Cougars Claim Outright Championship

COUGAR TOWN -- No. 23 BYU (9-2, 7-0) completed its season-long, home-field dominance the best way it possibly could--a 42-17 victory over New Mexico (5-6, 3-4) to clinch the outright 2006 Mountain West Conference championship. Not only did the win give the Cougars its 22nd overall conference championship, it marked BYU's first undefeated home season since 2001.

"I just want to say one thing to the fans who have stuck with us through the hard times," BYU quarterback John Beck said during the MWC championship trophy ceremony that followed the game, "It feels good doesn't it? It feels great to be the conference champs."

During the same presentation, Executive Bowl Committee representative Rueben Herrera, invited BYU to participate in the Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl on Dec. 21.

"We accept," BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe told the crowd of more than 63,000. "We'll see you in Las Vegas."

For the seniors, the game was their last ever at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Fittingly, John Beck and Curtis Brown saved their best for last as Brown broke BYU's all-time rushing record, and Beck threw for 464 passing yards--the most he's thrown this season--and four touchdowns.

Not least among this day of milestones was Brown's record-breaking rush in the first quarter. On a second-and-10 in the game's opening drive, Beck took the snap, skipped to his left and handed it off to Brown. Brown found the hole straight up the middle and scurried untouched to a 49-yard touchdown carry. The run moved Brown past Jamal Willis into first place on BYU's all-time rushing list. Brown finished the day with 124 rushing yards off of 13 carries. He now has 3,056 career rushing yards, giving him the distinction of being the only 3,000-yard rusher in BYU history.

Box Score (Final)

New Mexico vs #23 Brigham Young (Nov 18, 2006 at Provo, Utah)

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

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

New Mexico.......... 3 0 14 0 - 17 Record: (5-6,3-4)

Brigham Young....... 14 14 7 7 - 42 Record: (9-2,7-0)

Scoring Summary:

1st 12:53 BYU - BROWN 49 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 6-81 2:07

07:51 BYU - JACOBSON 20 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 6-83 2:10

03:01 UNM - BYRD 31 yd field goal, 11-56 4:40

2nd 13:26 BYU - HARLINE 71 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 6-89 2:01

01:02 BYU - BROWN 9 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 9-94 2:14

3rd 13:51 UNM - BROWN 35 yd pass from NELSON (BYRD kick), 2-80 0:58

08:56 UNM - BLACK 88 yd interception return (BYRD, kick)

04:58 BYU - ALLEN 4 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN, kick), 8-84 3:44

4th 04:53 BYU - BECK 1 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 6-26 2:26

UNM BYU

FIRST DOWNS................... 24 29

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 31-173 32-189

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 245 464

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 39-22-2 42-28-2

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 70-418 74-653

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

Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 3-11

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-116 2-35

Interception Returns-Yards.... 2-100 2-33

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-46.7 1-38.0

Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1 0-0

Penalties-Yards............... 2-15 4-45

Possession Time............... 29:13 30:47

Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 13 9 of 12

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 3 0 of 1

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-3 4-6

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-7 2-14

RUSHING: New Mexico-FERGUSON, Rodne 20-138; BAKER, Paul 4-24; BROWN, Travis 1-6;

QUILLEN, Matt 1-5; NELSON, Chris 5-0. Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis 13-124;

VAKAPUNA, Fui 9-35; TONGA, Manase 4-18; BECK, John 5-7; MEIKLE, Nathan 1-5.

PASSING: New Mexico-NELSON, Chris 22-38-2-245; TEAM 0-1-0-0. Brigham Young-BECK,

John 28-42-2-464.

RECEIVING: New Mexico-BROWN, Travis 6-116; MULCHRONE, John 3-27; QUILLEN, Matt

3-27; FERGUSON, Rodne 3-23; WILSON, Thomas 2-20; BAUMAN, Yimin 2-15; BAKER, Paul

2-0; SMITH, Marcus 1-17. Brigham Young-MEIKLE, Nathan 6-111; BROWN, Curtis 5-44;

ALLEN, Matt 4-47; JACOBSON, McKay 3-81; REED, Michael 3-43; HARLINE, Jonny 2-81;

COLLIE, Zac 2-38; COATS, Daniel 2-11; VAKAPUNA, Fui 1-8.

INTERCEPTIONS: New Mexico-BLACK, Quincy 1-88; SWIFT, OJ 1-12. Brigham

Young-POPPINGA, Kelly 1-33; JENSEN, Cameron 1-0.

FUMBLES: New Mexico-BAKER, Paul 1-1. Brigham Young-None.

Stadium: LaVell Edwards Stad. Attendance: 63814

Kickoff time: 2:07 End of Game: 5:09 Total elapsed time: 3:02

Officials: Referee: Karl Richins; Umpire: Scott Teifer; Linesman: Pete Gautreau;

Line judge: Bart Longson; Back judge: Steve Lindsay; Field judge: Mike Contreraz;

Side judge: Land Clark; Scorer: Media Relations;

Temperature: 55 Wind: none Weather: Few clouds

New Mexico vs #23 Brigham Young (Nov 18, 2006 at Provo, Utah)

SACKS (UA-A): New Mexico-DONALDSON, Tyle 1-0. Brigham Young-ANDERTON, Judd 1-0;

JORGENSEN, Jan 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): New Mexico-BLACK, Quincy 6-4; MADSEN, Brett 4-4; SWIFT, OJ 4-3;

WRIGHT, DeAndre 6-0; DITMORE, Tyson 4-0; LIGON, Blake 2-2; KASE, Cody 1-3;

SOLOMON, Franki 3-0; QUIN, Glover 2-1; BECK, Wesley 2-1; BRISCOE, Kendal 2-0;

DONALDSON, Tyle 2-0; CARTER, George 1-1; HARRIS, Aleem 1-1; CLARK, Ian 1-1;

TUOHY, Michael 1-1; MOSLEY, Major 1-1; HUTCHISON, Step 1-0; SMITH, Marcus 1-0;

TEAM 1-0; QUILLEN, Matt 1-0; ARNETT, Zach 0-1. Brigham Young-WAGNER, Aaron 7-2;

KEHL, Bryan 4-4; JENSEN, Cameron 3-5; GABRIEL, Dustin 5-2; NIXON, David 4-3;

GOOCH, Quinn 2-5; CRIDDLE, Ben 4-0; HUTCHINSON, Nat 2-2; JORGENSEN, Jan 2-2;

PAONGO, Hala 2-1; ROBINSON, Justi 2-1; ANDERTON, Judd 2-1; DOMAN, Shawn 2-0;

STAFFIERI, Mark 1-0; BECK, John 1-0; TAFUNA, David 0-1; POPPINGA, Kelly 0-1.