BYU Thumps Oregon State

BYU Thumps Oregon State

By John Kelly
Football Reporters Online Senior Writer
Midwest/Northeast Correspondent

Whatever happens in Vegas tends to stay in Vegas for BYU. However, their dominance in the Nevada desert is no longer a secret.

Senior quarterback Max Hall went out in style during his final visit to the Sin City throwing for 192 yards and three tds in No.14 BYU’s 44-20 rout of No.15 Oregon State Tuesday night.
"I love my years at BYU," Hall said. "We wanted to end it well."
It marked the first time the Las Vegas Bowl had hosted a matchup.
It was the Cougar’s third bowl win in 5 tries in the city of Lights. They ended a 5 game bowl-winning streak by the Beavers.
Cold whipping winds and a near miss of the Rose Bowl seemed to cloud the focus of Oregon State. Offensive Guard Gregg Peat didn’t see it that way.

"Emotionally we were ready for this game. We came in here and expected to win. It didn't work out that way," Beavers guard Gregg Peat said. "That's a credit to BYU. They came ready to play. There are no excuses for the loss."
Sean Canfield led off the scoring with a one-yard td run. Late in the first quarter BYU started to change the direction of the game.

Harvey Unga tied the game after he pounded it in from a yard out.
On the ensuing possession on a lateral Jaquizz Rodgers fumbled the ball and Matt Bauman returned it 34 yards for the score.
The fumble was Rodger’s first fumble of his college career and his first in 621 touches. Rodgers finished the game with 19 rushes for 70 yards and TD.

After a Mitch Payne 28 yard field goal made it 17-7 for the Cougars Max Hall went to work. Hall hit Luke Ashworth on a 25-yard touchdown strike to give BYU a 24-7 halftime lead. Hall had 139 yards passing at the break.

Hall started off the second half with a bang connecting on two more touchdown passes. He hit Dennis Pitta for a 17 yard score and Manase Tonga from 15 yards out.

Jaquizz Rodgers would punch it in from one yard out to cut the deficit to 37-13 but the Beavers were too far behind.
Harvey Tonga responded right back rumbling 18 yards to extend BYU’s lead to 44-13.
The 44 points were the most allowed in Oregon State history.

With Wyoming and BYU in the clubhouse with two wins for the Mountain West they are two games away from being the first non-BCS conference to claim the bowl title in Division 1A.

If that does not earn you a BCS bid I don’t know what does.