PROVO -- Victory 250 for Coach LaVell Edwards came off key defensive and offensive second half series which propelled No. 16 BYU to a 27-20 defeat Saturday over the Air Force Academy.
Those two plays helped the Cougars, now 7-1 overall, maintain their first place position in the Mountain West Conference alone at 4-0. The Falcons, meanwhile, drop out of title contention with a 1-3 league record and a 4-3 overall record.
Following a 17-7 lead, BYU's opening second half possession put them in peril when AFA blocked Jesse Sowards' punt. The Falcons got the ball on BYU's seven-yard-line and had nine chances at the endzone, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal. A critical sack of Falcon quarterback Mike Thiessen during this drive was delivered by Cougar linebacker Josh Lowe.
"I came on an outside blitz and the guy blocking me motioned away and I thought, 'wow, Happy Birthday,'" said Lowe.
"They only got three points out of that situation and that was huge," said Edwards. Edwards' 250th victory is the fastest climb to that level, second only to former Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne.
The 28-year-head coach lauded BYU's offensive effort to score a 26-yard field goal later in the third quarter when Owen Pochman booted his record-setting 10th consecutive field goal, his second of the afternoon. Pochman's streak broke the nine-goal mark set by Leonard Chitty.
The Falcons were stopped on the next series in part thanks to back-to back tackles for losses of Thiessen by Cougar defensive end Setema Gali. That forced AFA to punt for the second straight series in the second half and set up the Cougars' final score.
Air Force Coach Fisher DeBerry pointed to that first offensive Cougar series in the fourth quarter. With third and 10 from the BYU 43, Kevin Feterik found Margin Hooks in a soft spot over the middle for a 57-yard touchdown.
"That was a big play in the ball game and it gave BYU some momentum," said DeBerry of the TD which put BYU up 27-10.
"I slowed up because I knew I was going to get hit," said Hooks. "Then they hit me from the side and that actually kept me up. Then I just headed, high-stepping to the endzone, just hoping not to get caught from behind."
"He did a great job," said Feterik of Hooks. "He got to show that 4.2 speed he's always talking about."
On that play Falcon free safety Tony Metters collided with teammate Wes Glisson. Metters was knocked unconscious and taken by ambulance to the hospital following a 12-minute delay of the game.
Metters' teammates didn't quit in his absence as they recovered a Jaron Dabney fumble. Two plays later halfback Scotty McKay ran for a seven yard touchdown. Then the Falcons recovered a perfectly-executed on-side kick. They drove to score off a 32-yard field goal by Jackson Whiting with 2:37 remaining in the game and close the gap to 27-20.
The never-say-die Falcons had started the day with the ball, but had their initial drive thwarted when Dustin Staley intercepted Thiessen in the first quarter to the delight of 65,319 fans (the fourth sellout of the season).
"I can't say enough about Dustin Staley," said Edwards of the sophomore who was making his first start after being converted to strong safety earlier in the week to replace departed Tyson Smith. "He came up with that big interception on their first drive."
The pesky Falcons netted 212 yards rushing and 109 yards passing, barely losing to BYU also in possession time, 27:12 to 32:48.
"They were like gnats," said BYU middle linebacker Rob Morris. "You swat at them, but they just keep getting in the way."
Staley's younger brother Luke scored BYU's other touchdowns off a 14 yard pass from Feterik and a seven-yard run, both in the second quarter. Feterik's pass efficiency was 178.25 off a 24 of 33 performance for 336 yards and a pair of TD passes.
Date: Oct 30, 1999
Site: Provo, Utah
Stadium: Cougar Stadium
Attendance: 65,319
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Air Force........... 0 7 3 10 - 20
Brigham Young....... 3 14 3 7 - 27
Scoring Summary:
1st 10:18 BYU - POCHMAN, Owen 36 yd field goal
2nd 11:32 BYU - STALEY, Luke 14 yd pass from FETERIK, Kevin (POCHMAN, Owen kick)
09:26 AF - THIESSEN, Mike 37 yd run (WHITING, J. kick)
02:37 BYU - STALEY, Luke 7 yd run (POCHMAN, Owen kick)
3rd 10:05 AF - WHITING, J. 25 yd field goal
01:40 BYU - POCHMAN, Owen 26 yd field goal
4th 10:18 BYU - HOOKS, Margin 57 yd pass from FETERIK, Kevin (POCHMAN, Owen kick)
03:30 AF - MCKAY, Scotty 7 yd run (WHITING, J. kick)
02:37 AF - WHITING, J. 32 yd field goal
Team Statistics
AF BYU
FIRST DOWNS................... 17 22
Rushing..................... 10 8
Passing..................... 5 13
Penalty..................... 2 1
Rushing Attempts.............. 45 39
Yards Gained Rushing.......... 253 142
Yards Lost Rushing............ 41 51
NET YARDS RUSHING............. 212 91
NET YARDS PASSING............. 109 336
Passes Attempted............ 16 33
Passes Completed............ 7 24
Had Intercepted............. 1 0
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS......... 61 72
TOTAL NET YARDS............... 321 427
Average Gain Per Play....... 5.3 5.9
Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 1-1 2-1
Penalties: Number-Yards....... 7-62 4-24
Number of Punts-Yards......... 6-261 5-193
Average Per Punt............ 43.5 38.6
Punt Returns: Number-Yards.... 2-19 2-1
Kickoff Returns: Number-Yards. 1-22 3-48
Interceptions: Number-Yards... 0-0 1-0
Fumble Returns: Number-Yards.. 1-30 0-0
Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0
Possession Time............... 26:56 32:48
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 12 6 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 0 0 of 0
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 4-30 4-33
Individual Statistics
Air Force Brigham Young
Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg Rushing No Gain Loss Net TD Lg Avg
-------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------
THIESSEN, Mike 22 119 41 78 1 37 3.5 STALEY, Luke 26 85 17 68 1 12 2.6
MCKAY, Scotty 7 65 0 65 1 15 9.3 FETERIK, Kevin 9 52 32 20 0 17 2.2
BEARD, Nathan 5 26 0 26 0 10 5.2 SITAKE, Kalani 3 5 1 4 0 5 1.3
WADE, Chris 2 11 0 11 0 6 5.5 DABNEY, Jaron 1 0 1 -1 0 0 -1.0
HEIER, Tom 2 9 0 9 0 7 4.5 Totals... 39 142 51 91 1 17 2.3
BECKER, Scott 2 9 0 9 0 5 4.5
LASTER, Jeremy 4 9 0 9 0 4 2.2
PALMER, Leotis 1 5 0 5 0 5 5.0
Totals... 45 253 41 212 2 37 4.7
Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sck Passing Att-Cmp-Int Yds TD Long Sck
------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------
THIESSEN, Mike 16-7-1 109 0 40 4 FETERIK, Kevin 33-24-0 336 2 57 4
Totals... 16-7-1 109 0 40 4 Totals... 33-24-0 336 2 57 4
Receiving No. Yds TD Long Receiving No. Yds TD Long
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
MCKAY, Scotty 3 65 0 40 STALEY, Luke 8 69 1 27
FARMER, Matt 2 18 0 13 HOOKS, Margin 5 103 1 57
FLEMING, Ryan 1 14 0 14 PITTMAN, Jonath 3 44 0 18
CHANDLER, Ken 1 12 0 12 ATUAIA, Donny 3 35 0 16
Totals... 7 109 0 40 OFAHENGAUE, Tev 2 38 0 22
HORTON, Ben 2 27 0 21
TAHI, Fahu 1 20 0 20
Totals... 24 336 2 57
Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20 Punting No. Yds Avg Long In20
----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
GRIBBEN, Scott 6 261 43.5 60 0 SOWARDS, Jesse 4 193 48.2 56 0
Totals... 6 261 43.5 60 0 TM 1 0 0.0 0 0
Totals... 5 193 38.6 56 0
Punts Kickoffs Intercept Punts Kickoffs Intercept
All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg All Returns No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg No.Yds.Lg
--------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------
MCKAY, Scotty 0 0 0 1 22 22 0 0 0 STERNS, Ned 0 0 0 1 21 21 0 0 0
FARMER, Matt 1 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 STALEY, Dustin 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
AF TEAM 1 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DABNEY, Jaron 2 1 1 2 27 18 0 0 0
Totals... 2 19 4 1 22 22 0 0 0 Totals... 2 1 1 3 48 21 1 0 0
Field goal attempts Field goal attempts
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------
WHITING, J. 3rd 10:05 25 yds - Good POCHMAN, Owen 1st 10:18 36 yds - Good
WHITING, J. 4th 02:37 32 yds - Good POCHMAN, Owen 3rd 01:40 26 yds - Good