Cougars Clinch Share of MWC Title

LARAMIE -- BYU (8-2, 6-0) clinched a share of its second consecutive Mountain West Conference title with a convincing 35-10 victory over Wyoming (5-6, 2-5) Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.

The Cougars have won a MWC record 14 straight league games dating back to last season and have won seven straight games overall.

"I am happy with the victory and I think balance is becoming more of who we are," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Our team is playing consistently. I was satisfied in how we prepared."

Sophomore quarterback Max Hall recorded his fifth-career game with 300 or more passing yards thanks to a 26-37, 331-yard outing. He also threw three touchdown passes.

Meanwhile freshman running back Harvey Unga turned in his fifth 100-yard rushing performance with 110 yards on the ground against the Cowboys. Sophomore wide receiver Austin Collie caught eight balls for 103 yards.

"Everyone made big plays today," quarterback Max Hall said. "There were times when i was scrambling around and I would find one of them. My hats' off to my receivers. They made me look good today."

Hall's performance allowed him to break former Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet's MWC passing record for a sophomore. Bramlet threw for 3,069 yards as a sophomore in 2001. Hall has thrown for 3,121 yards in 2007.

BYU racked up 497 yards of total offense while limiting Wyoming to just 277 yards, including only nine rushing yards on 24 carries.

"BYU is one of the most physical teams we have played," Wyoming head coach Joe Glenn said. "It was hard to get pressure on their quarterback, but I give them credit; they are a very good football team."

With the Cougars leading by 18 at the start of the third quarter, Hall hit senior wide receiver Michael Reed for a 10-yard touchdown reception. The Cowboys responded with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that was topped off by a two-yard touchdown run from junior running back Wynel Seldon.

BYU took the 28-10 advantage into the final quarter and quickly put the Cowboys away for good behind a two-yard scamper into the end zone from Unga, his second of the day.

The Cougars won the coin toss but deferred possession to the Cowboys. The move paid off, as the BYU defense forced Wyoming to a three-and-out giving Hall and the offense the ball.

Two minutes and 24 seconds later, Unga made a two-yard touchdown trot that gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead.

Two special teams miscues closed the quarter. First, the Cowboys fumbled the snap on a 51-yard field goal attempt for a loss of 12 yards. On BYU's ensuing drive, freshman kicker Mitch Payne had his 41-yard field goal attempt blocked. It was the first blocked field goal by a Cougar opponent since 2005 against Boston College. Payne would have another field goal attempt blocked, a 56-yarder, in the closing seconds of the first half.

Still ahead 7-0 in the second quarter, the Cougars found themselves staring at a second-and-12 and backed up to their own end zone. Hall took the snap and scrambled to his left to avoid the pressure and found a wide open Collie for a first down. The drive turned into 11 plays and 90 yards, capped by a three-yard touchdown pass to Matt Allen.

Hall threw his second touchdown pass of the day at the 4:42 mark in the first half when he connected with sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta on a 23-yarder. With the throw, Hall surpassed 3,000 yards passing on the season. Pitta's score also gave Hall his 20th career touchdown pass. A 20-yard field goal by Wyoming senior Billy Vinnedge cut BYU's lead to 21-3 at the break.

BYU meets Utah Sat., Nov. 24 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. (MT), and the game can be seen on The mtn., VERSUS and CSTV.

Box Score (Final)
            Brigham Young vs Wyoming (Nov 16, 2007 at Laramie, Wyo.)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Brigham Young.......  7 14  7  7  - 35       
  Wyoming.............  0  3  7  0  - 10       
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 10:37 BY - UNGA, Harvey 2 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 5-46 2:24
  2nd 09:56 BY - ALLEN, Matt 3 yd pass from HALL, (PAYNE, kick), 11-90 4:48
      04:42 BY - PITTA, Dennis 23 yd pass from HALL, (PAYNE, kick), 9-63 4:09
      01:40 WY - VINNEDGE, Billy 20 yd field goal, 10-68 3:02, BY 21 - WY 3
  3rd 10:46 BY - REED, Michael 10 yd pass from HALL, (PAYNE, kick), 10-69 4:14
      05:35 WY - SELDON, Wynel 2 yd run (VINNEDGE, Billy kick), 11-83 5:11
  4th 11:42 BY - UNGA, Harvey 2 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 9-77 4:15
                                       BY       WY
  FIRST DOWNS...................       27       19
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   36-135     24-9
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      362      268
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  40-28-0  40-24-1
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   76-497   64-277
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     2-14      1-0
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-94     5-79
  Interception Returns-Yards....     1-32      0-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   3-36.7   6-45.5
  Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      3-0
  Penalties-Yards...............    10-95     5-51
  Possession Time...............    34:39    25:21
  Third-Down Conversions........  8 of 13  5 of 14
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 1   0 of 2
  Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      4-4      2-2
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     3-23      0-0
  RUSHING: Brigham Young-UNGA, Harvey 23-110; TONGA, Manase 6-13; VAKAPUNA, Fui
  4-9; LATU, Wayne 3-3. Wyoming-SELDON, Wynel 9-28; MOORE, Devin 6-15; 
  BETSCHART, Wade 1-2; DOSS, Jacob 1-minus 1; MARSH, Hoost 1-minus 5; TEAM 1- 
  minus 12; SWEEN, Karsten 5-minus 18.
  PASSING: Brigham Young-HALL, Max 26-37-0-331; GASKINS, Brende 2-3-0-31.
  Wyoming-SWEEN, Karsten 17-29-1-217; DOSS, Jacob 7-11-0-51.
  RECEIVING: Brigham Young-COLLIE, Austin 8-103; ALLEN, Matt 6-61; PITTA, 
  Dennis 4-58; UNGA, Harvey 3-61; REED, Michael 3-26; TONGA, Manase 2-29; 
  GEORGE, Andrew 1-14; SO'OTO, Vic 1-10. Wyoming-FORD, Michael 7-71; SELDON, 
  Wynel 4-30; MARSH, Hoost 3-38; BETSCHART, Wade 3-35; BOLLING, Greg 2-44; 
  JOHNSON, Chris 2-40; TERRY, Darius 1-8; SALYARDS, J. 1-4; BURKHALTER, T. 1-
  minus 2.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-BUCHANAN, Kayle 1-32. Wyoming-None.
  FUMBLES: Brigham Young-None. Wyoming-DOSS, Jacob 1-0; LEWIS, Troy 1-0; MOORE,
  Devin 1-0.
  SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-JORGENSEN, Jan 1-0; DENNEY, Brett 1-0; BAUMAN, 
  Matt 1-0. Wyoming-None.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-BAUMAN, Matt 5-2; HODGKISS, Corby 5-1; CRIDDLE,
  Ben 4-1; POPPINGA, Kelly 3-2; FOWLER, Kellen 2-3; JORGENSEN, Jan 4-0;
  SAULSBERRY, And 3-1; KEHL, Bryan 2-2; DENNEY, Brett 3-0; NIXON, David 2-1;
  NELSON, Grant 1-1; HOOKS, Terrance 1-1; BUCHANAN, Kayle 1-1; JOHNSON, Scott 
  0-1; SULLIVAN, Sean 0-1. Wyoming-PROSINSKI, C. 5-8; ROGERS, Quincy 4-8; 
  PRATER, John 0-12; STINSON, Julius 5-2; DOBBS, Ward 1-6; FLETCHER, John 2-4; 
  UNREIN, Mitch 2-3; JOHNSON, Weston 0-5; JUERGENS, Mike 3-1; MEDINA, Michael 
  2-2; CLAFFEY, Sean 2-2; CHASE, Luke 2-1; GIVENS, Fred 1-2; GEHNO, Greg 1-1; 
  MARSH, Hoost 0-2; ARNOLD, Russ 1-0; EDMUNDS, Jake 1-0; MCMAHEN, D. 0-1; 
  NEUHAUS, Mike 0-1; VINNEDGE, Billy 0-1; BETSCHART, Wade 0-1; WILSON, Anthony 
  0-1; LEWIS, Troy 0-1; LEWIS, Keith 0-1