PROVO -- For the second time in three weeks, and the third time in his career, BYU quarterback John Beck has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound junior completed 34-of-44 passes (77.3 percent) for 371 yards and three touchdowns in BYU's come-from-behind 27-24 win at New Mexico.
Trailing 24-13 with over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Beck engineered two different scoring drives that led to 14 unanswered points. The comeback started on a 13-play, 93-yard drive that cut the Lobo lead to 24-19. During the drive, Beck was 8-of-10 for 94 yards. With the Cougars still down by five points with 2:48 remaining in the game, Beck drove BYU 80 yards in five plays, connecting on five straight pass attempts, including a 23-yard pass to Matt Allen for the game-winning touchdown.
"John Beck has proven himself in many different situations," Mendenhall said after Saturday's game. "He was prepared well by the offensive coaching staff. He executed the plan when asked to in critical times and the best quarterbacks, that's what they do."
With his performance, Beck has tallied seven 300-yard games during his career, including his third this season. Beck also moved into 10th place on the BYU career passing list with 5,161 yards, passing Virgil Carter who had 5,125.
Beck leads the Mountain West Conference and ranks sixth nationally, averaging 335.6 yards of total offense per game. He also leads the league, averaging 346.8 yards passing per game. Beck has completed 156-of-244 attempts (.639) for a league-best 1,734 yards and connected on 11 touchdown completions through five games.