By Joseph Simmons
Senior quarterback Jason Beck led BYU to a 38-0 victory over Utah State in front of a white-out crowd of 58,659 Saturday, Sept. 23, 2006, at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
Beck, who started for the first time at the Division I level, hit 20 out of 28 passes for 305 yards and one touchdown. On the ground, sophomore running back Fui Vakapuna ran for three touchdowns as the running game contributed 159-yards to the Cougar attack.
Not to be overlooked was the stellar performance by the BYU defense, which posted its first shutout since 1999. The Cougar defense held the Aggies to 242 yards of offense, averaging 3.5 yards per play. The defense scored its first points of the season when cornerback Justin Robinson intercepted a pass by USU quarterback Leon Jackson III and returned it 64 yards for a touchdown.
“Our defense did exactly what I wanted them to do,” said head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “When it was halftime and I saw that [Utah State] had zero, I told them I wanted it to remain that way.”
The Cougars took the lead on their first drive, going 89 yards in just under five minutes. Jason Beck looked comfortable, completing 3 of 4 passes, including an impressive 16-yard on-the-run pass to running back Joe Semanoff. Vakapuna took the ball on the Utah State 6-yard line and powered his way into the end-zone.
Later in the first quarter, kicker Jared Mclaughlin converted on his first field goal attempt at home, putting the Cougars up 10-0. Later, at the beginning of the second quarter, Vakapuna went in for his second touchdown of the day, running in from the 11-yard line.
Utah State was unable to enter into BYU territory until backup quarterback Bryan Black hit Aggie wide receiver Kevin Robinson on the Cougar 44-yard line midway through the second quarter. The Aggies looked like they were going to move into scoring position, but Aggie running back Marcus Cross fumbled the hand-off exchange and defensive tackle Russel Tialavea fell on it.
The only let down for the Cougars in the first half came at the end of the first half, when the Aggies” defense put together an impressive goal line stand. The Y offense was unable to punch the ball in from the 2-yard line, despite going for it on fourth down. On fourth down, running back Curtis Brown was stopped after linebacker Derrick Cumbee dove over the offensive line and met Brown in mid-air, preventing him from crossing the goal line.
In the second half, the Aggies were able to reach the BYU 16-yard line but had to settle for a field goal attempt. On the attempt, Tialavea was able to get up and block the kick, stopping the Aggies” only legitimate scoring chance.
The next time Utah State had the ball, Justin Robinson jumped Jackson”s pass, intercepting it and returning it for the touchdown.
“It feels good, but one”s not enough,” Robinson said. “When they were so far in like that, there”s only two routes they can run: something inside, or something out. I just kind of guessed and saw the ball coming and jumped on it.”
BYU”s final touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Beck again led the Cougars on an impressive drive. BYU started on its own 1-yard line but moved the ball 99 yards on just seven plays in under 3 minutes. Beck hooked up with tight end Jonny Harline for an 18-yard touchdown pass, Harline”s first TD of the season.
While the Cougars enjoyed the win, their focus quickly shifted to playing TCU on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006.
“It”s like the two-minute drill from here until Thursday night,” Mendenhall said. “I gave our players 15 seconds to celebrate. They went crazy and then they”ll pick up their itineraries and DVDs on TCU from the locker room.”
