COMPETING AS A RANKED TEAM
With tonight’s loss the Cougars are 150-45 when nationally ranked in the Top 25. A ranked BYU team has won 19 of its last 23 games dating back to 2006.
RARE 26-POINT LOSS
BYU’s 54-28 loss is it’s worst since Oct. 22, 2005 when it dropped a 49-23 contest at Notre Dame. Saturday marks the Cougars’ biggest loss at home in LaVell Edwards Stadium since USC handed them a 42-10 defeat on Sept. 18, 2004.
FLAG BEARER
BYU has a tradition of selecting a player before each game to run the team flag onto the field, as well as a former Cougar to carry out the alumni flag. Each member of the team has signed the team flag, while former BYU players have signed the alumni flag. Their signatures reflect their commitment to uphold the tradition, spirit and honor of the BYU football program and to be a flag bearer of the University.
As part of the 25-year anniversary celebration of BYU’s national championship, each alumni chosen to carry out the flag this year will be a member of the 1984 team. Carrying the team flag today was senior defensive back Scott Johnson, with former BYU kicker Lee Johnson carrying the alumni flag. Johnson played for the Cougars from 1980-84, breaking the school record, hitting his final 39 PATs of the 1984 season.
COIN TOSS
Today BYU won the coin toss and elected to defer—for the third consecutive week. BYU is now 2-1 when winning the toss.
CONSECUTIVE CATCHES
All-American tight end Dennis Pitta caught his first pass of the game with just over seven minutes remaining in the second quarter for an 11-yard gain. The senior has caught a pass in 33 consecutive games dating back to Oct. 23, 2004 (at Air Force), prior to his mission.
HE WHO SCORES FIRST...
FSU was the first to score today on a 4-yard run by Dustin Hopkins with 10:05 remaining in the first quarter. BYU opponents have been the first to score in two games this season, the other being Oklahoma in the season opener. The Cougars are 1-1 in those two games.
CONSECUTIVE STARTS
Today’s game against Florida State marked senior defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen’s 42nd straight career start. During that streak, Jorgensen has started every game of his collegiate career and set a new MWC all-time career sack record at 22.5. His first career start came against Arizona on Sept. 2, 2006.
CAREER FIRSTS
Saturday marked the first career start for freshman defensive back Craig Bills. Bills started in place of senior Scott Johnson who suffered his second concussion in three weeks during the Tulane game.
SEMINOLES SNAP EDWARDS’ STADIUM STREAK
Tonight’s 54-28 loss to Florida State snaps an 18-game BYU win streak at home in LaVell Edwards Stadium—a program record spanning 2006-08. The Cougars have not lost in Edwards Stadium since a 41-34 overtime thriller to Utah on November 19, 2005. Dating back to September 9, 2006 the Cougars beat their opponents by an average of 27.8 points per game and allowed just 11.3 points per game.
“FAN”TASTIC FANS
The 64,209 fans in attendance for the Cougars’ 54-28 loss to FSU marked the 13th consecutive sell-out at Edwards Stadium. The current streak marks the longest streak of consecutive sellouts since the 1990-92 seasons. Over 380,000 (384,613) fans attended the Cougars’ six home games at Edwards Stadium in 2008, averaging 64,102 fans per game. The last time the stadium was not sold out was against New Mexico on Nov. 18, 2006 when 63,814 fans were in attendance—231 short of a sellout.
SEASON OPENERS
Since 1922, the Cougars have posted a 48-36-2 record in season-opening games. BYU won its past three season openers since dropping a 20-3 loss to Boston College on Sept. 3, 2005.
UNGA RETURNS
Junior running back Harvey Unga ran in for a 12-yard touchdown with 9:30 remaining in the first half, his first touchdown of the 2009 season. After suffering a hamstring injury during fall camp, Unga did not play in BYU’s win over Oklahoma and saw limited action against Tulane. This is his first rushing touchdown since the 2008 Las Vegas Bowl against Arizona.
TONGA SCORES SIX
Senior running back Manase Tonga recorded a 3-yard touchdown reception with 5:11 remaining in the second quarter, marking his first receiving touchdown since BYU’s 38-8 win over Oregon in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl.
DEEP TO JACOBSON
Quarterback Max Hall found sophomore wide receiver McKay Jacobson for an 80-yard touchdown pass with five minutes remaining in the third quarter, marking career longs for both players. The scoring drive took one play and only 12 seconds off the clock, bringing the FSU lead to 44-21.
20-YARD PASSES
Six Cougars caught passes of 20-plus yards tonight, including Dennis Pitta, O'Neill Chambers, McKay Jacobson, Luke Ashworth, Bryan Kariya and JJ Di Luigi. The passes to Kariya, Chambers, Jacobson and Ashworth came from senior Max Hall, while the other two came from sophomore Riley Nelson.