CAREER BEST
Derek McLaughlin flipped field position for the Cougars in the first quarter when he blasted a career-best 66-yard punt to pin Arizona down at the five yard line. In the second quarter, McLaughlin had an 80-yard punt negated by a holding penalty. All totaled, McLaughlin was credited with five punts for a combined total of 186 yards, averaging 37.2 yards per punt. He was also credited with two punts downed inside the Arizona 20-yard line.
CAREER FIRSTS
With 6:53 remaining in the second quarter, true freshman McKay Jacobson corralled his first career reception, an 11-yard completion for a first down. Redshirt freshman Jan Jorgensen recorded his first career sack with 13:20 left in the third quarter.
HALFTIME LEAD
BYU's 7-6 halftime lead marked the first time the Cougars took a lead into intermission since Nov. 12, 2005. BYU led Wyoming 28-14 at the break last year and went on to win 35-21. In their final two games of last season, the Cougars trailed Utah, 24-3, and California, 21-14, at half.
CONSECUTIVE COMPLETIONS
John Beck had a string of 14-consecutive completions on his way to an efficient outing. His string was broken on a deep pass attempt to Jacobson which was broken up at the last second. Beck finished the game completing 28-of-37 (.756) attempts for 289 yards and one touchdown.
RUSHING
John Beck was sacked three times and BYU rushed for negative yards in the first half. The Cougars were held to -17 yards rushing in the half. The Cougars finished the game with a total of 24 yards rushing, including a game-high 23 yards by senior Curtis Brown. Fui Vakapuna added six carries for 21 yards, averaging a team-best 3.5 yards per carry.
RECEIVING
All totaled, nine different receivers had at least one reception for the Cougars. Curtis Brown led all receivers with six receptions for 39 yards, while Jonny Harline had a team-high 71 yards on five receptions.
RECORD WATCH
Senior quarterback John Beck threw for 289 yards against Arizona. All totaled, Beck has thrown for 7,425 yards over his career and needs just 40 yards to pass Steve Sarkisian for seventh-place on the Cougars' all-time passing list. Beck added 274 yards of total offense to his career total, moving into eighth place on BYU's all-time total offense list with 7,456 yards. Senior running back Curtis Brown entered Saturday's game needing 27 yards to pass Eldon Fortie for fourth on BYU's all-time rushing list. Brown finished the game with 23 yards rushing, leaving him just just four yards shy of passing Fortie's mark of 1,149 yards.
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
Tucson native Quinn Gooch led BYU with seven tackles on the evening, including three solo tackles and four assisted takedowns. Ben Criddle recorded a team-leading five solo tackles. Linebacker Bryan Kehl was credited with a team-best 2.5 tackles for a combined loss of 10 yards. Linebacker Cameron Jensen had two interceptions on the evening; however, one was negated by a holding penalty. Defensive linemen Jan Jorgensen and Hala Paongo were each credited with a sack.
PAPER OR PLASTIC
BYU quarterback John Beck was sacked a total of three times while Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitama was sacked twice during the game.
RUSHING DEFENSE
BYU held Arizona to eight yards rushing and 120 total yards in the first half. Of the Wildcats' 120 yards, 48 came on a Willie Tuitama to Syndric Steptoe completion.
THIRD-DOWN DEFENSE
The BYU defense did not allow a third-down conversion during the entire first half. Arizona was 0-for-7 during the first two quarters. Overall, the Wildcats converted just 3-of-14 third-down attempts on the evening.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
BYU was forced to start 9-of-13 drives in its own territory during the game. Six of those nine drives failed to enter Arizona territory, including four straight drives during the second quarter. In the second quarter, the Cougars' average field position was their own 16-yard line. BYU's longest drive of the evening covered 68 yards on 11 plays during the third quarter.
SOLD OUT CROWDS
The Cougars played in front of their third-consecutive sold out crowd. BYU also played in front of sold-out crowds against Utah (home) and California (Las Vegas Bowl). The ninth-largest crowd in Arizona Stadium history (58,450) was on hand for the BYU game. The game was the first sellout for Arizona since the 2000 season. It is estimated there were between 10,000 and 15,000 BYU fans at Saturday's game.