No. 19 Cougars Run over SDSU

SAN -- No. 19 BYU (10-2, 8-0) wrapped up its second consecutive undefeated Mountain West Conference season defeating San Diego State (4-8, 3-5) 48-27 on Saturday at Qualcomm Stadim.

The win marks the Cougars' MWC record 16th straight league victory, dating back to a 31-17 road victory over No. 15 TCU last season. It is the longest conference win streak for BYU since winning 25 straight from November 20, 1982 to October 19, 1985.

The Cougars also extended their conference road win streak to 11 straight MWC road victories. The streak marks the most consecutive road wins in league play since the Cougars won 10 straight from Oct. 17, 1992 to Oct. 22, 1994.

Freshman All-American Harvey Unga scored a career-high four touchdowns (three rushing and one receiving). Unga also racked up 161 rushing yards on 23 carries. Sophomore quarterback Max Hall threw 19-26 for 227 yards and three touchdowns.

As a team, BYU gained 538 yards of total offense to SDSU's 356. Additionally, the Cougar defense kept up its season-long tradition of not allowing an individual rusher to go for 100 yards. San Diego State senior quarterback Kevin O'Connell led the Aztecs with 61 yards on the ground.

Nursing a seven-point lead coming out of the break, BYU used a 14-point third quarter to take command of its final regular season game.

Unga trotted seven yards into the end zone for his third score on the night putting the Cougars ahead 27-13 just two-and-a-half minutes into the second half.

SDSU fullback Lynell Hamilton's three-yard touchdown catch at the 6:49 mark in the third quarter made it a seven-point game once again. However, Unga scored his career-high fourth touchdown of the game with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter to give the Cougars a 14-point cushion entering the fourth. Unga's three-yard scamper into the end zone was also his career-best third rushing score of the game.

In the fourth quarter junior Fui Vakapuna scored his first rushing touchdown since the Cougars hosted Eastern Washington in October, while O'Connell scored on a two-yard rush. Vakapuna would finish with 97 rushing yards on 14 carries. With 4:20 remaining sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta took a screen pass 13 yards and dove into the end zone to give the game a final of 48-27.

BYU struck first for the 22nd time in its last 24 games when Hall hit Unga for an eight-yard touchdown reception. Unga's 14th touchdown of the season capped a nine-play, 60-yard drive.

The Aztecs' responded by driving 65 yards up field in five minutes and tying the game on a seven-yard quarterback keeper by O'Connell. Prior to the score, the Cougars were called offside on a field goal attempt on a fourth-and-six, which allowed SDSU to advance the ball five yards and go for the first down. O'Connell's rush into the end zone was also the first first-quarter touchdown BYU has allowed since playing at Tulsa on Sept. 15th.

As the quarter drew to a close, it was Unga again finding paydirt. The freshman All-American punched it in for a one-yard run. Freshman kicker Mitch Payne missed the PAT, giving the Cougars a 13-7 lead heading into the second quarter.

A bizarre sequence in the second quarter set the stage for SDSU's second score. After BYU defensive back Kayle Buchanan picked off O'Connell deep into Cougar territory, San Diego State senior Corey Boudreaux returned the favor on the very next play. Six plays later, kicker Garrett Palmer nailed a 41-yard field goal to bring the Aztecs to within three.

Sophomore Austin Collie gave BYU a 20-10 lead with a 17-yard touchdown reception, his team-best sixth touchdown catch of the year. Another 41-yarder off Palmer's leg made it a 20-13 game at the half.

BYU will now await a bowl invitation, as the bowl picture sorts itself out throughout the night and into Sunday morning. The Cougars are being considered for its first ever BCS bowl invitation and will learn its fate tomorrow evening.

Box Score (Final)
           BYU vs San Diego State (Dec 01, 2007 at San Diego, Calif.)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  BYU................. 13  7 14 14  - 48       Record: (10-2,8-0)
  San Diego State.....  7  6  7  7  - 27       Record: (4-8,3-5)
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 09:55 BYU - UNGA, Harvey 8 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 9-
                  60 3:38
      04:55 SDSU - O'CONNELL, Kevi 7 yd run (PALMER, Garrett kick), 16-65 5:00
      00:02 BYU - UNGA, Harvey 1 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick failed), 12-67 4:53
  2nd 05:39 SDSU - PALMER, Garrett 41 yd field goal, 7-1 2:05, BYU 13 - SDSU 10
      01:11 BYU - COLLIE, Austin 17 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch 
                  kick), 9-71 4:28
      00:00 SDSU - PALMER, Garrett 41 yd field goal, 8-43 1:11
  3rd 12:32 BYU - UNGA, Harvey 7 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 7-54 2:28
      06:49 SDSU - HAMILTON, Lynel 3 yd pass from O'CONNELL, Kevi (PALMER, 
                   Garrett kick), 14-68 5:43
      00:52 BYU - UNGA, Harvey 3 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 12-72 5:57
  4th 12:17 BYU - VAKAPUNA, Fui 2 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 8-68 2:36
      09:37 SDSU - O'CONNELL, Kevi 2 yd run (PALMER, Garrett kick), 14-81 2:40
      04:20 BYU - PITTA, Dennis 13 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 
                  9-78 5:17
                                      BYU     SDSU
  FIRST DOWNS...................       33       22
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   52-311    26-68
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      227      288
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  26-19-1  55-33-1
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   78-538   81-356
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............      2-0      0-0
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    5-112     6-79
  Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0     1-12
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   1-47.0   3-36.3
  Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      0-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     7-71     7-64
  Possession Time...............    34:20    25:40
  Third-Down Conversions........   6 of 9 13 of 21
  Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 2   2 of 3
  Blue-Zone Scores-Chances.......      7-7      4-4
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-21      0-0
  RUSHING: BYU-UNGA, Harvey 23-161; VAKAPUNA, Fui 14-97; TONGA, Manase 10-36;
  COLLIE, Austin 1-10; LATU, Wayne 1-6; HALL, Max 2-2; GASKINS, Brende 1-minus 
  1. San Diego State-O'CONNELL, Kevi 17-61; BORNES, Brandon 2-6; MOUGEY, 
  Darren 3-5; HENDERSON, Atiy 1-1; BROWN, Davon 3-minus 5.
  PASSING: BYU-HALL, Max 19-26-1-227. SD State-O'CONNELL, Kevi 33-55-1-288.
  RECEIVING: BYU-PITTA, Dennis 4-47; REED, Michael 4-39; ALLEN, Matt 3-51; 
  COLLIE, Austin 3-35; UNGA, Harvey 3-29; SO'OTO, Vic 2-26. San Diego State-
  SWAIN, Brett 10-98; SCHILENS, Chaz 8-106; HENDERSON, Atiy 5-26; SCHMIDT, 
  Steve 4-31; BROWN, Vincent 2-11; HAMILTON, Lynel 2-7; BORNES, Brandon 1-5; 
  MOUGEY, Darren 1-4.
  INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-BUCHANAN, Kayle 1-0. San Diego State-BOUDREAUX, Core 1-12.
  FUMBLES: BYU-MAHUIKA, Bryce 1-0. San Diego State-None.
  SACKS (UA-A): BYU-JORGENSEN, Jan 1-0; DENNEY, Brett 1-0. SDState-None.
  TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-CRIDDLE, Ben 7-0; JORGENSEN, Jan 5-2; KEHL, Bryan 5-1;
  DOMAN, Shaun 5-1; POPPINGA, Kelly 4-2; FOWLER, Kellen 5-0; BUCHANAN, Kayle 4-
  0; STAFFIERI, Mark 2-2; HODGKISS, Corby 2-2; NELSON, Grant 2-0; JOHNSON, 
  Scott 1-0; BOLDEN, Chris 1-0; BAUMAN, Matt 1-0; HOOKS, Terrance 1-0; DULAN, 
  Ian 1-0; 4B 1-0; DENNEY, Brett 1-0; BRIGHT, Travis 1-0; NEELEY, Ryan 0-1; 
  NIXON, David 0-1. San Diego State-BASS, Ray 7-3; MILLING, Jerry 6-3; ALLEN, 
  Russell 4-5; BOUDREAUX, Core 7-1; STEWART, Michae 3-2; LAOLAGI, Luke 2-3; 
  FIFITA, Siaosi 1-3; MOORE, Aaron 3-0; SOTO, Jonathan 3-0; NWANSI, Ornan 3-0; 
  OSBORN, Nick 2-1; FANTROY, Martre 2-1; MCKAY, T.J. 2-0; HULL, Mark 2-0; 
  LAWSON, Ernie 2-0; SPENCER, Neil 2-0; WILLIAMS, B.J. 1-1; PALMER, Garrett 1-
  0; CAMPBELL, Tyler 1-0; ARMSTRONG, Gera 1-0; HAMILTON, Lynel 0-1.