bryan 1-5;
  GOOCH, Quinn 5-0; JENSEN, Cameron 4-1; PAONGO, Hala 3-2; STAFFIERI, Mark 1-4;
  CRIDDLE, Ben 4-0; JORGENSEN, Jan 0-4; ROBINSON, Justi 3-0; POPPINGA, Kelly 2-1;
  TIALAVEA, Russe 1-2; DOMAN, Shawn 2-0; MIYAHIRA, Cole 2-0; FUGA, Romney 1-1;
  ANDERTON, Judd 1-1; TAFUNA, David 1-1; HOOKS, Terrance 0-2; SULLIVAN, Sean 1-0;
  HAGUE, Mike 1-0; WARNER, Chris 1-0; LOVELY, Gary 1-0; DENNEY, Brett 0-1; ALLEN,
  Matt 0-1; WAGNER, Aaron 0-1; TONGA, Matangi 0-1.