MILESTONE VICTORY
The Cougars' 62-41 victory over Air Force marked the 250th all-time home victory for BYU. The wn also marked the 460th victory in the program's 83-year history.
BYU IN THE STANDINGS
With Saturday's 62-41 victory, BYU improves to 4-4 on the season and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference. With the win, the Cougars are currently in sole possession of third place in the MWC standings. With TCU's victory over San Diego State on Saturday, the Horned Frogs are guaranteed a share of the MWC title. Mathematically, the Cougars are still in contention for a share of the league championship. In order for BYU to claim a share of the MWC title, the Cougars must win its final three league games (at UNLV, at Wyoming, vs. Utah) and TCU must lose to both Colorado State and UNLV. Colorado State, which suffered its only league loss at BYU on Oct. 15, can also claim a share of the title if they win the final three games of the season, including a critical match-up at TCU on Nov. 5.
BOWL STATUS
With four wins on the season, the Cougars must reach the six-win mark in order to become bowl eligible. BYU must win two of its final three games in order to be eligible for bowl consideration. The Cougars are looking for their first bowl appearance since the 2001 season.
CONFERENCE WIN STREAK
With Saturday's 62-41 win over Air Force, the Cougars have won three straight MWC games. The Cougars will be gunning for their fourth straight league win next week at UNLV. A win at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday would mark the first time BYU has won four straight league games since the 2001 season.
MOST POINTS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
BYU's 62-point outing on Saturday marks the most points scored by a Mountain West Conference team this season. San Diego scored 52 points against San Jose State on Sept. 24.
NATION'S HIGHEST COMBINED POINT TOTAL
The combined 103 points scored by BYU and Air Force is the most points scored in an NCAA regulation game this season.
PROLIFIC QUARTER
Air Force posted 27 points against the Cougars in the fourth quarter, marking the most points the Cougars have allowed in a single quarter this season. The previous high was 21 against Notre Dame and TCU.
ON PACE
With 746 yards on the season, averaging 93.2 yards per game, Curtis Brown is on pace to run for over 1,025 yards this season. Should Brown eclipse the 1,000 yard mark, it would be the first time since the 2001 season a BYU running back had ran for 1,000 yards in a season. Brown is on pace to record the sixth highest single-season rushing total in BYU history.
John Beck has passed for 2,602 yards this season, averaging 325.2 yards per game. Beck is on pace to pass for over 3,577 yards in 2005. While that total would not eclipse the single-season top-10, it would give Beck over 7,000 career passing yards and would rank ninth on BYU's all-time passing list with one year remaining.
MOST YARDS SINCE...
With 383 passing yards and 300 rushing yards, BYU accumulated 683 yards of total offense against the Falcons. The combined total surpasses the 614 the Cougars had against TCU earlier this season and is the most yards BYU has amassed since November 1, 2001 when the Cougars had 694 in a 56-34 win over Colorado State. In that game, BYU had 410 rushing yards and 284 passing yards. The 300 rushing yards was the most for the Cougar since the 2001 Colorado State game.
FIRST DOWNS EQUALS SCHOOL RECORD
With 39 first downs against Air Force on Saturday, the Cougars tied a team record set in 1983 against the Falcons. The Cougar won that game 46-28.
MOST POINTS
With 103 combined points in BYU's 62-41 win over Air Force, Saturday's game was the second highest scoring game in the NCAA this season, behind Ball State's 60-57 win over Western Michigan. The Cougars were also participants in the then second highest scoring game of 2005 in their 51-50 loss to TCU. The last time BYU scored 62 points was in 2001 when the Cougars defeated Air Force 63-33 on October 20. The 62 points is the second highest total ever allowed by the Air Force. The Cougars' 63-point outing in 2001 marked the most points ever allowed by an Air Force team.
GOOD GRIEF, CURTIS BROWN
With a four-yard touchdown run with 57 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Curtis Brown set new career highs in rushing yards and touchdowns. Brown finished the game with 219 yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. Brown did not have any negative rushes on the day. Curtis Brown now has nine-career 100 yard rushing games, including four this season. Brown's nine-100-yard games are second most in BYU history. He is one game behind Luke Staley, Lakei Heimuli, John Ogden and Jamal Willis.
With 71 first-half rushing yards against Air Force, Curtis Brown passed Eldon Fortie for ninth all-time in BYU history for career rushing yards. Fortie, who played from 1960-62, had 1,666 yards. At half-time, Brown had 1,686 career yards and added 148 in the second, giving him 1,834 career yards. On the season Brown has 143 carries for 746 yards and nine touchdowns.
THIRD ALL-TIME IN THE MWC
When Beck completed a 13-yard pass to Todd Watkins on BYU's second drive against Air Force, he surpassed former New Mexico quarterback Casey Kelly for third all-time in the Mountain West Conference for most career yards. Beck entered the game with 5,646 yards, 40 behind Kelly. He had 383 for the game and now has 6,029 yards, 136 behind former Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet for second in conference history. Beck also replaced Gifford Nielsen for ninth all-time in Cougar history for most career passing yards when he threw for 383 yards against Air Force to give him 6,029 career yards. Nielsen had 5,833 yards, playing from 1975-77. Beck also tied Nielsen for ninth most 300-yard games in Cougar history with nine.
CAREER TOUCHDOWN PASSES
John Beck threw three touchdown passes against Air Force, moving from seventh all-time in the MWC for career touchdown passes to a tie for fourth with former Colorado State quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt with 37. Beck tied former BYU quarterback and current quarterback's coach Brandon Doman for sixth in conference history with his first scoring pass of the game, which went to Michael Reed.
OPENING DRIVE
Michael Reed capped BYU's opening drive against Air Force by catching a 14-yard touchdown pass from John Beck. The drive covered 86 yards on 10 plays in 4:02. It was the first-career touchdown for the freshman and the sixth time this season and fourth-consecutive game the Cougars have scored on their opening drive.
CAREER FIRSTS
Freshman Michael Reed scored his first career touchdown when he caught a 14-yard pass from John Beck on first drive of game against Air Force. Nathan Meikle also scored his first-career touchdown in the first quarter of the game. Following Justin Luettgerodt's interception, which he returned 22-yards to the Air Force 12, Meikle ran it in on the first play of the drive.
FIRST INTERCEPTION
Justin Luettgerodt intercepted a Shaun Carney pass in the first quarter against Air Force and returned it 22 yards to Falcon's 12-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by Nathan Meikle. It was his first career interception and the team's second of the season.
MULTIPLE PICKS
Justin Luettgerodt had an interception in the first quarter, Quinn Gooch picked off a pass in the second and Cole Miyahira had one in the fourth against Air Force, BYU's second, third and fourth of the season. It was the Cougars' first multiple interception game of the season and the first since BYU had two picks against Alex Smith of Utah on November 20, 2004.
HALF-TIME LEAD
BYU led Air Force 28-7 at the half behind the passing of John Beck and the running of Curtis Brown. It was the Cougars' largest halftime lead since they had a 31-0 advantage at the break against Eastern Illinois.
SCORELESS QUARTERS
The Cougars held Air Force scoreless in the first quarter, marking the third time this season BYU has shutout its opponent during the opening frame. It was also the eighth quarter the Cougars have held their opponent scoreless this season.
TURNOVER MARGIN
Entering the Air Force game, BYU had turned the ball over 15 times and forced nine, good for a -6 turnover margin which ranked 101st in the nation. The Cougars closed the gap on Saturday, forcing four Air Force miscues, compared to two turnovers for BYU.
HOLDING ON FOURTH
Entering Saturday's game, Air Force had converted 14-of-16 fourth down conversions, good for 88 percent. The Cougars held the Falcons to just two conversions on five attempts.
THE 100-YARD CLUB
Michael Reed's 50-yard reception in the fourth quarter against Air Force put him over the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career. He is the third Cougar to record over 100-yards receiving this season. Todd Watkins had 176 yards against TCU while Jonny Harline has recorded 100 or more yards three times, including 123 at San Diego State, 123 at New Mexico and 100 at Notre Dame.
HOME SWEET HOME
Since becoming a member of the Mountain West Conference, the Cougars have recorded a 14-10 record in Provo. BYU is 3-2 at home this season, while the Falcons have posted an 0-4 record on the road. Air Force did register a 20-17 win over Washington at a neutral site earlier this season.
FALCONS vs. COUGARS
Today's game marked the 26th meeting between the Cougars and Falcons. With the 62-41 win, BYU owns a 20-6 record in the series, dating back to the 1956 season. The Cougars hold a 10-2 advantage in Provo. Air Force has won five of the last nine meetings between the two schools, including back-to-back games in 2002 and 2003. From 1956 until 1994, the Cougars won 16 of 17 games, including a stretch of 12 straight from 1983 to 1994. BYU has now won two straight in the series.