Young Guns Shine for Cougars

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PROVO, Utah – BYU freshman running back Joshua Quezada ran for three touchdowns and the Cougars churned out 516 yards of total offense as BYU (4-5, 3-2 Mountain West Conference) defeated UNLV (1-8, 1-4 MWC) 55-7 Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Quezada, a true freshman, started the scoring for the Cougars in the first quarter with a 13-yard touchdown run and followed that run with second- and third-quarter scores of 13 and four yards. He finished with a career-high 65 rushing yards on 13 touches, averaging five yards per carry.

“I think we played probably our most complete game today from an offensive perspective,” said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “We had more balance than what we have had, in terms of running the ball and throwing it. Overall it was a solid team performance on both sides.”

Surpassing the mark he set at Utah State, true freshman quarterback Jake Heaps tallied a career-high 294 passing yards with two touchdowns and a 61-percent completion percentage.

Adding to the offensive onslaught was redshirt freshman receiver Cody Hoffman. With 9:27 left in the first half, Heaps connected with Hoffman for a 37-yard touchdown pass to put the Cougars up 28-0. Hoffman finished the day with two catches for 57 yards.

Led by senior linebacker Shane Hunter, the Cougar defense allowed only 22 rushing yards and 11 first downs. The Rebels were able to convert on only 3-of-14 third down situations.

On the first play from scrimmage, senior cornerback Brian Logan intercepted UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton to set the defensive tone, but the Cougars were unable to convert the turnover into points.

Quezada posted the first running touchdown of his career from 13 yards out with 7:53 left in the first quarter, putting the Cougars up 7-0 after junior Mitch Payne converted the PAT attempt. Quezada’s score capped a nine-play, 49-yard drive.

“I feel grateful for the opportunity I had today,” Quezada said. “I had a lot and the holes were beautiful. I didn’t realize how many touchdowns I scored until afterwards.”

The Cougars extended the lead to 14-0 after Heaps led an 11-play, 86-yard scoring drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by junior running back Bryan Kariya. Kariya finished the day with 46 yards rushing. Heaps threw for 31 yards on 3-of-5 passing as BYU completed the longest scoring drive of the season.

The ground game continued to roll for BYU as the second quarter started. After forcing the Rebels to punt for the third-consecutive possession, the Cougars advanced 44 yards on eight plays to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by junior running back JJ Di Luigi, his sixth rushing touchdown of the season, putting the Cougars up 21-0.

Di Luigi finished the day with 124 yards of total offense, including 19 carries for 80 yards and 44 receiving yards on four catches.

The Cougars would score once more before halftime when Quezada scampered in from 13 yards out for his second touchdown to give BYU a 35-0 advantage.

The Cougar defense finished a first half in which they held the Rebels to only five first downs and 73 yards of total offense by forcing another turnover. Senior defensive end Vic So’oto tipped an Omar Clayton pass that was caught by junior linebacker Jameson Frazier. Mitch Payne then put BYU up 38-0 after converting on a 48-yard field goal attempt, the second-longest field goal of his career.

The Cougars didn’t miss a beat in the second half as senior receiver Luke Ashworth recorded his second touchdown in as many games by catching a 42-yard pass from Heaps to extend the lead to 45-0 after Payne’s PAT conversion.

Ashworth recorded a season high in receiving yards with 83 on five catches.

Quezada’s third touchdown came with 1:26 left in the third quarter from four yards out after BYU drove 68 yards on 10 plays. The Cougars later took a 55-0 lead after Payne added a 25-yard field goal with 8:00 left in the fourth quarter.

UNLV got on the board late in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass to make the score 55-7.

The Cougars travel to Fort Collins next week to face conference opponent Colorado State at 12 p.m. MT.

Scoring Summary (Final)

UNLV (1-8,1-4) vs. BYU (4-5,3-2)

Date: Nov 06, 2010 Site: Provo, Utah Stadium: LaVell Edwards

Attendance: 61283

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

----------------- -- -- -- -- -----

UNLV................ 0 0 0 7 - 7 Record: (1-8,1-4)

BYU................. 14 24 14 3 - 55 Record: (4-5,3-2)

Scoring Summary:

1st 07:53 BY - QUEZADA, Joshua 13 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 9-49 4:20, LV 0 - BY 7

02:31 BY - KARIYA, Bryan 2 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 11-86 4:19, LV 0 - BY 14

2nd 12:40 BY - DI LUIGI, JJ 1 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 8-44 2:43, LV 0 - BY 21

09:27 BY - HOFFMAN, Cody 37 yd pass from HEAPS, Jake (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 2-58 0:26, LV 0 - BY 28

03:01 BY - QUEZADA, Joshua 13 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 8-76 3:43, LV 0 - BY 35

00:00 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 48 yd field goal, 5-0 0:36, LV 0 - BY 38

3rd 09:51 BY - ASHWORTH, Luke 42 yd pass from HEAPS, Jake (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 3-47 1:00, LV 0 - BY 45

01:26 BY - QUEZADA, Joshua 4 yd run (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 10-68 4:18, LV 0 - BY 52

4th 08:00 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 25 yd field goal, 12-44 6:49, LV 0 - BY 55

00:41 LV - SULLIVAN, M. 24 yd pass from HERRING, Caleb (KOHORST, Nolan kick), 11-70 2:35, LV 7 - BY 55

FIRST DOWNS................... 11 29

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-22 51-216

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 122 300

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 29-11-2 32-20-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 57-144 83-516

Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 4-42

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-167 2-50

Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-7

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 10-35.7 3-36.3

Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-0

Penalties-Yards............... 6-70 4-30

Possession Time............... 23:56 36:04

Third-Down Conversions........ 3 of 14 11 of 17

Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 0 of 1

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 0-0 6-6

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 5-31

RUSHING: UNLV-CORNETT, Tim 13-47; CLAYTON, Omar 3-2; PURVIS, Deante`

1-minus 1; TROTTER, C. 2-minus 3; JOHNSON, M. 1-minus 6; HERRING, Caleb 8-minus

17. BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 19-80; QUEZADA, Joshua 13-65; KARIYA, Bryan 11-46; FOOTE,

David 2-15; FOLSOM, Ryan 5-11; TEAM 1-minus 1.

PASSING: UNLV-HERRING, Caleb 8-21-1-109; CLAYTON, Omar 3-8-1-13.

BYU-HEAPS, Jake 19-31-0-294; LARK, James 1-1-0-6.

RECEIVING: UNLV-CORNETT, Tim 3-26; JOHNSON, M. 2-19; SULLIVAN, M. 1-24;

DAVIS, Kurt 1-20; PAYNE, Phillip 1-16; MAYS, Trey 1-16; VIDAL, Anthony 1-6;

TROTTER, C. 1-minus 5. BYU-ASHWORTH, Luke 5-83; JACOBSON, McKay 4-70; DI LUIGI,

JJ 4-44; HOFFMAN, Cody 2-57; KARIYA, Bryan 1-14; HAFOKA, Spencer 1-11; MATHEWS,

Marcus 1-9; MAHINA, Devin 1-6; PETERSON, BJ 1-6.

INTERCEPTIONS: UNLV-None. BYU-FRAZIER, Jameso 1-7; LOGAN, Brian 1-0.

FUMBLES: UNLV-None. BYU-DI LUIGI, JJ 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): UNLV-None. BYU-PUTNAM, Matt 1-0; ROWLEY, Graham 1-0; HESS,

Connell 1-0; JORGENSEN, Aust 1-0; EASON, Corby 1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): UNLV-DE GIACOMO, A. 6-3; FUIMAONO, Starr 3-6; TUILOMA,Eric 4-4; RANDLEMAN, C. 7-0; THERRELL, John 2-3; CHANDLER, Will 4-0; BELL, B.J. 4-0; BROOKS, Preston 3-1; PAULO, Ronnie 3-1; GRANT, Mike 3-1; MAKA, Tani 0-4; KLORMAN, Alex 2-1; DUNLAP, James 1-2; AAITUI, Isaako 1-2; CARTER, Nate 1-1; MAREKO, Daniel 1-1; BOBAK, Ian 0-2; CLAUSEN, Mike 1-0; MAYS, Trey 1-0; HASSON, Tim 1-0; COLEMAN, Cedric 1-0; KNUTSON, Tate 1-0; GASTON, Tyler 0-1; HOLLOWAY, Nate 0-1. BYU-HUNTER, Shane 2-3; PUTNAM, Matt 3-1; RICH, Andrew 2-2; JORGENSEN, Aust 3-0; STOUT, Zac 2-1; UALE, Travis 2-1; FRAZIER, Jameso 1-2; RICHARDSON, Jor 2-0; WAGNER, Jadon 2-0; BUCKNER, Robbie 2-0; VAN VALKENBURG, 2-0; OGLETREE, Brand 1-1; FALSLEV, JD 1-1; ROWLEY, Graham 1-1; EASON, Corby 1-0; BRADLEY, Brando 1-0; LEUNG-WAI, Aven 1-0; HESS, Connell 1-0; LOGAN, Brian 1-0; STEPHENSON, Ril 1-0; STEELE, Tom 1-0; MANUMALEUNA, Ea 0-1; MENDENHALL, Zek 0-1; SO'OTO, Vic 0-1; BRYSON, Thomas 0-1; VAN NOY, Kyle 0-1.