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Cougars Win Second-Straight Outright Mountain West Title
Cougars Finish Regular Season 10-2
Cougars Finish MWC Season 8-0 for Second Straight Year
Cougars Extend Win Streak to Nine Straight Game
Cougars Extend Conference Win Streak to 16 Straight Games
Cougars Extend Conference Road Win Streak to 11 Straight Games
Freshman All-American Unga Leads Cougars to 48-27 Win Over San Diego State
Cougars Rack Up 313 Yards Rushing, Run Over Aztecs
Cougars Continue to Win; Post 20th Victory in Last 22 Games
STILL ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
With a win over San Diego State on Saturday, the Cougars improve to 8-0 against league opponents, marking the second-straight undefeated conference season. The Cougars are the only team in Mountain West Conference history to win back-to-back outright league titles and to record back-to-back undefeated league records. BYU has won a record four Mountain West Conference championships since the league's inception, including the 1999, 2001, 2006 and 2007 titles. The Cougars have recorded a league-best 46-20 record against MWC opponents since 1999. Utah ranks second with a 42-24 record and New Mexico is third with a 38-28 mark.
THERE'S PLENTY OF STREAKING IN FOOTBALL
BYU's win over San Diego State marks the Cougars' ninth straight win of the season -- the second-longest active win streak in the country. The victory is also the Cougars' 16th straight Mountain West Conference win and the 11th straight road win against MWC opponents. The Cougars have won 20 of their last 22 games.
10-WIN SEASONS
Saturday's victory over San Diego State improved the Cougars' record to 10-2 on the season, marking the second-straight 10-win season and the 12th since the 1979 campaign. It is also the first time since the 1990-1991 seasons BYU has had back-to-back 10-win seasons.
ALL-AMERICAN PERFORMANCE
Freshman All-American Harvey Unga ran for 161 yards and had a career-high four touchdown performance in the Cougars' 48-27 victory over San Diego State. Unga was also credited with three receptions for 29 yards to total 190 all-purpose yards against the Aztecs. Unga, who has compiled 1,211 rushing yards and 629 receiving yards, is the Cougars' all-time leading freshman running back and the first BYU freshman to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in a single-season. He holds the school record for most 100-yard rushing games as a freshman with seven. Unga has put together three-straight 100-yard rushing games, equalling the third highest consecutive 100-yard games in MWC history. Unga's 24 points against the Aztecs also equals the fifth highest single-game scoring total in league history. His performance; however, is a Mountain West Conference single-game freshman scoring record. Unga's 1,211 rushing yards marks the most yards since Doak Walker Award winner Luke Staley racked up 1,582 yards during the 2001 season. Unga's mark ranks fourth all-time in BYU history. Unga needs just five yards to become BYU's all-time leading freshman running back.
RUSHING DOMINANCE
The Cougars racked up a season-high 311 yards rushing. During the Bronco Mendenhall era, the Cougars are 24-3 when rushing for over 100 yards, 16-2 when rushing for over 150 yards and are a perfect 9-0 when rushing for 200 yards. Saturday's game also marked the Cougars' 60th straight win when rushing for 200 or more yards in a game. The Cougars' last loss when rushing for 200 or more yards in a game came on October 26, 1985 (vs. UTEP.)
POINTS-A-PLENTY
The Cougars' posted 48 points against San Diego State, marking the most points the Cougars have scored since racking up 42 against Eastern Washington. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 31.2 points-per-game average.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME -- BYU FANS TRAVEL TO SDSU
There was an announced crowd of over 28,000 fans at Saturday's game in San Diego. It is estimated that over 60-70 percent of the crowd were BYU supporters.
COUGARS AND AZTECS
With Saturday's victory over San DIego State, the Cougars improve to 24-7-1 over the Aztecs, dating back to the teams' first meeting in 1947. The Cougars have won 11 of the last 13 meetings, including five of the last six in San Diego. Today's victory marks the first win in San Diego since the Cougars' 44-36 win over the Aztecs in 2003.
FIRST BLOOD
Freshshman Harvey Unga's 8-yard touchdown reception gave BYU an early 7-0 lead with 9:55 left in the first quarter. The play marked the 22nd time in the last 24 games BYU has scored first. BYU is 20-2 in those 22 games.
FIRST-QUARTER TOUCHDOWN DEFENSE
SDSU quarterback Kevin O'Connell's touchdown run with 4:55 left in the first quarter marked the first, first-quarter touchdown the Cougars have allowed since Tulsa scored a touchdown with 4:28 left in the first quarter. The touchdown ended a streak of eight straight games BYU did not allow a first-quarter TD.
RUSHING DEFENSE
The BYU defense held San Diego State to just 68 yards rushing and did not allow a 100-yard rusher for the 12th straight game this season. The Cougars are the only team in the country who have not allowed a ball carrier to rush for 100 yards this season.
COIN TOSS
For the fourth time this season, BYU lost the opening coin toss. (The Aztecs elected to receive.) The Cougars are 4-0 when losing the opening coin toss.
MISSED THE MARK
Mitch Payne missed a PAT with :02 left in the opening quarter, marking only his second missed PAT of the season. He has connected on 41-of-43 attempts this season.
QUARTER-BY-QUARTER
The Cougars' held a 13-7 lead at the end of the first quarter marking the 8th time this season the Cougars have held the lead after the first quarter of play. BYU is now 8-0 on the season when leading after the first quarter. The Cougars also held a 20-13 halftime lead. BYU is 10-1 this season when leading at the half.
HALF DOZEN
Sophomore receiver Austin Collie hauled in a 17-yard pass with 1:11 left in the second quarter to give the Cougars a 20-10 lead. The play marked Collie's team-leading sixth touchdown reception of the season. All totaled, seven different players have had at least one touchdown reception on the season.
INTERCEPTION NOTES
Kayle Buchanan intercepted Kevin O'Connell with 7:51 left in the second quarter, marking the 11th straight game with at least one interception and the 15th for the Cougars this season. The play marked Buchanan's third pick of the season. Buchanan is one of three players on the BYU roster with at least three interceptions on the season.
PAPER OR PLASTIC
Sophomore MWC Defensive-Player-of-the-Year candidate Jan Jorgensen was credited with a sack for a nine-yard loss, giving him a league-leading 11.5 sacks on the season.
VAKAPUNA SCORES
Junior running back Fui Vakapuna, who has been plagued by injuries this season, scored his first touchdown in five games, pounding in a one-yard run with 12:17 left in the fourth quarter to give the Cougars' a 41-21. Vakapuna finished the night with 14 carries for 97 yards, averaging 6.9 yards per carry.