BYU Leads Throughout But Falls Short

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SALT LAKE CITY -- BYU led for most of the game but Utah came back late in the fourth quarter and blocked a last-second field goal attempt to defeat the Cougars 17-16 on Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

After Utah took its only lead of the game with just over four minutes remaining, BYU freshman quarterback Jake Heaps engineered a long drive downfield, including a 22-yard pass to freshman tight end Devin Mahina on a third-and-nine.

The Cougars advanced as far as the Utah 22-yard line before wearing down the clock to four seconds remaining. Utah, however, blocked senior kicker Mitch Payne’s 42-yard attempt to secure the Ute victory.

Payne previously hit field goals of 43, 37 and 42 yards and added an extra point, scoring 10 of the Cougars’ 16 points.

Heaps finished 22-of-37 passing for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception for BYU (6-6, 5-3 MWC). The true freshman’s main target was senior wide receiver McKay Jacobson, who caught his first touchdown of the year and finished with seven receptions for a season- and game-high 92 yards.

BYU held its fourth-straight opponent scoreless in the first half as the Cougars scored two field goals for the 6-0 lead. Payne converted from 43 yards with 4:34 to go in the first quarter and again from 37 yards with just two seconds remaining before the half. The Cougar defense allowed Utah (9-2, 7-1) only 11 rushing yards on 12 carries in the half as Utah got nearly half of its first-half total of 124 yards on one 60-yard pass play.

The Cougars added the game’s first touchdown with 4:41 on the third-quarter clock when Heaps found Jacobson in the back right corner of the end zone. The 21-yard connection was Jacobson’s first of the season as he successfully kept his feet inbounds on the third-and-13 play. Payne’s point-after conversion gave BYU a 13-0 lead.

The BYU defense forced two turnovers over the first three quarters with linebackers Jameson Frazier and Shane Hunter both intercepting reserve quarterback Terrance Cain during his two third-quarter possessions. Hunter’s 46-yard return to the Utah 19 set up Jacobson’s touchdown grab three plays later.

The Cougar defense held Utah scoreless through three quarters and gave up just 89 yards rushing and 207 total yards for the game while forcing three turnovers. Senior safety Andrew Rich led the team with 10 tackles while Kyle Van Noy, Jameson Frazier and Shane Hunter had seven tackles apiece.

A BYU turnover helped Utah finally put points on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter. After the Cougars’ mishandled handoff exchange was recovered by Utah at the BYU 37-yard line, starting quarterback Jordan Wynn, who had returned to the game, found wide receiver DeVonte Christopher for the one-play strike. Cougar cornerback Brian Logan tipped the ball but Christopher was in the right place to catch it as he fell in the end zone.

The Cougars responded with a 15 play, 56-yard drive to increase their lead to 16-10 with 7:38 to go in the game. A key play on the drive showed off Heaps’ strong arm as he found Jacobson for a 28-yard gain on a third-and-six play to put the Cougars in scoring position. Three plays later, Payne hit another field goal from 42 yards, giving BYU a 16-10 lead with under eight minutes left in the game.

BYU forced a punt on the ensuing Utah drive, but a badly kicked punt grazed a Cougar player and was recovered by the Utes at the BYU 46. The Cougars again had a chance to put their offense on the field after senior defensive back Brandon Bradley intercepted a pass, but Bradley was stripped of the ball on his return. After the fumble call was upheld by the replay official, Utah scored three plays later on a 3-yard rush by Asiata, giving Utah its only and final lead of the game at 17-16.

BYU will now await a bowl invitation, its sixth straight, following the BCS selection show on Dec. 5.

Scoring Summary (Final)

BYU (6-6,5-3) vs. Utah (9-2,7-1)

Date: Nov 27, 2010 Site: Salt Lake City, UTAH Stadium: Rice-Eccles

Attendance: 45272

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score

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

BYU................. 3 3 7 3 - 16

Utah................ 0 0 0 17 - 17

Scoring Summary:

1st 04:34 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 43 yd field goal, 10-45 3:48, BY 3 - UU 0

2nd 00:02 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 37 yd field goal, 7-21 2:21, BY 6 - UU 0

3rd 04:51 BY - JACOBSON, McKay 21 yd pass from HEAPS, Jake (PAYNE, Mitch kick), 3-19 0:51, BY 13 - UU 0

4th 14:56 UU - PHILLIPS, Joe 40 yd field goal, 12-39 4:48, BY 13 - UU 3

13:46 UU - CHRISTOPHER, De 37 yd pass from WYNN, Jordan (PHILLIPS, Joe kick), 1-37 0:08, BY 13 - UU 10

07:38 BY - PAYNE, Mitch 42 yd field goal, 15-56 6:02, BY 16 - UU 10

04:24 UU - ASIATA, Matt 3 yd run (PHILLIPS, Joe kick), 3-38 1:21, BY 16 - UU 17

BYU UU

FIRST DOWNS................... 19 14

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 37-65 28-89

PASSING YDS (NET)............. 228 207

Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 37-22-1 37-15-3

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 74-293 65-296

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

Punt Returns-Yards............ 1-7 2-2

Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 4-47 5-77

Interception Returns-Yards.... 3-80 1-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............ 4-41.0 6-35.5

Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-3 1-0

Penalties-Yards............... 2-20 3-40

Possession Time............... 32:32 27:28

Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 15 4 of 15

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

Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 1-1

Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 2-27

RUSHING: BYU-KARIYA, Bryan 14-36; QUEZADA, Joshua 12-30; DI LUIGI, JJ

7-14; HEAPS, Jake 4-minus 15. Utah-WIDE, Eddie 18-73; ASIATA, Matt 8-23; WYNN,

Jordan 2-minus 7.

PASSING: BYU-HEAPS, Jake 22-37-1-228. Utah-WYNN, Jordan 13-30-1-199;

CAIN, Terrance 2-7-2-8.

RECEIVING: BYU-JACOBSON, McKay 7-92; KARIYA, Bryan 4-29; HOFFMAN, Cody

3-22; MAHINA, Devin 2-32; MENDENHALL, Zed 2-12; ASHWORTH, Luke 2-12; HOLT,

Austin 1-17; DI LUIGI, JJ 1-12. Utah-BROOKS, Jereme 3-72; SMITHSON, Shaky 3-35;

ROGERS, Dallin 2-38; MATTHEWS, Luke 2-10; WIDE, Eddie 2-5; CHRISTOPHER, De 1-37;

ASIATA, Matt 1-6; ASIATA, Shawn 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS: BYU-HUNTER, Shane 1-46; FRAZIER, Jameso 1-25; BRADLEY,

Brando 1-9. Utah-BLECHEN, Brian 1-0.

FUMBLES: BYU-BRADLEY, Brando 1-1; HEAPS, Jake 1-1; TEAM 1-1. Utah-ROGERS,

Dallin 1-0.

SACKS (UA-A): BYU-PUTNAM, Matt 1-0. Utah-WALKER, Chaz 1-0; BLECHEN, Brian

1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): BYU-RICH, Andrew 4-6; VAN NOY, Kyle 5-2; FRAZIER, Jameso

3-4; HUNTER, Shane 3-4; WAGNER, Jadon 2-3; OGLETREE, Brand 0-5; BRADLEY, Brando

3-1; LOGAN, Brian 2-2; UALE, Travis 1-3; MENDENHALL, Zek 0-4; MANUMALEUNA, Ea

0-3; PUTNAM, Matt 1-1; SO'OTO, Vic 0-2; BRYSON, Thomas 0-2; HOFFMAN, Cody 1-0;

HORNUNG, Reed 0-1; HESS, Connell 0-1; MARSHALL, Matt 0-1; FOOTE, David 0-1;

ANSAH, Ezekiel 0-1; JORGENSEN, Aust 0-1. Utah-MARTINEZ, Matt 7-10; WALKER, Chaz

5-9; TAPLIN-ROSS, Ju 6-2; BLECHEN, Brian 3-4; SILIGA, Sealver 1-6; CHAPMAN,

Lamar 3-1; MANIS, Chad 0-4; BURTON, Brandon 2-1; KRUGER, Dave 0-3; COX,

Christian 1-1; VAKAPUNA, Tauni 1-1; HONEYCUTT, Mike 0-2; BURTON, Beau 0-2;

SHELBY, Derrick 0-2; LOTULELEI, Star 0-2; ANDERSEN, Boo 0-2; MOEAI, Kendrick

1-0; CAIN, Terrance 1-0; CULLEN, John 1-0; A'ASA, Neli 1-0; SPIKES, Victor 0-1;

BIRD, Greg 0-1; TUI'ONE, Junior 0-1; BLACK, Conroy 0-1.