Game notes from BYU's 31-3 loss at No. 4 TCU on Saturday, Oct. 16, at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas.
Payne Stays Perfect
BYU senior kicker Mitch Payne hit a 27-yard field goal with 1:14 left in the third quarter to cap off a 14-play, 70-yard drive over 5:31. The field goal keeps Payne a perfect 8-of-8 this season and 23-of-23 on his career on field goal attempts under 30 yards.
Chambers Becomes All-Time Leader
BYU junior kick returner O’Neill Chambers became the Cougars’ all-time career leader in kickoff return yardage against TCU, taking five returns a total of 112 yards to give him 1,612 on his career. Chambers passed Mike Rigell (1998-01) who had 1,545 career return yards.
Heaps Breaks Record
Freshman quarterback Jake Heaps became the school leader in freshman pass completions on his 13th completion of the day to JJ Di Luigi for 11 yards. Heaps passed Matt Berry’s previous record of 108, going 14-of-30 on the day to give him 110 completions on the season.
Rush Defense
After holding San Diego State to minus-2 yards in the first half last week, the BYU defense held TCU to just 37 yards rushing on 21 carries in the first half. TCU’s 108 yards rushing was easily the Horned Frogs lowest of the season, with the previous season low coming against SMU with 190 yards. TCU averaged 278.7 rushing yards a game coming in against BYU, good for 7th-best in the nation.
Hague The First
BYU junior running back Mike Hague had his first carry of 2010 in the second quarter, rushing for three yards to give BYU its first first down of the game.
Through the Air
BYU sophomore Riley Stephenson punted a career-high seven times for a career-high 336 yards, an average of 48.0 yards per punt.
Holding Off
TCU scored its first points of the game on a field goal at the 2:18 mark of the first quarter, the second-longest scoring drought to begin a game for the Horned Frogs this season. TCU scored its first points with 13 seconds left in the first quarter against No. 24 Oregon State in its season opener.
Dalton Downed
The Cougars forced Andy Dalton into 12 incompletions, more than the senior had missed in three games combined at Amon G. Carter Stadium. Coming into the game, Dalton was 50-of-61 (.820) at home.
BYU cornerback Corby Eason also sacked Dalton for only the fourth time this season in TCU's seven games.
Flag Bearers
BYU has a tradition of selecting a player before each game to run the team flag onto the field, as well as a former Cougar to carry out the alumni flag. Each member of the team has signed the team flag, while former BYU players have signed the alumni flag. Their signatures reflect their commitment to uphold the tradition, spirit and honor of the BYU football program and to be a flag bearer of the University.
Today, former BYU offensive lineman Travis Bright (2005-08) carried out the alumni flag. Bright was a second-team All-MWC performer his senior year as a team captain, signing with the Dallas Cowboys in 2009. He is currently on the Cowboy practice squad. Senior defensive back Landon Jaussi brought out the team flag.