COUGAR TOWN -- With the Cougars' victory over UNLV on Saturday, BYU sits atop the Mountain West Conference with a 3-0 league record. It is the first time since 2001 the Cougars have posted three straight league victories.
OPENING DRIVE SUCCESS
For the second consecutive game, the Cougars scored in their first drive and the first three minutes of the game. The drive covered 81 yards on six plays and was capped by a 48-yard touchdown pass from John Beck to Jonny Harline. It marked the second consecutive game that BYU got on the scoreboard in less than three minutes.
SCORING FIRST
BYU's early touchdown drive marked the sixth consecutive game that the Cougars scored first. The season opener against Arizona was the only game in which BYU did not score first.
ONE QUARTER AT A TIME
BYU has outscored its opponents in 20 of 28 quarters this season, including 11 shutout quarters. The Cougars have not trailed since the Boston College game, marking 16 consecutive quarters without trailing an opponent.
FIRST QUARTER SCORING
BYU's 21 first-quarter points were the most scored in the first quarter since the Cougars scored 21 against TCU last season. Furthermore, the BYU 21-0 first quarter lead was the largest since Nov. 1, 2001 when the 10th-ranked Cougars led Colorado State 21-0 after one quarter and went on to win 56-34.
INTERCEPTION-LESS STREAK
When the Rebels' John Guice intercepted a John Beck pass in the second quarter, it marked the first time Beck had been picked off since the Boston College game. Beck went 69 pass attempts between interceptions.
SCORING DEFENSE
After holding UNLV to just seven points, the Cougars are holding opponents to just 15.9 points per game.
CAREER LONGS
Harline's 48-yard touchdown reception was the longest reception of his career ... Nate Meikle, who entered the game 18th in the NCAA in punt return average, recorded a career-best 38 yard return in the first quarter ... True freshman Mike Hague scored his first career touchdown on a career-best 87-yard run in the fourth quarter ... defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen had a career-long 48-yard return after recovering a third-quarter fumble.
CAREER FIRSTS
Freshman McKay Jacobson's 28-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was his first career touchdown. Jacobson caught two touchdowns on the day. Ben Criddle's second-quarter interception was his first career pick off. Andrew Stacey also recorded his first-career interception. Mike Hague recorded his first career touchdown on an 87-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
GOOD GRIEF, CURTIS BROWN
Curtis Brown had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season (Tulsa). Brown rushed for 141 yards in the first half alone. Brown finished the game with a season-best 148 total rushing yards. Brown has now moved into second place all time at BYU with 2,717 total rushing yards, passing both Jeff Blanc (2,663) and Lakei Heimuli (2,710) on Saturday.
QUARTER-BECK UPDATE
Beck finished the game completing 18-of-23 passes for 250 yards for four touchdowns. With the four touchdown completions, Beck moved into fifth place in school history with 63 career touchdown passes, passing Marc Wilson. With the 250 yards passing, Beck now has 8,939 passing yards in his career. The 250 yards puts Beck 598 yards behind Jim McMahon for second place all-time at BYU. Beck also moved into third place on the all-time total yards list with 8,941, passing Steve Young (8,817).
TWO 100-YARD RUSHERS
Curtis Brown (148) and Mike Hague (123) became the first BYU running duo to rush for 100 yards in a game since Nov. 1, 2001 when Brandon Doman and Luke Staley each ran for 100-yards.
HAGUE'S DASH
Hague's 87-yard rushing touchdown was the longest by a BYU player since Oct. 4, 2003 when Rey Braithwaite scampered 95 yards for a touchdown against San Diego State.
OFFENSIVE PLAY
BYU's offense exploded for 574 yards and 52 points. The 574 yards were the most since the Cougars recorded 683 total yards against Air Force Oct. 29, 2005. The game also marked the most points BYU has scored since scoring 55 points against UNLV on Nov. 5, 2005.
OUTSCORING THE REBELS
In the past two seasons, BYU has outscored UNLV by a combined score of 107-21.
WINNING STREAK
BYU's win over UNLV marked the fourth consecutive victory for the Cougars this season. The last time BYU won four consecutive games was in 2001.
UNDEFEATED RECORDS
BYU is a perfect 4-0 at LaVell Edwards Stadium and 3-0 in Mountain West Conference play. The last time the Cougars had a perfect home record and a perfect record in MWC play was in 2001.
WINNING BIG
BYU's 52-7 defeat over UNLV was the fourth consecutive win of at least 25 points at home. In the Cougars' four games in Provo, they have scored 186 points for an average of 46.5 points per game while holding their opponents to just 48 total--12 points per game. If the season ended today, the 34.5-point difference would tie the LaVell Edwards Stadium record for point differential in a season.
HALFTIME LEADS
When the Cougars took a 28-7 lead to the halftime break, it marked the seventh consecutive game BYU has led at half.
IF YOU WIN, THEY WILL COME
Game-day crowds at LaVell Edwards Stadium have increased by over 2,000 fans per contest in each of BYU's first four home games:
Date Opponent Attendance Difference
Sept. 9 Tulsa 56, 627 ---
Sept. 23 Utah State 58, 659 +2,032
Oct. 7 San Diego State 60,804 +2,145
Oct. 21 UNLV 63,341 +2,537