PROVO, UTAH — Max Hall knew after he threw his first pass that it was going to be a good day.
It was just a 10-yard dump over the middle to running back Harvey Unga, who broke it for a 53-yard play to start Brigham Young’s 35-16 win over Colorado State on Saturday.
“I think it was awesome. They came out playing exactly what we thought they would,” said Hall, who threw for 355 yards and three touchdowns. “I think it was a huge play for us. I think it got everybody excited. The crowd got into it and our offense was pumped up.” Unga carried the ball 8 yards on the next play to help set up Hall’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Michael Reed that put BYU up 7-0 barely three minutes after the Cougars (6-2, 4-0 Mountain West) got the ball.
It was that kind of day for BYU, and for Colorado State, which is mired in its worst season under coach Sonny Lubick.
The Rams failed to score two of the first three times they got inside the BYU 10-yard line. Early in the third quarter, the Cougars led 28-3 and the Rams were never much of a threat the rest of the way.
BYU won its 12th straight conference game and became bowl eligible for the third straight year. More importantly, the Cougars took another step toward becoming the first team in MWC history to sweep through the league two seasons in a row.
“If we just keep playing hard and letting them make the mistakes, then we’re fully capable of doing that,” Hall said. “I think we still have our best games coming. I still think we’re just getting better every week.” Hall completed 22 of 30 passes and had 44 more yards passing that Colorado State’s total offensive output.
Unga ran for 51 yards and had 110 yards receiving and Austin Collie had eight catches for 111 yards for BYU, including a 45-yard touchdown on a defensive breakdown — one of several blunders in Colorado State’s fourth straight loss to BYU.
The Cougars took advantage of the mistakes and won easily despite making a few of their own.
“We can improve. Certainly we can play cleaner football,” coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “For the majority of the game the plan was executed in the way we had hoped.” Colorado State (1-8, 1-5) finished with 311 yards of offense and gained 175 of that in the fourth quarter, mostly against BYU’s reserves.
“We played OK. We just didn’t make any big plays,” said Caleb Hanie, who completed 18 of 34 passes for 161 yards with one interception. “They didn’t give us anything easy.” The Rams did make the score more respectable with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Michael Myers scored on a 3-yard run that cut the margin to 28-9 with 8:20 left and Jesse Nading returned an interception 31 yards with 4:07 for the final score of the game.
The touchdowns came much too late.
“I get so darned angry at our team because I think they’re better than we have shown,” said Lubick, who has won at least four games in each of his first 14 seasons with the Rams.
Colorado State needs to win its remaining three games just match the four wins of last year and 2004, the fewest victories in Lubick’s tenure.
Hall was 13-for-17 in the first half and got 98 of BYU’s 245 yards on the long passes to Unga and Collie.
After a 3-yard run by Manase Tonga put BYU up 14-3, the Cougars scored again on another short pass that turned into a big play.
Collie got behind the defense and Colorado State’s Zac Bryson had no chance when he leaped for Hall’s pass, which landed safely in Collie’s hands and Collie ran untouched for a 45-yard touchdown.
Colorado State got inside the BYU 10 three times in the first half, but got only Jason Smith’s 25-yard field goal in the second quarter out of the three chances. Smith was wide right on the opening drive, then at the end of the second quarter the Rams botched a fake field goal after getting inside the 10 again.
The Cougars read it and holder Jimmie Kaylor’s pass was way over the head of Tommie Hill.
Colorado State’s self-destruction continued on the very first play of the second half, when Smith’s kickoff went out of bounds and BYU got the ball at the 35. The Cougars drove the remaining 65 yards and scored on Unga’s 3-yard run.
The Rams’ misfortune didn’t let up there. Colorado State had BYU’s C.J. Santiago punting from his own goal line and Santiago dropped the ball as he was stepping into his kick. But he picked up the ball and ran 15 yards for a first down.
After Myers scored Colorado State’s first touchdown, BYU answered with a 65-yard drive which Hall ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Joe Semanoff.
Unga needed 50 yards to break the record for rushing by a freshman, although he did play in three games a year ago before a hip injury ended his season. He received a medical redshirt and is technically a freshman.
Unga has 735 rushing yards this season, 2 more yards than Ronney Jenkins gained as a freshman in 1996.
