PROVO, Utah — There have been a lot of steps on the ladder, but Brigham Young quarterback Max Hall climbed over all of them Saturday and reached the top at what was once called Quarterback U.
With the names of the likes of Steve Young, Ty Detmer and Jim McMahon prominently displayed on the ladder, Hall mixed his passes and the bruising running of Harvey Unga and Manase Tonga into a 38-21 concoction that left Air Force with little to counter.
Hall chalked up his school-record 30th victory as the Cougars’ starting quarterback to move past Detmer, the 1990 Heisman Trophy winner.
The No. 19-ranked Cougars amassed 498 total yards and 26 first downs on their way to a sixth straight victory over Air Force.
“Our players were excited to play against a really good football team, but we didn’t play well enough,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “To beat a team like that, you have to block and tackle exceptionally well. We didn’t do that today. . . . In the basics of the game, we didn’t do well enough to beat BYU at BYU.”
When Hall wasn’t connecting with receivers Dennis Pitta and Andrew George for the lion’s share of his 377 yards and five touchdowns, Unga pounded the Falcons for 67 yards on the ground. He proved to be an effective complement to Hall.
For Air Force (7-5, 5-3 Mountain West Conference), it was a disappointing end to what Calhoun called a “solid season.” But Calhoun didn’t hedge on saying the Falcons have a long way to go to reach elite-team status in the MWC, a place BYU, Texas Christian and Utah occupy.
BYU (9-2, 6-1) has a game remaining against Utah, with the outcome probably determining which team goes to the Las Vegas Bowl and which goes to the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Air Force most likely is on its way back to the Dec. 31 Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Our team was excited to play and controlled the game from start to finish,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. “They were passionate to play the game today.”
Said Hall: “I feel really grateful I played on good teams. I’ll always remember my career here and everything I’ve done.”
Air Force won’t soon forget him. Last year, Hall passed for 354 yards and two touchdowns against the Falcons.
“Hall was able to pick and choose where he wanted to put the ball,” said AFA linebacker John Falgout. “If we gave him time, he was going to put it on the money every time.”
The BYU senior went right to work, throwing three touchdown passes in the first half.
Air Force’s situation became dire when quarterback Tim Jefferson was injured with 3:10 left in the first quarter. The sophomore tried to return, but threw an interception early in the second quarter and gave way to untested junior Ben Cochran, who had played only briefly in four games.
Cochran took the Falcons to three touchdowns, but it was too little, too late. The Falcons weren’t up to the task in many ways, turning the ball over four times, three leading to BYU touchdowns.
“It was exciting to face a top 25 opponent in their place,” Cochran said. “It’s exciting to be thrown in the fire and to see what happens.”
Calhoun shrugged off the loss of Jefferson, saying his team’s position didn’t become hopeless when he left. After an early-season injury, the Falcons had won three in a row with him back at the helm.
“Ben Cochran is a competitive player and you love his spirit, but the execution part of it has to be better,” Calhoun said of Cochran, who finished 5-of-18 passing for 88 yards and a touchdown.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
Three questions
A look at how Air Force answered Irv Moss’ three questions going into the game against Brigham Young:
1. Can the Air Force defense corral BYU quarterback Max Hall better than last year? Hall again had the upper hand in a big way, completing 33-of-45 passes for 377 yards and five touchdowns. In three wins against Air Force, Hall is 84-of-115 for 1,027 yards and nine TDs.
2. Will the Falcons’ scoring defense of 13.3 points a game hold up against BYU, which averaged 41 points a game in defeating the Falcons each of the last five meetings? The Cougars again had the nod in a big way with 38 points, three under the average in their past five victories over the Falcons. The previous high scored against Air Force this season was 20 points by Minnesota in the second game.
3. Will the Air Force offense continue its surge over the past three games at an opportune time? Not even close, and once again the nod goes to BYU. The Falcons had scored 34, 35 and 45 points in their previous three games, all victories.
Key stat
21: Number of points BYU scored off Air Force turnovers. When needing a perfect game in the worst way, the Falcons committed four turnovers, which led to three BYU touchdowns.
Key play
After BYU defensive back Andrew Rich returned an interception to the Air Force 16-yard line early in the second quarter, quarterback Max Hall connected with tight end Dennis Pitta for a touchdown on the first play for a 17-0 lead.
