Game Notes: Going for Three Straight Against the Pac-10

PAC-10, WE MEET AGAIN

BYU looks to extend its winning streak against the PAC-10 to three games when it travels to Pasadena to take on No. 13 UCLA. In their last two games, the Cougars have defeated Oregon, 38-8, in the 2006 Las Vegas Bowl and Arizona, 20-7, to open the 2007 season. A lopsided series, BYU will be aiming for just their second win against the Bruins since the two teams first played at the Rose Bowl in 1983. Saturday's game will mark the first time the two teams have met in 12 years.

THE BYU-UCLA SERIES

The two teams first met in 1983 at the Rose Bowl with the Cougars coming away with a 37-35 victory. That was the last and only time BYU beat the Bruins. Saturday's contest will mark the eighth meeting between the two teams. UCLA owns a 6-1 record in the series, including six consecutive wins dating back to 1985. The Bruins? have beaten the Cougars by an average margin of 15.5 points in their six wins. Saturday's game will mark the first time the two teams have played in Pasadena since the 1997 season, when UCLA walloped BYU 68-14. UCLA holds a 2-1 record over BYU in Pasadena, while the Cougars have gone 0-3 against the Bruins in games played in Provo. In 1986, UCLA posted a 31-10 win over BYU in the Freedom Bowl at Anaheim.

ON THE TUBE

Saturday's game will be broadcast live to a national television audience on VERSUS. Ted Robinson will call the action, Kelly Stouffer will lend analysis and Lewis Johnson will report from the sidelines. Robinson is the lead announcer of NBC's coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon. He is currently the radio play-by-play announcer for Stanford football and several men?s basketball games. Robinson also worked as a radio and TV announcer for the San Francisco Giants for nine seasons, as the TV play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins for six seasons, and as a TV and radio announcer for the New York Mets for four seasons. Stouffer is an NFL alumnus who spent his four-year professional career with the Seattle Seahawks. He is currently the color analyst for Minnesota Vikings pre-season games and for ESPN college football games. Additionally, Stouffer went 1-2 against BYU during his tenure as QB for the Colorado State Rams, suffering a 52-9 loss and a 42-7 defeat at the hands of the Cougars. Johnson, a former all-American middle-distance runner at the University of Cincinnati, is currently a reporter for NBC sports and for Notre Dame football home games. In 2001 and 2002 he served as a reporter for the NBA Finals on NBC and for the network?s Arena Football telecasts from 2003 through 2006.

BYU vs. THE PAC-10

Over the years, BYU has played at least two games against each member of the Pac-10. The Cougars have posted an overall record of 29-55-1 against Pac-10 competition. For the fifth time since 1999, BYU will play at least two teams from the Pac-10 during the season. Of the 10 members of the Pac-10, BYU owns a winning record against California (2-1), Washington State (2-1) and has a 3-3 record against Oregon. Of all the teams in the Pac-10, the Cougars have more wins (9) against Arizona than any other team.

2007 BROADCAST PLANS

For the second straight season, the Cougars have game times and television programming plans completed for each of their 12 games well before the start of the season. Each of BYU?s first three games will be televised nationally, including a season-opening rematch Sept. 1 against Arizona (VERSUS), a Sept. 8 trip to UCLA (VERSUS) and a Sept. 15 trip to Tulsa (CSTV). The Cougars will play a total of six nationally televised games with the annual rivalry game against Utah being simulcast on CSTV, VERSUS and The mtn.

SERIES INFORMATION

Saturday's game will mark the eight meeting between BYU and UCLA, dating back to the 1983 season. UCLA owns a 6-1 advantge over BYU, including a 23-9 win in the last match up in 1995. The following are brief highlights of each BYU/UCLA game:

Oct. 1, 1983 -- BYU 37, UCLA 35 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Steve Young threw 25-36 for 270 yards and two touchdowns.

Sep. 7, 1985 -- UCLA 27, BYU 24 at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah

BYU failed to hold on to a 3-point halftime lead, allowing 11 fourth quarter points.

Dec. 30, 1986 -- UCLA 31, BYU 10 at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, Calif.

The Bruins won their second straight game over the Cougars in the two teams' first Freedom Bowl appearances.

Sep. 7, 1991 -- BYU 23, UCLA 27 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

UCLA TB Kevin Williams rushed for 132 yards on 13 carries, including the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Sep. 19, 1992 -- UCLA 17, BYU 10 at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah

Daron Washington, another Bruin TB, scored two rushing touchdowns in this narrow UCLA win.

Oct. 9, 1993 -- BYU 14, UCLA 68 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

Bruins Derek Ayers (174 yards) and James Milliner (113 yards) rushed for a combined 287 yards, while the UCLA defense had 11 sacks on the day.

Sep. 9, 1995 -- UCLA 23, BYU 9 at Cougar Stadium in Provo, Utah

BYU QB Steve Sarkisian's 305 passing yards were not enough to overcome a 17-point UCLA third-quarter outburt that put the game away.

BYU vs. UCLA INFORMATION:

Date: Saturday, Sep. 8, 2007

Game Time: 3:30 p.m. (PST)

Location: Pasadena, Calif.

Stadium: Rose Bowl (91,500)

Visiting Team: BYU

Head Coach: Bronco Mendenhall

Career Record: 18-8 (.692)

2007 Record: 1-0 (1.000)

Home Team: UCLA

Head Coach; Karl Dorrell

Record at UCLA: 29-21 (.580)

2007 Record: 1-0

Overall Series: UCLA leads, 6-1

Television: VERSUS (National)

Radio: KSL, 102.7 FM, 1160 AM

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN

The Cougars' season-opener against Arizona featured two 7-play scoring drives. In 2006, BYU had at least one 7-play scoring drive in seven of its games, including three 7-play scoring drives in its Las Vegas Bowl win over Oregon.

FAMILIAR FACE

Saturday's game will be the first against BYU for UCLA QB Ben Olson. Olson transferred to UCLA from BYU in 2005 after returning from a mission to Canada for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Olson and BYU linebacker Bryan Kehl were room mates during their freshman seasons in Provo.

LLO, OLD FRIEND

UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker was a secondary coach at BYU

during the 1994 season

DEBUT OF THE TONGAN TRIO

Saturday's game at UCLA will mark the debut of the Tongan Trio, featuring

running backs Manase Tonga, Fui Vakapuna and Harvey Unga. While Tonga did not play against Arizona, serving a one-game suspension for violation of team rules, Vakapuna and Unga combined for 230 of the Cougars' 392 total yards in the 20-7 victory over Arizona. The Tongan Trio boasts an all-around game, providing speed, quickness, athleticism, agility and power to the high-powered BYU offense.

WHERE THEY RANK NATIONALLY

Several BYU players rank nationally in various statistical categories:

>Max Hall

Passing Efficiency: 34th (145.62)

Total Offense: 16 (292 yards per game)

Harvey UngaReceptions: T-9th (9 receptions per game)

Receiving Yards: T-11th (127 yards per game)

All-purpose yards: T-20th (194)

Bryan Kehl

Tackles: T-18th (12 tackles per game)

BYU

Rushing Defense: 15th (32 yards per game)

Scoring Defense: 20th (7 points per game)

Total Defense: 32nd (255 yards per game)

Passing Offense: 23rd (288 yards per game)

ON THE ROAD vs. RANKED OPPONENTS

The Cougars will travel to No. 13 UCLA on Saturday, marking the first road game against a ranked opponent since BYU knocked off No. 15 TCU in Fort Worth last season, 31-17. The victory over the Horned Frogs gave BYU its first win over a ranked opponent on the road since beating Arizona State, 13-10, on September 20, 1997. Prior to the Cougars? victory over TCU, BYU was 0-12 in games against ranked opponents, dating back to the 1999 season.

UNGA NAMED MWC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Running back Harvey Unga has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Cougars to a 20-7 season-opening victory over Arizona.

Unga, a freshman from Provo, Utah, racked up a game-high 194 all-purpose yards, including a game-best 67 yards rushing and 127 yards receiving. Unga was also credited with two touchdowns, including a 27-yard pass and run with 6:02 left in the first quarter that gave the Cougars a 7-0 lead, and an 11-yard run in the fourth quarter that extended BYU?s lead to 20-0.

Prior to Arizona's final drive of the game, Unga had totaled more offensive yards than the entire Arizona offense combined. For the game, Unga averaged 4.5 yards per carry and averaged over 14 yards per reception.

Unga's offensive total against the Wildcats marked the top performance by a freshman running back in the country.

GET A HALL PASS

BYU quarterback Max Hall made his Division-I debut against Arizona, marking his first action in over four years. The native of Mesa, Ariz., led the Cougars to a decisive 20-7 victory over the Wildcats. Hall completed 26-of-39 attempts for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Hall did not have any interceptions and was only sacked one time. Among members of BYU's Quarterback Factory, Hall's completion percentage in his first career start ranks second behind only Ty Detmer who completed 68.6 percent of his attempts in his first career start. Hall completed 26 passes in his first career start, marking the most completions of any of the members of BYU?s Quarterback Factory.

OFF TO A QUICK START

For the first time since the 2004 season when BYU edged Notre Dame, 20-17, at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the Cougars won its season opener last week, 20-7, against Arizona. The Cougars lost at home to Boston College to start the 2005 campaign before dropping a 16-13 decision to Arizona on a last-second field goal to start the 2006 season. BYU won four straight season-openers from 2001-2004. Overall, the Cougars have won five of their last six home-openers.

POOR HOSTS

The Cougars will have their work cut out for them when they enter the Rose Bowl on Saturday. Over the last five years, UCLA posts the 20th best home record in the nation. With a mark of 20-5, the Bruins have won a stingy 80 percent of their games in Pasadena since the start of the 2003 season.

BYU BY THE RECORDS

vs. Pac-10 (current members): 29-55-1 (.341)

vs. Pac-10 (Bronco Mendenhall): 2-2

vs. UCLA: 1-6

All-time Record: 435-367-26 (.541)

All-time Home Record: 258-126-6 (.669)

All-time Road Record: 197-222-19 (.470)

All-time Neutral Record: 20-19-1 (.512)

All-time MWC Record: 38-20-0 (.655)

All-time MWC Home Record: 18-11 (.620)

All-time MWC Road Record: 20-9 (.689)

Bowl Record: 8-16-1

Bowl Record (vs. Pac-10 opponents): 2-2

LAST GAME RECAP

The BYU defense held Arizona scoreless through 59 minutes in a 20-7 victory over the Wildcats to extend the nation's second longest active win streak to 11 straight games. Sophomore QB Max Hall went 26-39 for 288 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Cougars also saw a big performance from red-shirt freshman running back Harvey Unga. He led BYU in rushing (68 yards on 15 carries) and receiving with 127 yards on nine receptions. Unga also had two touchdowns, one through the air and one on the ground.

SEASON-OPENERS

Since 1922, the Cougars have posted a 46-35-2 record in season-opening games.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME TO START THE SEASON

Dating back to the Cougars first season in 1922, BYU has posted a record of 29-11-1 when opening the season in Provo -- that's a winning percentage of 72 percent! In overall home-openers, the Cougars are 52-29-1 (64 percent) since 1922. Interestingly, BYU?s longest home-opening win streak is 10 seasons, dating from 1930 through 1939. Since 1998, the Cougars have posted a record of 8-2 (.777) in home-opening games.

HAVE BAGS; WILL TRAVEL

Interestingly, Hall of Fame Coach LaVell Edwards opened the season in Provo only nine times during his 29-year career. From 1978 to 1995, BYU opened the season on the road in 16 of 18 seasons. He was 5-4 in season-openers at Cougar Stadium.

COUGARS ON NATIONAL TELEVISION

Each of BYU's first three games will be broadcast nationally. The Cougars will have at least six nationally televised games (bowl game pending). The season opener against Arizona was the first of two consecutive weeks that BYU will appear on VERSUS. The Cougars will play on CSTV at Tulsa Sep. 15. BYU will play three MWC opponents in front of a national audience: at New Mexico (Sep. 29, CSTV), TCU (Nov. 8, VERSUS) and Utah (Nov. 24, simulcast on CSTV and The mtn.)

EDWARDS STADIUM

LaVell Edwards Stadium, with its 64,045-seat capacity, is home to BYU football. Originally Cougar Stadium, it was built in 1964 and seated 45,000. It was expanded in 1982 to seat 65,000 in permanent seats.

Record: 185-61 (.752)

Stadium Record (since 1982 expansion): 116-39 (.748)

Stadium Record (since renaming in 2000): 25-13 (.657)

Last Six Home Games: 7-0 (1.000) - 2006-2007

Last 12 Home Games: 10-2 (.833) - 2005-2007

Last 18 Home Games: 13-5 (.722) - 2004-2007

Last 24 Home Games: 14-10 (.583) - 2003-2007

TALE OF THE TAPE

BYU?s starting five offensive linemen weigh in at an average 318.4 pounds and average 6-feet-5. The front five will be going up against a UCLA defensive front that measures an average 6-feet-3, 272.5 pounds. Defensively, the Cougars' front three average 6-feet-2, 270 pounds, while the UCLA offensive line tips the scales at an average 6-feet-4, 284 pounds per man.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

Sophomore quarterback Max Hall made his collegiate debut last week against Arizona. Hall threw 26-39 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Last Saturday's season-opener marked Hall's first game in over four seasons. Hall is the first BYU quarterback to start the season without any previous experience since Steve Sarkisian started in 1995. While Hall has some big shoes to fill, there is one trend he will look to change. Since Steve Sarkisian started his first game in 1995, no first-year starting quarterback has led the Cougars to a bowl game in his first season.

TEAM CAPTAINS

Seniors Bryan Kehl, Kelly Poppinga, Matt Allen and Sete Aulai have been selected by their teammates to serve as captains for the 2007 football season. Kehl and Poppinga are top linebackers for the Cougars, while Allen is a veteran wide receiver and Aulai is the team?s starting center.

Collectively, the group has racked up 91 games of experience, including Kehl who has played in 35 career games and Allen who has played in 31. Aulai started and played in 12 games during the 2006 season, while Poppinga saw action in all 13 games for the Cougars last season.

Aulai is a 2006 Mountain West Conference second-team performer and has been tapped as an honors candidate for the 2007 season. Aulai allowed just one sack as a junior and did not allow a single sack against MWC opponents last season. Allen is an Academic All-Mountain West Conference performer who graduated with a degree in exercise science earlier this month. Allen racked up 420 yards receiving, averaging 32 yards per game. Kehl is also an Academic All-Mountain West Conference performer. He ranked third on the BYU roster last season with 70 tackles, including eight tackles for a combined loss of 33 yards. Poppinga, also an Academic All-Mountain West Conference performer and recent BYU graduate, totaled 36 tackles during his junior season, posting two sacks and two interceptions.

ACTIVE WINNING STREAKS

Heading into the 2007 season, BYU owns the second longest winning streak among Division-IA teams. The Cougars have won 11 consecutive games, three behind Boise State?s 14 consecutive victories. BYU's current 11-game winning streak is its longest since the 2001 season.

UNDEFEATED AT HOME

BYU finished the season with a perfect 6-0 record at home. The last time BYU had a perfect record at home was 2001 when the Cougars went 6-0 at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Since the stadium was built in 1964, BYU has gone undefeated at home 13 times:

2007: 1-0

2006: 6-0

2001: 6-0

1998: 6-0

1996: 7-0

1991: 6-0

1990: 6-0

1988: 6-0

1984: 6-0

1983: 5-0

1980: 6-0

1979: 5-0

1977: 5-0

1967: 5-0

SELLOUT

The Cougars saw a capacity crowd (64,045) for the season-opener against Arizona. The game marked the first home-opening sellout since the 2004 season when the Cougars opened in Provo against Notre Dame. Prior to the 2007 season-opener, BYU had had 10 opening-day sell-outs, dating back to 1982 -- the first year of the expanded stadium. Last week's game also marked the first opening-day sell out during the Bronco Mendenhall era. It was also the first sell out since November 19, 2005 when the Cougars played host to Utah. Since 1985, the Cougars are 8-3 (.727) when playing in Provo for the home-opener in front of a sold-out stadium.

ON THE AIR

The exclusive 50,000-watt, clear-channel radio home of BYU Football and flagship of the Cougar Sports Network is KSL Newsradio--1160 AM and 102.7 FM in Salt Lake City. The "Voice of the Cougars" is Greg Wrubell, now in his 7th season as play-by-play commentator. A BYU alum, Wrubell is in his 16th year on the broadcast crew, having served as the sideline/lockerroom reporter before stepping into the booth.

Wrubell's on-air partner and game analyst is former Cougar quarterback Marc Lyons, a 26-year veteran of BYU Football broadcasts. Recently-graduated Cougar receiver and punt returner Nate Meikle makes his debut reporting from the sidelines and lockerroom, while Jeff Austin enters his second season as studio host. The following is a rundown of KSL's weekly programming and broadcast details:

Mondays:

8:45am-"Coach?s Corner" with Greg Wrubell and Bronco Mendenhall

10:00am-Bronco Mendenhall Press Conference (live on ksl.com "X-Stream" channel)

Wednesdays:

7:00pm-"Bronco Mendenhall Show" with Greg Wrubell and Marc Lyons

Thursdays:

8:15am-"Cougar Matchup" (game preview with Greg Wrubell)

8:45am-"Coach?s Corner" with Greg Wrubell and Bronco Mendenhall

4:15pm-"Cougar Matchup"

Fridays:

8:15am-"Cougar Matchup"

4:15pm-"Cougar Matchup"

Gamedays:

2 hours before kickoff: "Cougar Countdown Show"

1 hour before kickoff: "Cougar Pregame Scoreboard Show"

35 minutes before kickoff: "Cougar Pregame Coach?s Show"

25 minutes before kickoff: "Cougar Kickoff Show"

Halftime: "Cougar Halftime Scoreboard Show"

Postgame: "Cougar Postgame Scoreboard Show," "Cougar Lockerroom Show," "Cougar Postgame Coach's Show," "Cougar Call-In Show," "Cougar Replay."

All BYU Football programming is streamed live on ksl.com and available for download and podcast. All game broadcasts are archived online. KSL's gameday broadcast is also streamed online at byuradio.org, and can be heard on Dish Network Channel 980.

Stations on the Cougar Sports Network include:

KMXU 105.1 FM, KMGR 95.9 FM

Manti, UT

KUNF 1210 AM

St. George, UT

KDOX 1280 AM

Las Vegas, NV

KTHK 105.5 FM, KBLI 690 AM, KBLY 1260 AM

Pocatello, Blackfoot, Idaho Falls, ID

KART 1400 AM

Jerome, ID

COACH'S SHOWS ON KSL (Radio and Television)

RADIO - The weekly "Bronco Mendenhall Show" on KSL Newsradio has a new home this season. The Utah County Ken Garff Dealers will be hosting the show Wednesday nights from 7-8 p.m., with Coach Mendenhall joining Greg Wrubell and Marc Lyons, while listeners are encouraged to attend the live broadcast. Cougar fans can also participate via call-ins and e-mail. This week's show will be broadcast from Ken Garff Porsche/Audi/Volkswagen, located at 195 East University Parkway in Orem.

TELEVISION - The weekly "BYU Football with Coach Bronco Mendenhall" show can be seen every Sunday night during the season. The halfhour show will have highlights of the latest game, insights from head coach Bronco

Mendenhall on that game, a look ahead to the next BYU Football game,

features on Cougar players and Bronco responds to viewers email questions. The show will be broadcast each Sunday at 11 p.m. (MT) on KSL-TV.

WIN STREAK CONTINUES

Last Saturday?s victory marked the Cougars' seventh consecutive home victory and the team's 11th straight win overall. BYU has the nation's second longest winning streak behind Boise State's current run of 14 games.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE

BYU is just three home wins away from collecting its 10th straight home victory - a feat the Cougars accomplished from 2000 -02.

FIRST WIN

Saturday's 20-7 victory over Arizona marks the first season-opening victory for BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. Mendenhall is now 1-2 in season-opening games.

DON'T LOOK BACK

In the Bronco Mendenhall era, BYU is 17-3 when leading at halftime and 16-1 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter.

FIRST BLOOD

Dating back to the 2006 season against Tulsa, the Cougars have scored first in 13 straight games. The last time an opponent scored first against BYU was September 2, 2006 when Arizona took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter in Tucson.

PITCHING A SHUTOUT

The BYU defense held Arizona scoreless through three quarters. In fact, Arizona did not score until there was less than one minute left in the game. The Cougars held their opponents to a total of 23 scoreless quarters in 2006, including three first half shutouts. Over the past two games, the Cougars have held two different Pac-10 opponents scoreless in six of eight quarters.

FIRST HALF DOMINANCE

Dating back to the 2006 season-opener, the Cougars have led at halftime in 14 consecutive games.

UN-BELIEVABLE UNGA

After scoring his second touchdown of the day last week, BYU freshman running back Harvey Unga had racked up combined total of 194 yards. As a team, Arizona had only 177 yards of total offense to that point. The Wildcats finished the game with 255 total yards after scoring a touchdown on its final drive of the game.

vs.THE PAC-10

In its last two games, the Cougars have kept each of their PAC-10 opponents under 10 points on its way to outscoring the two by a total of 58-15.

SINCE 1922 ...

Since the first official year of football at BYU (1922) the Cougars have posted a 46-35-2 record in season-opening games. Interestingly, BYU has posted a record of 29-11-1 when opening the season in Provo; that?s a winning percentage of 72 percent.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

The Cougars currently have the 8th longest streak in the nation of consecutive games without returning a kickoff for a touchdown. BYU has been unable to accomplish the feat in 106 straight games.

A LITTLE YELLOW

A total of 12 penalties were called in today's game. The first penalty was called at the 9:00 mark in the second quarter. The first penalty called against BYU occurred with 5:02 remaining in the first half. By contrast, last year's season-opener in Tucson featured 18 penalties including an offensive pass interference that nullified a potential game-winning touchdown for the Cougars.