First half is the Cougars' demise as they fall to Syracuse

After getting off to a 42-7 first half lead, the Syracuse Orangemen went on to defeat BYU, 42-14, Saturday night at the Carrier Dome in New York.

In what has been typical of the BYU football team this season, the Cougars allowed Syracuse to score on six of eight offensive possessions in the first half, but didn't allow a single point in the second half.

"Our tackling was almost abysmal in the first half," said coach LaVell Edwards. "We played better in the second half, but by then it was too late. They played exceptionally well."

One of the key plays in the game came on Syracuse's first possession of the game. After the Cougars stopped Syracuse on third down, creating a fourth down field goal situation, the Orangemen faked the field goal attempt and threw for a first down, which led to a three-yard touchdown.

"The fake field goal was a great play by Troy Nunes, he made an accurate throw," said Syracuse head coach Paul Pasqualoni. "I think that was the biggest play of the game, good things happened after that."

BYU lost more than the game Saturday night. They also lost quarterback Bret Engemann. Engemann was injured in the first half and will undergo surgery on Monday or Tuesday for a separated shoulder.

The 42 points allowed by BYU in the first half equals a school record. The last time a BYU opponent scored 42 points in the first half was Washington in 1986. BYU trailed 42-7 at half and eventually lost, 52-21. BYU has not lost by 28 points or more since they lost to UCLA in 1993, 68-14. The negative eight yards in the first half is the second time that BYU has rushed for negative yards in the first half. They had negative 13 yards against Florida State.

The Cougars extended their record of games without a shutout to 318 when Jonathan Pittman caught a 28-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Pittman also caught a 27-yard touchdown pass in the second half, and his last four of five catches have been for touchdowns, dating back to the Mississippi State game.

Margin Hooks had 68 yards receiving on the night to move him past Chris Smith and into sixth place on the all-time receiving yards for BYU. He needs six more yards to pass Mark Bellini and 711 yards to pass Eric Drage for the number one on the career list.

BYU will take on Utah State on Friday night in Cougar Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

BYU        Syracuse
FIRST DOWNS                             19         16
  Rushing                                1          9
  Passing                               15          7 
  Penalty                                3          0
Rushing Attempts                        21         50
Yards Gained Rushing                    57        279
Yards Lost Rushing                      36         55
NET YARDS RUSHING                       21        224
NET YARDS PASSING                      272        228
  Passes Attempted                      44         12
  Passes Completed                      24         10
  Had Intercepted                        0          0
TOTAL OFFENSIVE PLAYS                   65         62
TOTAL NET YARDS                        293        452
  Average Gain Per Play                4.5        7.3
Fumbles: Number-Lost                   2-1        0-0
Penalties: Number-Yards               8-42       8-61
Number of Punts-Yards                8-359      7-295
  Average Per Punt                    44.9       42.1
Punt Returns: Number-Yards             2-9       6-57
Kick Returns: Number-Yards           6-129       2-51
Interceptions                          0-0        0-0
Possession Time                      29:03      30:57
Third Down Conv.                      3-14       5-14
Fourth Down Conv.                      1-3        1-1
Sacks By: Number-Yards                2-16       4-29    
                               Box Score (Final)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Brigham Young.......  0  7  7  0  - 14       Record: (2-4,1-1)
  Syracuse............ 21 21  0  0  - 42       Record: (2-2)
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 07:53 SYR - NUNES, Troy 1 yd run (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  10 plays, 43 yards, TOP 5:09, BYU 0 - SYRACUSE 7
      06:19 SYR - MUNGRO, James 61 yd run (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  1 play, 61 yards, TOP 0:13, BYU 0 - SYRACUSE 14
      03:16 SYR - JACKSON, M. 18 yd run (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  1 play, 18 yards, TOP 0:09, BYU 0 - SYRACUSE 21
  2nd 12:12 SYR - WOODCOCK, Pat 79 yd pass from NUNES, Troy (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  5 plays, 93 yards, TOP 2:40, BYU 0 - SYRACUSE 28
      09:01 BYU - PITTMAN, Jonath 28 yd pass from PETERSON, Charl (POCHMAN, Owen kick), 
                  7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:11, BYU 7 - SYRACUSE 28
      03:40 SYR - WOODCOCK, Pat 65 yd pass from NUNES, Troy (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  3 plays, 73 yards, TOP 1:27, BYU 7 - SYRACUSE 35
      00:31 SYR - MUNGRO, James 20 yd run (SHAFER, Mike kick), 
                  6 plays, 58 yards, TOP 1:22, BYU 7 - SYRACUSE 42
  3rd 04:30 BYU - PITTMAN, Jonath 27 yd pass from PETERSON, Charl (POCHMAN, Owen kick), 
                  6 plays, 59 yards, TOP 2:25, BYU 14 - SYRACUSE 42
                                      BYU      SYR
  FIRST DOWNS...................       19       16
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    21-21   50-224
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      272      228
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  44-24-0  12-10-0
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   65-293   62-452
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      1-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............      2-9     6-57
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    6-129     2-51
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      0-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   8-44.9   7-42.1
  Fumbles-Lost..................      2-1      0-0
  Penalties-Yards...............     8-42     8-61
  Possession Time...............    29:03    30:57
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-16     4-29
  RUSHING: Brigham Young-MCDONALD, Brian 3-22; DOMAN, Brandon 1-7; SITAKE,
  Kalani 2-7; WHALEN, Marcus 3-4; STALEY, Luke 6-1; ENGEMANN, Bret 1-minus 9;
  PETERSON, Charl 5-minus 11. Syracuse-MUNGRO, James 11-119; BROWN, Dee 13-64;
  FERRI, Diamond 6-21; JACKSON, M. 1-18; NUNES, Troy 11-6; SCOTT, George 2-4;
  DAVIS, Chris 3-1; ANDERSON, R.J. 3-minus 9.
  PASSING: Brigham Young-PETERSON, Charl 18-29-0-206; DOMAN, Brandon 6-9-0-66;
  ENGEMANN, Bret 0-6-0-0. Syracuse-NUNES, Troy 10-11-0-228; ANDERSON, R.J.
  0-1-0-0.
  RECEIVING: Brigham Young-HOOKS, Margin 8-68; PITTMAN, Jonath 3-64; STALEY,
  Luke 3-37; JOLLEY, Doug 2-43; HORTON, Ben 2-21; OFAHENGAUE, Tev 2-5;
  SNOWDEN, Will 1-13; SITAKE, Kalani 1-12; REID, Gabriel 1-11; NIELSON, Mike
  1-minus 2. Syracuse-WOODCOCK, Pat 2-144; MUNGRO, James 2-15; MANLEY, Graham
  1-23; FRAZIER, J. 1-18; CAMPBELL, Malik 1-12; BROWN, Dee 1-7; RIDDLE, Jamel
  1-6; DAVIS, Chris 1-3.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-None. Syracuse-None.
  Stadium: Carrier Dome          Attendance: 43090
  Kickoff time: 8 p.m.    End of Game: 11:16     Total elapsed time: 3:16
  Officials: Referee: Ken Rivera; Umpire: Rich Hall; Linesman: Marc Ratner;
  Line judge: Jeff Hansen; Back judge: Craig Battaglia; Field judge: Scott Novak;
  Side judge: Greg Wilson;
  Temperature:           Wind:           Weather: Indoors
  SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-DENNEY, Ryan 1-0; KEISEL, Brett 1-0.
  Syracuse-FREENEY, Dwight 2-1; HUNTER, Will 1-0; FORD, Willie 0-1.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-LEE, Jared 7-2; KELLEY, Isaac 6-2; DENNEY,
  Ryan 7-0; EDWARDS, Elan 5-2; ENA, Justin 3-2; WALKENHORST, Pa 3-2; HOKE,
  Chris 2-2; OLSEN, Hans 2-1; WRIGHT, Bill 2-0; CARLSON, Brent 2-0; FALES,
  Andrew 2-0; BOCKWOLDT, Colb 1-1; MAUGA, Ammon 1-1; GALI, Setema 1-0; SITAKE,
  T.J. 1-0; GUNDERSON, Ryan 1-0; SMITH, Tyson 1-0; WILSON, Derrus 1-0; KEISEL,
  Brett 1-0; PHILLIPS, Danny 1-0; OFAHENGAUE, Tev 1-0; LAFITTE, Michae 1-0;
  KUKAHIKO, Jason 1-0; RAMAGE, Corey 0-1; STEARNS, Ned 0-1; NIELSON, Mike 0-1.
  Syracuse-GREENWOOD, M. 8-3; FORD, Willie 5-3; SMITH, Clifton 4-1; WALKER,
  Keeon 4-1; FREENEY, Dwight 3-2; JOHNSON, JR 2-3; HARRIS, Quentin 3-1;
  PETTIJOHN, Duke 3-1; HUNTER, Will 1-1; OLIVER, Latroy 1-1; BAKER, Barry 0-2;
  DOWNING, Eric 0-2; MINTER, Maurice 0-2; ALLEN, Will 1-0; FERRARA, C. 1-0;
  BURTON, Charles 1-0; GACHELIN, Louis 0-1; TYREE, David 0-1; SNELL, Clifford
  0-1.