COMPETING AS A RANKED TEAM
With tonight’s win the Cougars are 153-45 when nationally ranked in the Top 25. A ranked BYU team has won 22 of its last 26 games dating back to 2006.
DOUBLE-DIGIT QUARTERS
Tonight’s game marked the first time since 2006 and only the second time in 27 years a BYU team has scored double digits in all four quarters of a game. The last time was a 55-7 win against Wyoming in 2006 with the prior occasion being a 58-8 triumph over San Diego State on Nov. 13, 1982.
LONGEST RUN IN THREE YEARS
Harvey Unga’s 52-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter marked the longest BYU run since 2006. As a freshman that year Mike Hague ran for an 87-yard touchdown against UNLV on Oct. 21, 2006 as the Cougars went on to win 52-7.
UNGA ON THE RUN
After Harvey Unga’s 33-yard touchdown with 1:09 to play in the first quarter, the junior has now recorded a rushing score in each of the past four games. He also crossed the 100-yard rushing mark for the third consecutive week after his 52-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The last time Unga recorded three 100-yard rushing games in a row was during the end of his freshman season in 2007 when he passed the century mark against Wyoming, Utah and San Diego State.
His three rushing touchdown in the first half tie a career-high for Unga, a mark he also reached in BYU’s 43-27 win at San Diego State in 2007 and against CSU earlier this season.
UNDEFEATED ON THE ROAD
With the win at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, BYU improved its 2009 away record to 3-0 for the first time since 2001. That year the Cougars posted wins at California, UNLV and New Mexico.
WIN STREAK AT UNLV CONTINUES
With tonight’s win the Cougars maintain their undefeated record over UNLV in Las Vegas, 8-0.
COUGAR PICKS
Sophomore linebacker Jordan Pendleton recorded his first interception of the 2009 season with 4:45 remaining in the first quarter, picking off an intended throwaway pass from UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton. The Cougars capitalized on the turnover, scoring two plays later on a 33-yard touchdown run by Harvey Unga.
Senior defensive back Scott Johnson intercepted the first pass of his career with 7:22 remaining in the second quarter. He followed that with another pick with just over seven minutes to play in the third quarter. The last time BYU had a defender intercept two passes in a game was back in 2002 when Brandon Heaney did so against Georgia Tech.
The Cougar defense has now snagged seven interceptions through their first six games.
THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS
The Cougars lead the nation in third-down conversion percentage coming into tonight’s game, converting a total of 36-of-60 attempts. Tonight BYU continued that success, moving the chains on 8-of-11 third-down attempts.
OH SO CLOSE
Sophomore O’Neill Chambers’ 97-yard kickoff return marks the longest for a BYU player in recent memory. Since Mike Rigell’s 96-yard return for a touchdown in 1998, BYU has been unable to return a kickoff for a score for 137 consecutive games.
WHO’S NO. 75?
Sophomore tight end Braden Hansen switched jersey numbers from No. 89 to No. 75 in the fourth quarter tonight as he saw his first action as a member of the BYU offensive line. He has been cross training as both a tight end and offensive tackle.
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 running back Manase Tonga, with former BYU wide receiver Adam Haysbert carrying the alumni flag. Haysbert played for the Cougars from 1980-84.
COIN TOSS
UNLV won the coin toss tonight and elected to receive. BYU won the first four coin tosses of the season before losing last week against Utah State. The Cougars are now 2-0 when losing the toss.
CONSECUTIVE CATCHES
All-American tight end Dennis Pitta caught his first pass of the game with 13:49 remaining in the second quarter for a 25-yard gain bringing up first-and-goal. The senior has caught a pass in 36 consecutive games dating back to Oct. 23, 2004 (at Air Force), prior to his mission.
HE WHO SCORES FIRST...
BYU was the first to score tonight on a 29-yard field goal by Mitch Payne with 5:20 remaining in the first quarter. BYU has been the first to score in three games this season, the other being Tulane and Colorado State. The Cougars are 3-0 in those three games.
CONSECUTIVE STARTS
Tonight marked senior defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen’s 45th 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 23.5. His first career start came against Arizona on Sept. 2, 2006.
CAREER FIRSTS
Scott Johnson picked off two interceptions in tonight’s game, the first of his career.
True freshman JoJo Pili made the most of his first play in a Cougar uniform, recording a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Cougars a 38-14 advantage in the third quarter.
5-1 START TO THE SEASON
Tonight’s win improved the Cougars’ season record to 5-1. Before its 6-0 record to open the 2008 season, the last time BYU had a 5-1 start or better was in 2001, when the program posted 12 consecutive wins.
DON’T LOOK BACK
In the Bronco Mendenhall era, BYU is 37-4 when leading at halftime and 35-1 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.
Mendenhall’s teams have won 25 straight games when leading by at least 14 points at the halftime break, 72 overall as a team. The last time BYU lost a game after leading by at least 14 points at the half was on Oct. 10, 1987 when is lost, 29-27, in its homecoming game against Wyoming.
HALL CREEPS UP ON DETMER’S WIN RECORD
With the Cougars’ 59-21 win over UNLV, senior quarterback Max Hall now has 26 career wins as the starting play-caller for BYU. As far as where that puts him on BYU’s all-time list, Hall trails only Ty Detmer, who racked up 30 wins during his career from 1988-91.