BYU Blasts Oregon in Bowl Win

LAS -- The 2006 BYU championship run ended with a Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl championship as the Cougars (11-2) dominated Oregon (7-6), 38-8, to finish the season with a 10-game winning streak in front of a Sam Boyd Stadium record crowd of 44,615.

The Mountain West Conference champion BYU team set a school record for margin of victory in a bowl game, beating the Ducks by 30 points. Previously, the largest margin of victory for a BYU team in a bowl game was a 25-point defeat of Oklahoma in the 1994 Copper Bowl.

BYU dominated all facets of the game, out-gaining Oregon 548 total yards to 260 total yards. BYU passed for 375 compared to Oregon's 166 and rushed for 173 compared to the Ducks 94.

"I couldn't be more proud of this team," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "There couldn't be a more fitting ending, one that this team deserved. I am very fortunate to be surrounded by the leadership on this team."

BYU seniors John Beck, Jonny Harline and Curtis Brown finished their careers in style. Beck completed 28-of-46 passes for 375 yards and two touchdowns. Harline, who was named Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl MVP, caught nine passes for a career-best--and Pioneer PureVision Las Vegas Bowl record--181 yards and a touchdown. Brown had 17 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns and also caught seven passes for 55 yards.

"This is just unbelievable, this is the way you end a season," Harline said. "We worked on sticking to the same game plan we've had all season and really letting our defense take care of the rest."

Brown also became the first BYU runner to rush for over 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. Beck and Brown became the first quarterback/running back combo to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in the same season twice.

For only the second time this season, BYU was held out without points on its first three drives. The Cougars were held without points on their first three drives against Arizona in their first game of the season.

The Cougars were held without any points in the first quarter for the first time this season. BYU's defense was up to the task as the Cougars' "D" pitched a shut out in the first quarter for the ninth time this season.

At the end of the first quarter, BYU started to put together a drive that carried over into the second period. The Cougars went 92 yards on 13 plays while eating 5:29 off the clock. Jared McLaughlin capped the drive with a 24-yard field goal to give the Cougars a 3-0 lead.

After BYU held the Ducks without points, the Cougars took their second drive of the second quarter 71 yards on eight plays, this time finding the end zone on a Curtis Brown six-yard run.

BYU wasn't done in the second quarter. After Oregon got only one first down on its next drive, the Cougars got the ball back on their own 26. BYU found its way to the end zone again, driving 74 yards in seven plays. The scoring play came from 44 yards out on third-and-ten. With plenty of time to throw, a scrambling Beck found Harline wide open down the sideline. Harline hauled in the pass and walked into the end zone to give the Cougars a 17-0 lead.

BYU dominated the first half statistically. The Cougars out-rushed the Ducks 65 to 46 and out-passed them 205 to 27. Beck threw for 205 yards and Harline caught six passes for 118 yards in the first half alone.

BYU started the second half just like it ended the first, holding Oregon on its first drive, while getting a sack for a huge loss. The Cougars took the punt deep into Oregon territory before Patrick Chung intercepted a Beck pass. BYU's Justin Robinson got the ball back just a few plays later with an interception of his own.

After Robinson's interception BYU's offense got rolling again, this time going 55 yards on seven plays in 3:10. Brown bulled in from four yards out for his second touchdown of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Robinson came up with a personal best--and BYU bowl record--second interception. The Cougars' offensive machine drove 83 yards to put BYU up 31-0. Beck finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run.

Oregon got on the board with 10:27 remaining in the game. Dennis Dixon found Brian Paysinger for a deep touchdown pass. The Ducks added a two-point conversion but weren't able to recover the onside kick attempt.

"I didn't hear much about our defense coming into this game," Mendenhall said. "I heard a lot about Oregon's eighth-ranked offense. People seem to forget, this is a defense that allowed just 15 (15.2) points per game. I think the story has turned now."

BYU took advantage of the short field. The Cougars needed just three plays to go 49 yards before Beck found Manase Tonga for another touchdown reception to put BYU ahead, 38-8.

Box Score (Final)
            Brigham Young vs Oregon (Dec 21, 2006 at Las Vegas, NV)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Brigham Young.......  0 17  7 14  - 38       Record: (11-2,8-0)
  Oregon..............  0  0  0  8  -  8       Record: (7-6,4-5)
  Scoring Summary:
  2nd 13:25 BYU - MCLAUGHLIN 24 yd field goal, 13-92 5:29
      06:57 BYU - BROWN 6 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 8-71 3:39
      01:50 BYU - HARLINE 41 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 7-74 3:27
  3rd 03:42 BYU - BROWN 4 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 7-55 3:10
  4th 11:29 BYU - BECK 13 yd run (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 7-83 3:23
      10:27 ORE - Paysinger 47 yd pass from Dixon (Johnson rush), 2-65 0:00
      09:14 BYU - TONGA 17 yd pass from BECK (MCLAUGHLIN kick), 3-49 1:08
                                      BYU      ORE
  FIRST DOWNS...................       30       14
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   31-173    30-94
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      375      166
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  47-28-2  34-16-2
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   78-548   64-260
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     3-17     3-54
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     1--1    5-117
  Interception Returns-Yards....      2-5     2-35
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-43.2   7-39.4
  Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      2-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     7-70     8-75
  Possession Time...............    34:24    25:36
  Third-Down Conversions........  8 of 16  5 of 16
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   1 of 1   1 of 3
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      5-6      0-0
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     4-30      1-2
  RUSHING: Brigham Young-BROWN, Curtis 17-120; BECK, John 6-26; TONGA, Manase
  4-21; MEIKLE, Nathan 2-3; VAKAPUNA, Fui 2-3. Oregon-Dixon,Dennis 10-51;
  Johnson,J. 6-41; Stewart,J. 7-21; Leaf,Brady 7-minus 19.
  PASSING: Brigham Young-BECK, John 28-46-2-375; TEAM 0-1-0-0. Oregon-Dixon,Dennis
  10-20-1-122; Leaf,Brady 6-14-1-44.
  RECEIVING: Brigham Young-HARLINE, Jonny 9-181; BROWN, Curtis 7-55; TONGA, Manase
  4-52; JACOBSON, McKay 2-26; REED, Michael 2-14; COLLIE, Zac 2-10; ALLEN, Matt
  1-34; VAKAPUNA, Fui 1-3. Oregon-Kent,Jordan 5-33; Johnson,J. 3-25; Dickson,Ed
  2-20; Paysinger,Brian 1-47; Rosario,Dante 1-12; Stewart,J. 1-9; Strong,Garren
  1-8; Finley,James 1-7; Colvin,Cameron 1-5.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-ROBINSON, Justi 2-5. Oregon-Chung,Patrick 1-35;
  Byrd,Jairus 1-0.
  FUMBLES: Brigham Young-GEORGE, Andrew 1-0. Oregon-Dixon,Dennis 1-0; Stewart,J.
  1-0.
  Stadium: Sam Boyd Stadium      Attendance: 44615
  Kickoff time: 5:01 pm   End of Game: 8:29 PM   Total elapsed time: 3:28
  Officials: Referee: Nick Define; Umpire: George Santoro; Linesman: Paul Wzontek;
  Line judge: Steve Barnes; Back judge: Craig Griffith; Field judge: George Plesac;
  Side judge: Jim Visingardi; Scorer: Jim Shaffer;
  Temperature: 46        Wind: 2 MPH     Weather: Partly Cloudy
            Brigham Young vs Oregon (Dec 21, 2006 at Las Vegas, NV)
  SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-JORGENSEN, Jan 0-1; PAONGO, Hala 0-1; JENSEN,
  Cameron 1-0; NIXON, David 1-0; TIALAVEA, Russe 1-0. Oregon-Reed,Nick 1-0.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-JENSEN, Cameron 4-4; KEHL, Bryan 5-0; MIYAHIRA,
  Cole 5-0; POPPINGA, Kelly 2-3; NIXON, David 4-0; TIALAVEA, Russe 3-1; WAGNER,
  Aaron 2-2; JORGENSEN, Jan 2-2; TONGA, Matangi 2-0; ROBINSON, Justi 2-0; GORDON,
  Aaron 1-1; HAGUE, Mike 1-1; PAONGO, Hala 1-1; FEINGA, Ray 1-0; STACEY, Andrew
  1-0; HOOKS, Terrance 1-0; OSWALD, David 1-0; GOOCH, Quinn 0-1; STAFFIERI, Mark
  0-1; MCLAUGHLIN, Jar 0-1; VAN SWEDEN, Dan 0-1; GABRIEL, Dustin 0-1; DOMAN, Shawn
  0-1; LOVELY, Gary 0-1. Oregon-Nelson,J.D. 8-3; Chung,Patrick 7-1; Byrd,Jairus
  5-2; Phillips,Blair 3-4; Tuitele,A.J. 3-2; Thurmond,Walter 3-1; Reed,Nick 3-1;
  Pope,Jon 2-2; Linehan,Cole 1-2; Haberly,Brent 1-2; Sanders,Darius 1-1;
  Harper,Matthew 1-1; Dowling,Jameel 1-0; Steimer,Eric 1-0; Rosario,Dante 1-0;
  Glasper,Willie 1-0; Agyeman,Kwame 1-0; Faaeteete,David 0-1; Jones,Derrick 0-1.