FORT COLLINS -- The frequent canon blasts from the south end zone after each score rocked Hughes Stadium all night Saturday, but the real fireworks were on the field where No. 17 BYU defeated Colorado State 45-42. With the win the Cougars improve to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Mountain West Conference while the Rams fall to 4-5 and 2-3.
The first half was a back-and-forth offensive shootout reminicent of the days when the two conference foes battled it out in the wacky WAC. The first 30 minutes of play saw the Rams take the lead three times only to have the Cougars respond to tie the score.
After CSU went three-and-out to open the game, BYU quarterback Max Hall connected with wide receiver Austin Collie on the Cougars first play of the game for an apparent 66-yard touchdown. However, the play was called back when the officials ruled that Collie had stepped out of bounds before coming back in play to make the catch. Two plays later, Mychal Sisson of CSU recovered a Hall fumble and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown with just 2:02 off the game clock.
BYU evened the score on its next possession as Hall and Collie connected again, but this one counted as the Fred Biletnikoff award candidate made an incredible one-handed grab for a 58-yard touchdown to even the score at 7-7.
The Rams scored again with 3:27 to go in the opening quarter to take a 14-7 lead, but BYU answered in the second quarter on a five-play, 39-yard drive that ended in a 15-yard strike to Collie in the back of the end zone. On the play, Collie went over 100 yards for the game, setting a new BYU record and equaling the MWC mark with 13 career 100-yard receiving games.
Both teams would score touchdowns late in the second quarter to knot the score at 21-21 at the half.
The Cougars out gained CSU in total offense in the first half with 255 yards compared to the Rams’ 176. Hall was nearly perfect completing 13-of-15 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns while adding another 24 yards on the ground. Running back Harvey Unga totaled 63 yards rushing, while Collie led all receivers with 118 yards on six receptions.
The Rams struck first in the second half when quarterback Billy Farris found receiver Rashaun Greer in the end zone for a 28-21 lead with 6:56 to go in the quarter. BYU answered with a 30-yard Mitch Payne field goal to make the score 28-24 as the third quarter came to an end.
As crazy as the first three quarters had been, the final 15 minutes would prove to be even wackier.
BYU took its first lead of the contest with 13:15 to play in the fourth quarter. Facing a third-and-15 at the CSU 23-yard line, Hall stayed in the pocket and took a big hit but found tight end Dennis Pitta over the middle for the touchdown and a 35-31 lead.
CSU answered with a score of its own with 7:20 to take the lead back, 35-31. Four plays later, BYU’s Unga took a handoff from Hall and raced 40 yards up the middle to give the Cougars a 38-35 lead with 5:49 to play.
By now it was apparent to the 20,222 fans in attendance that the game may come down to the team that had the ball last.
After both teams failed to score on their next possesion, Farris connected with Dion Morton for a 55-yard pass to give the Rams a 42-38 lead with just 1:44 to play.
Just as he had the week before against UNLV, Hall led BYU on a come-from-behind drive for the winning score. The drive covered 76 yards in six plays and took just 1:14 on the clock. It was capped by a 17-yard strike to Pitta with just 22 seconds on the clock.
BYU rolled up 551 yards of total offense to CSU’s 401. Davey O’Brien Award candidate Hall completed 28-of-37 passes for 389 yards and five touchdowns. Collie, who was leading the nation in receiving coming into the game, had nine receptions for 156 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
Pitta a Mackey Award candidate, had a career-high 12 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns, while Unga had 24 carries for 143 yards rushing.
The Cougars return to action Saturday, Nov. 8 at LaVell Edwards Stadium, where they take on conference foe San Diego State at noon.
CLICK HERE for postgame notes.
Box Score (Final)
#17 BYU vs Colorado State (Nov 01, 2008 at Fort Collins, Colo.)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
BYU................. 7 14 3 21 - 45 Record: (8-1,4-1)
Colorado State...... 14 7 7 14 - 42 Record: (4-5,2-3)
Scoring Summary:
1st 12:58 CS - SISSON, Mychal 20 yd fumble recovery (SMITH, Jason kick), , BY 0 - CS 7
10:09 BY - COLLIE, Austin 58 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 6-64 2:40, BY 7 - CS 7
03:27 CS - MOSURE, John 9 yd run (SMITH, Jason kick), 12-74 6:34, BY 7 - CS 14
2nd 08:20 BY - COLLIE, Austin 15 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 4-39 1:52, BY 14 - CS 14
03:50 CS - MORTON, Dion 32 yd pass from FARRIS, Billy (SMITH, Jason kick), 3-47 1:14, BY 14 - CS 21
00:38 BY - COLLIE, Austin 10 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 9-73 3:06, BY 21 - CS 21
3rd 06:56 CS - GREER, Rashaun 6 yd pass from FARRIS, Billy (SMITH, Jason kick), 11-67 5:47, BY 21 - CS 28
02:34 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 30 yd field goal, 8-76 4:11, BY 24 - CS 28
4th 13:15 BY - PITTA, Dennis 23 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 8-68 3:16, BY 31 - CS 28
07:20 CS - JOHNSON, Gartre 7 yd run (SMITH, Jason kick), 4-28 1:39, BY 31 - CS 35
05:49 BY - UNGA, Harvey 40 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 4-80 1:31, BY 38 - CS 35
01:44 CS - MORTON, Dion 55 yd pass from FARRIS, Billy (SMITH, Jason kick), 1-55 0:10, BY 38 - CS 42
00:22 BY - PITTA, Dennis 17 yd pass from HALL, Max (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 6-76 1:14, BY 45 - CS 42
BY CS
FIRST DOWNS................... 32 19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 35-162 29-131
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 389 270
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 35-28-1 36-19-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 70-551 65-401
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-20
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2--21 2-17
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 6-143 3-85
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-16
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 2-47.0 4-39.0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-2 2-1
Penalties-Yards............... 6-67 8-90
Possession Time............... 31:36 28:24
Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 11 5 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 5-6 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-19 3-22
RUSHING: BYU-UNGA, Harvey 24-133; VAKAPUNA, Fui 2-17; HALL, Max 6-15;
DILUIGI, JJ 2-2; MAHUIKA, Bryce 1-minus 5. Colorado State-JOHNSON, Gartre
18-102; STUCKER, Grant 2-10; MOSURE, John 2-9; FARRIS, Billy 5-6; BELL, Kyle
2-4.
PASSING: BYU-HALL, Max 28-35-1-389. Colorado State-FARRIS, Billy
18-35-0-251; MORTON, Dion 1-1-0-19.
RECEIVING: BYU-PITTA, Dennis 12-175; COLLIE, Austin 9-156; REED, Michael
2-16; WHITE, Reed 1-14; UNGA, Harvey 1-14; VAKAPUNA, Fui 1-7; GEORGE, Andrew
1-7; KARIYA, Bryan 1-0. Colorado State-MORTON, Dion 6-129; GREER, Rashaun 5-64;
SPERRY, Kory 3-37; JOHNSON, Gartre 2-21; PEITZ, Eric 2-16; PAUGA, Zac 1-3.
INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-None. Colorado State-THOMAS, Gerard 1-16.
FUMBLES: BYU-DILUIGI, JJ 1-1; HALL, Max 1-1; HAFOKA, Spencer 1-0.
Colorado State-FARRIS, Billy 2-1.
SACKS (UA-A): BYU-JORGENSEN, Jan 2-0. Colorado State-HORINEK, Jeff 1-0;
SMITH, Elija-Bl 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-FOWLER, Kellen 6-2; BAUMAN, Matt 3-3; NIXON, David
4-1; BRADLEY, Brando 4-0; HOWARD, Brandon 2-2; DOMAN, Shawn 2-2; RICH, Andrew
2-2; JORGENSEN, Jan 2-1; JOHNSON, Scott 2-1; CLAWSON, Coleby 1-2; TIALAVEA,
Russe 1-1; PUTNAM, Matt 1-1; AH YOU, Matt 1-1; DENNEY, Brett 1-0; SORENSEN,
Justi 1-0; KARIYA, Bryan 1-0; TAYLOR, ISAAC 0-1. Colorado State-HORINEK, Jeff
5-5; GALUSHA, Jake 7-2; SMITH, Elija-Bl 6-3; OPPENNEER, Nick 6-1; SISSON, Mychal
3-4; THOMAS, Gerard 3-4; BREWER,Ricky 2-2; MOREHEAD, James 1-2; RUPP, Matt 1-2;
MILLER, Guy 0-3; ZICK, Scott 2-0; POTTORFF, Jake 1-1; GOOD, Derek 1-1; MOSURE,
John 1-1; CLARK, John 0-2; OWENS, Brandon 1-0; MACON, Cory 1-0; MYERS, Michael
1-0; LANDERS, Wade 1-0; HERD, Ivory 1-0; HILL, Tommie 0-1.