Cougars Drop Third Straight League Game

FORT COLLINS -- Looking for its first Mountain West Conference win of the season, BYU came up short on Thursday, falling to league co-leader Colorado State, 37-10.

While the Rams recorded over 490 yards of total offense, the inexperienced Cougars were held to just 213 total offensive yards. In only his second career start, quarterback Matt Berry connected on 17-of-26 passes for 148 yards, and rushed for the Cougars' only touchdown of the game. Berry was 7-of-7 at the half and connected on 13-of-15 through the third quarter. Marcus Whalen, the Cougars' leading rusher, carried the ball 18 times for 77 yards, including a 39-yard run that helped set up the touchdown in the second quarter.

CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt threw for just 97 yards, but rushed for 69 yards and one touchdown, breaking a Colorado State record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a season at. CSU running back Cecil Sapp had his way with the Cougars, rushing for 164 yards on 25 carries, including a 63-yard run that took him over the 1,000 yard mark for the season. The 63-yard run that took Sapp over the top ended in a fumble recovered by BYU, stripped by Aaron Francisco and recovered by Bill Wright.

Colorado State started the scoring less than four minutes into the first quarter with a 31-yard field goal from Jeff Babcock. Two plays later, the Rams recovered a fumble at the deep in BYU territory and had another chance to put some numbers up on the board. Sapp rushed twice for seven yards each, running in the touchdown with 9:04 left in the first quarter. Babcock made the point-after to give the Rams a 10-0 lead.

The Rams didn't stop there. A bad snap for the Cougars caused another turnover, and the Rams took a 10-play drive ending in a 3-yard run by Van Pelt to give the Rams a 17-0 lead.

Berry earned the Cougars' only touchdown of the game early in the second quarter on a one-yard quarterback sneak, his first-career rushing touchdown. The score capped a ten-play drive highlighted by Whalen's 39-yard run. Matt Payne made the point-after, taking the score to 17-7 in favor of the Rams. Late in the second quarter, Matt Payne brought the Cougars within 10 on a 25-yard field goal. Colorado State answered with a 21-yard touchdown run by Rahsaan Sanders with just :47 remaining, giving the Rams a 24-10 lead at the half.

The Rams had control of the second half, holding the Cougars scoreless while racking up 20 unanswered points. Babcock kicked a 27-yard field goal to take the score up to 27 in the third quarter, and Sapp recorded his second touchdown run in the middle of the fourth quarter on a 7-yard run. Babcock made the final score for CSU -- a 40-yard field goal to give the Rams the 37-10 victory.

BYU is now 0-3 in conference play and 3-5 overall. The Cougars' next game is scheduled for Nov. 2 against San Diego State in Provo. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. (MT).

POST-GAME NOTES

SCORING STREAK CONTINUES

With Matt Berry 1-yard touchdown run in the first quarter (at Colorado State), the Cougars extended their NCAA record streak to 346 games without being shutout. The Cougars were last shutout during the 1975 season (Sept. 27, 1975 vs. Arizona State.)

BERRY FIRST CAREER TD

Matt Berry's one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter marked his first career rushing touchdown. His touchdown marked the Cougars' 14th rushing TD of the season. Entering the eighth game of the season last year, BYU had scored 25 rushing touchdowns.

INCOMPLETION

Matt Berry did not throw an incompletion until the 9:34 mark of the third quarter. He was 7-of-7 for 82 yards before throwing his first incompletion.

SCORING NOTES

The Cougars' second-quarter touchdown marked their second TD in the past nine quarters ... The Cougars' 84-yard scoring drive marked the longest scoring drive since scoring on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Bret Engemann to Rodney Wilkerson with 14:54 remaining in the second quarter at Nevada, capping a 5 play, 92-yard drive ... BYU's 10 points in the second quarter marked the first time since scoring 14 points in the final quarter against Utah State ... The Cougars' 10 first-half points mark the most points scored in an entire game since posting 35 points at Utah State and the most points scored in the first half of play since recording 10 points at Georgia Tech.

WINLESS IN LEAGUE PLAY

For the first time since the 1973 season -- LaVell Edward's second season as head coach -- the Cougars are off to an 0-3 start in league play. That season BYU ended with a 5-6 overall record -- the Cougars only losing season in the past 28 years.

PRIME REAL ESTATE

With a punt and back-to-back turnovers to start the game, the Cougars failed to cross midfield during first 13:12 of the first quarter. Marcus Whalen racked up 39-yard run, giving BYU a 1-and-10 at the CSU 36-yard line, marking its first possession in CSU territory. In the first half, BYU's average starting field position was its own 23 yard line. The Rams' average starting field position was its own 48.

FIRST-QUARTER SHUTOUT

Thursday's game at Colorado State marked the fifth time this season BYU has failed to score in the first quarter. On the season, the Cougars have been outscored 64-10 in first-quarter action.

STILL BOWL HOPING

With four regular-season games remaining, the Cougars must win three of their final four in order to qualify for a post-season bowl bid.

Box Score (Final)
  Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
  -----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
  Brigham Young.......  0 10  0  0  - 10       Record: (3-5,0-3)
  Colorado State...... 17  7  3 10  - 37       Record: (7-2,3-0)
  Scoring Summary:
  1st 11:10 CS - BABCOCK, Jeff 31 yd field goal, 6-53 2:12, BY 0 - CS 3
      09:05 CS - SAPP, Cecil 7 yd run (BABCOCK, Jeff kick),
                 3-19 1:08, BY 0 - CS 10
      02:44 CS - VAN PELT,Brad 3 yd run (BABCOCK, Jeff kick),
                 10-32 4:39, BY 0 - CS 17
  2nd 13:10 BY - BERRY, Matt 1 yd run (PAYNE, Matt kick),
                 9-84 4:34, BY 7 - CS 17
      03:44 BY - PAYNE, Matt 25 yd field goal, 12-78 4:59, BY 10 - CS 17
      00:46 CS - SANDERS,Rahsaan 21 yd run (BABCOCK, Jeff kick),
                 4-56 0:53, BY 10 - CS 24
  3rd 04:48 CS - BABCOCK, Jeff 27 yd field goal, 12-53 4:33, BY 10 - CS 27
  4th 07:16 CS - SAPP, Cecil 7 yd run (BABCOCK, Jeff kick),
                 6-34 2:49, BY 10 - CS 34
      03:19 CS - BABCOCK, Jeff 40 yd field goal, 5-26 2:25, BY 10 - CS 37
                                       BY       CS
  FIRST DOWNS...................       11       24
  RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    29-65   56-342
  PASSING YDS (NET).............      148      151
  Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  26-17-1  23-11-0
  TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   55-213   79-493
  Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
  Punt Returns-Yards............     1-20     3-14
  Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    8-170      0-0
  Interception Returns-Yards....      0-0      1-0
  Punts (Number-Avg)............   5-48.0   3-37.7
  Fumbles-Lost..................      3-3      1-1
  Penalties-Yards...............     2-12     2-10
  Possession Time...............    25:59    34:01
  Sacks By: Number-Yards........      0-0     4-30
  RUSHING: Brigham Young-WHALEN, Marcus 18-77; MAHE, Reno 1-5; BROWN, Curtis
  2-minus 2; BERRY, Matt 8-minus 15. Colorado State-SAPP, Cecil 25-164;
  SANDERS,Rahsaan 10-77; VAN PELT,Brad 11-69; LINGHAM, Chris 4-21;
  JAUNARAJS,Uldis 4-15; Team 1-minus 1; CHILDS, Henri 1-minus 3.
  PASSING: Brigham Young-BERRY, Matt 17-26-1-148. Colorado State-VAN PELT,Brad
  8-17-0-97; HOLLAND,Justin 3-5-0-54; BABCOCK, Jeff 0-1-0-0.
  RECEIVING: Brigham Young-WHALEN, Marcus 3-21; MAHE, Reno 3-9; ORD, Andrew
  2-29; REID, Gabriel 2-25; CHRISTENSEN, To 2-15; NEAD, Spencer 1-24;
  WILKERSON, Rodn 1-12; KUKAHIKO, Jason 1-9; WILSON, Kyle 1-8; BROWN, Curtis
  1-minus 4. Colorado State-PITTMAN, Chris 3-45; DREESSEN,Joel 2-31; CUPPARI,
  Joey 2-25; SPRAGUE,Russell 1-27; ANDERSON,David 1-14; CHILDS, Henri 1-9;
  HILL, Eric 1-0.
  INTERCEPTIONS: Brigham Young-None. Colorado State-STRATTON, Ben 1-0.
  FUMBLES: Brigham Young-BERRY, Matt 2-2; WHALEN, Marcus 1-1. Colorado
  State-SAPP, Cecil 1-1.
  SACKS (UA-A): Brigham Young-None. Colorado State-WYNN, Dexter 1-0; HOGAN,
  Peter 1-0; WADE, Adam 1-0; WOOD, Drew 1-0.
  TACKLES (UA-A): Brigham Young-WALKENHORST, Pa 3-11; FRANCISCO, Aaro 5-7;
  BARNEY, Chad 6-2; TANNER, Mike 3-5; BOCKWOLDT, Colb 2-4; PILI, IFO 2-4;
  GUNDERSON, Ryan 0-6; BURBIDGE, Jon 1-4; DENNEY, John 0-5; COWART, Jeff 2-2;
  HEANEY, Brandon 1-2; MADERIETA, Levi 1-2; FARRIS, Alex 1-2; MARQUARDT, Dani
  1-1; WRIGHT, Bill 1-1; NUA, Shaun 1-1; POPPINGA, Brady 0-2; ATKINSON, Bryan
  0-2; YOUNG, Scott 0-2; AIONO, Aisaac 1-0; KEHL, Bryan 0-1; NIELSEN, Kip 0-1;
  KOLBABA, Nathan 0-1. Colorado State-WADE, Adam 8-7; VICKERS, David 3-6;
  THOMAS, Wallace 3-4; STRATTON, Ben 4-2; PAULY, Eric 1-5; WOOD, Drew 3-2;
  MASTROPAOLO,Ben 2-2; HOGAN, Peter 2-1; WYNN, Dexter 2-0; HAYWARD, Adam 1-1;
  GOODPASTER,Pat 1-1; WILLIAMS,Lenzie 0-2; NELSON, Rhett 1-0; BABCOCK, Jeff
  1-0; SAVE, Bryan 1-0; FLORA, Jeff 0-1; ANDERSON,David 0-1; SIMON,Jonathon
  0-1; FOLEY, David 0-1; TUFTE, Steve 0-1.
  Stadium: Hughes Stadium        Attendance: 29457
  Kickoff time: 8:04 pm   End of Game: 11:01 pm  Total elapsed time: 2:57
  Officials: Referee: Ken Rivera; Umpire: Al Cory; Linesman: Mike McCabe;
  Line judge: Randy Campbell; Back judge: Craig Battaglia;
  Field judge: Scott Novak; Side judge: Greg Wilson; Scorer: John Kietzmann;
  Temperature: 31        Wind: 2 se      Weather: COLD AND OVERCAST