2009 BYU Cougars football team

2009 BYU Cougars football
Maaco Bowl Las Vegas champion
Maaco Bowl Las Vegas, W 44–20 vs. Oregon State
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 12
Record	11–2 (7–1 MW)
Head coach	Bronco Mendenhall (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Robert Anae (5th season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Jaime Hill (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Captain	Matt Bauman Max Hall Scott Johnson Jan Jorgensen Dennis Pitta
Home stadium	LaVell Edwards Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 2008 2010 →

2009 Mountain West Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 6 TCU $		8	–	0					12	–	1
No. 12 BYU		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 18 Utah		6	–	2					10	–	3
Air Force		5	–	3					8	–	5
Wyoming		4	–	4					7	–	6
UNLV		3	–	5					5	–	7
San Diego State		2	–	6					4	–	8
New Mexico		1	–	7					1	–	11
Colorado State		0	–	8					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria Rankings from AP Poll

The 2009 BYU Cougars football team represented Brigham Young University in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cougars were led by head coach Bronco Mendenhall and played their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Cougars finished the season with a record of 11–2, 7–1 in Mountain West play and won the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas 44–20 over Oregon State.

Schedule

^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	6:00 pm	vs. No. 3 Oklahoma*	No. 20	Cowboys Stadium Arlington, TX (Cowboys Classic)	ESPN	W 14–13	75,437[2]
September 12	2:30 pm	at Tulane*	No. 9	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	ESPN2	W 54–3	26,224[3]
September 19	5:00 pm	Florida State*	No. 7	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	Versus	L 28–54	64,209[4]
September 26	4:00 pm	Colorado State	No. 19	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	mtn.	W 42–23	64,091[5]
October 2	7:00 pm	Utah State*	No. 20	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT (Old Wagon Wheel)	mtn.	W 35–17	64,103[6]
October 10	7:00 pm	at UNLV	No. 18	Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, NV	mtn.	W 59–21	25,597[7]
October 17	3:00 pm	at San Diego State	No. 18	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA	mtn.	W 38–28	30,258[8]
October 24	5:30 pm	No. 10 TCU	No. 16	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	Versus	L 7–38	64,641[9]
November 7	12:00 pm	at Wyoming	No. 25	War Memorial Stadium Laramie, WY	mtn.	W 52–0	19,201[10]
November 14	12:00 pm	at New Mexico	No. 22	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM	mtn.	W 24–19	24,344[11]
November 21	1:30 pm	Air Force	No. 19	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT	CBS CS	W 38–21	64,071[12]
November 28	3:00 pm	No. 22 Utah	No. 18	LaVell Edwards Stadium Provo, UT (Holy War)	mtn./CBSCS	W 26–23 OT	64,301[13]
December 22	5:00 pm	vs. No. 16 Oregon State*	No. 15	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV (Maaco Bowl Las Vegas)	ESPN	W 44–20	40,018[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in local to gamesite time

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	20	9	7	19	20	18	18	16	RV	25	22	19	18	16	15	12
Coaches Poll	24	12	9	20	21	20	19	16	RV	25	22	18	15	13	14	12
Harris	Not released				19	17	17	16	RV	25	22	18	15	13	14	Not released
BCS	Not released							16	—	—	22	22	19	14	14	Not released

Game summaries

Oklahoma

BYU would enter the 2009 Cowboy Classic with a 14-22 record against the Big XII. However BYU was 1-0 against the Sooners. The only previously meeting was the 1994 Copper Bowl, where BYU won 31-6.^[15]

2009 Cowboys Classic: #20 BYU vs. #3 Oklahoma

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 0 7 0 7 14 Sooners 7 3 0 3 13 Date: September 5 Location: Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, TX Game start: 5:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 75,437 Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), Indoors Referee: Scott Novak TV announcers (ESPN): Brad Nessler, Todd Blackledge, & Heather Cox Source:[1]

Scoring summary 1 4:56 OU Ryan Broyles 8-yard pass from Sam Bradford (Jimmy Stevens kick) OU 7-0 2 1:25 BYU Andrew George 5-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 7-7 2 0:02 OU Jimmy Stevens 35-yard field goal OU 10-7 4 11:47 OU Jimmy Stevens 22-yard field goal OU 13-7 4 3:03 BYU McKay Jacobson 7-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 14-13

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Tulane

BYU headed back down South for their second game of the season. The Green Wave would be their featured opponent. BYU and Tulane came into the contest with a 1-1 record against each other. The last meeting between the two was back in 2001, when BYU defeated the Green Wave 70-35 in Provo.^[16]

#9 BYU at Tulane

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 3 17 14 20 54 Green Wave 0 3 0 0 3 Date: September 12 Location: Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA Game start: 1:36 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:00 Game attendance: 26,224 Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C), Indoors Referee: Land Clark TV announcers (ESPN2): Terry Gannon & David Norrie Source:[2]

Scoring summary 1 6:23 BYU Mitch Payne 31-yard field goal BYU 3-0 2 14:15 BYU Mitch Payne 20-yard field goal BYU 6-0 2 6:03 Tulane Ross Thevenot 29-yard field goal BYU 6-3 2 3:28 BYU Bryan Kariya 1-yard touchdown run up the middle (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 13-3 2 0:25 BYU Bryan Kariya 12-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 20-3 3 6:24 BYU JJ Di Luigi 3-yard touchdown run over the left side (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 27-3 3 3:02 BYU McKay Jacobson 38-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 34-3 4 13:07 BYU JJ Di Luigi 1-yard touchdown run up the middle (Mitch Payne kick no good) BYU 40-3 4 11:47 BYU Jordan Pendleton 12-yard fumble return (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 47-3 4 8:15 BYU Riley Nelson 1-yard QB draw (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 54-3

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Florida State

^[17]

Florida State at #7 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total • Seminoles 7 23 14 10 54 Cougars 0 14 7 7 28 Date: September 19 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 5:02 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:04 Game attendance: 64,209 Game weather: 77 °F (25 °C), Mostly Cloudy, winds W 10 mph Referee: Jeff Flanagan TV announcers (Versus): Joe Beninati, Glenn Parker, & Lindy Thackston Source:[3]

Scoring summary 1 10:05 FSU T Jones 4-yard run (D Hopkins kick) FSU 7-0 2 14:25 FSU L Pryor 1-yard run (D Hopkins kick failed) FSU 13-0 2 9:39 BYU Harevy Unga 12-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) FSU 13-7 2 8:25 FSU L Pryor 9-yard rush (D Hopkins kick) FSU 20-7 2 5:11 BYU Manase Tonga 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) FSU 20-14 2 0:24 FSU C Piurowski 5-yard pass from C Ponder (D Hopkins kick) FSU 27-14 2 0:00 FSU D Hopkins 33-yard FG FSU 30-14 3 12:52 FSU JG Reid 63-yard Int return from Max Hall (D Hopkins kick) FSU 37-14 3 5:11 FSU JC Ponder 6-yard run (D Hopkins kick) FSU 44-14 3 0:00 BYU Spencer Hafoka 8-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) FSU 44-21 4 10:21 FSU JD Hopkins 31-yard FG FSU 47-21 4 7:32 FSU J Fortson 16-yard pass from C Ponder (D Hopkins kick) FSU 54-21 4 3:13 BYU JJ Di Luigi 29-yard pass from Riley Nelson (Mitch Payne kick) FSU 54-28

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Colorado State

BYU would try and bounce back after the loss to FSU. The loss to FSU ended a winning streak the Cougs had had at home since 2004. With a 37-27-3 record against the Rams, things looked good for BYU.^[18]

Colorado State at #19 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Rams 0 7 7 9 23 • Cougars 21 0 7 14 42 Date: September 26 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 4:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:14 Game attendance: 64,091 Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), Sunny, winds W 7 mph Referee: Dan Romeo TV announcers (Mtn.): James Bates, Todd Christensen, & Sammy Linebaugh Source:[4]

Scoring summary 1 12:44 BYU Harvey Unga 4-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 7-0 1 3:04 BYU Max Hall 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 14-0 1 0:25 BYU Harevy Unga 5-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 21-0 2 9:56 CSU Dion Morton 9-yard pass from Grant Stucker (Ben Deline kick) BYU 21-7 3 6:56 BYU Dennis Pitta 18-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 28-7 3 2:51 CSU Leonard Mason 5-yard run (Ben Deline kick) BYU 28-14 4 14:02 CSU Ben Deline 38-yard FG BYU 28-17 4 7:04 BYU Harvey Unga 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 35-17 4 5:02 CSU Tyson Liggett 13-yard pass from Grant Stucker. (2-point conversion failed) BYU 35-23 4 4:05 BYU Spencer Hafoka 24-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 42-23

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Utah State

The 2009 Beehive Boot began with the Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel as Utah State visited the Cougars. With a 42-23-3 record in one of the longest rivalries in the nation, BYU looked to try to continue to show the FSU game was a fluke.^[19]

Utah State at #20 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Aggies 7 0 3 7 17 • Cougars 7 14 0 14 35 Date: October 2 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 7:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 2:59 Game attendance: 64,103 Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), Clear, winds 0 mph Referee: Steve Barth TV announcers (Mtn.): Bill Doleman, Blaine Fowler, & Toby Christensen Source:[5]

Scoring summary 1 10:28 USU Diondre Borel 6-yard run (Chris Ulinkski kick) USU 7-0 1 2:14 BYU Dennis Pitta 6-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 7-7 2 14:22 BYU Luke Ashworth 48-yard pass from Max hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 14-7 2 0:29 BYU Manase Tonga 3-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 21-7 3 8:05 USU Chris Ulinski 20-yard field goal BYU 21-10 4 13:09 BYU Harvey Unga 8-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 28-10 4 2:45 BYU Dennis Pitta 13-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 35-10 4 0:03 USU Xavier Bowman 16-yard pass from Diondre Borel (Chris Ulinski kick) BYU 35-17

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UNLV

After the Conference Weekend showdown, the Cougs headed on the road for their second road game of the year against a team they have thoroughly dominated, UNLV. Going into the 2009 season, the Cougars found themselves 13-3 against the Rebels lifetime.^[20]

#18 BYU at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 10 14 21 14 59 Rebels 7 14 0 14 35 Date: October 10 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV Game start: 8:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 2:53 Game attendance: 25,597 Game weather: 81 °F (27 °C), Partly Cloudy, winds E 9 mph Referee: David Smith TV announcers (Mtn.): Tim Neverett, Blaine Fowler, & Molly Sullivan Source:[6]

Scoring summary 1 5:20 BYU Mitch Payne 28-yard field goal BYU 3-0 1 3:36 BYU Harvey Unga 33-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 10-0 2 13:18 BYU Harvey Unga 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 17-0 2 13:05 UNLV Deante' Purvis 94-yard kickoff return (Kyle Watson kick) BYU 17-7 2 11:12 BYU Harvey Unga 52-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 24-7 3 10:20 UNLV M. Johnson 75-yard pass from Omar Clayton (Kyle Watson kick) BYU 24-14 3 8:33 BYU Dennis Pitta 35-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 31-14 3 4:41 BYU Jojo Pili 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 38-14 3 2:44 BYU JJ Di Luigi 15-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 45-14 4 13:40 UNLV R. Anthony 4-yard pass from Omar Clayton (Kyle Watson kick) BYU 45-21 4 13:17 BYU Riley Nelson 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 52-21 4 8:17 BYU JJ Di Luigi 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 59-21

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San Diego State

Back-to-back road games would be the norm most of the season, as was this case with Vegas and then San Diego. BYU would challenge the Aztecs with a 25–7–1 record against them intact.^[21]

#18 BYU at San Diego State

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 7 14 7 10 38 Aztecs 7 7 7 7 28 Date: October 17 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Game start: 4:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 30,258 Game weather: 80 °F (27 °C), sunny and clear, winds WSW 7 mph Referee: Terry Leyden TV announcers (Mtn.): Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, and Jenny Cavnar Source:[7]

Scoring summary 1 5:33 BYU Harvey Unga 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 7-0 1 4:31 SDSU DeMarc Sampson 7-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick) Tied 7-7 2 14:20 SDSU Brand Sullivan 1-yard run (Lane Yoshida kick) SDSU 14-7 2 9:06 BYU Bryan Kariya 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 14-14 2 0:0 BYU Max Hall 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 21-14 3 8:23 SDSU DeMarc Sampson 36-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick) Tied 21-21 3 3:38 BYU Andrew George 19-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 28-21 4 14:49 BYU Dennis Pitta 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 35–21 4 8:17 SDSU Alston Umuolo 6-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick) BYU 35–28 4 2:21 BYU Mitch Payne 44-yard field goal BYU 38–28

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TCU

Heading into Homecoming BYU looked to get back on the winning track against TCU. The Cougars had won 5 of the first 7 meetings against TCU, but the Horned Frogs took the win in 2008 to get their 3rd win against the Cougars.^[22]

#8 TCU at #16 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total • Horned Frogs 14 7 10 7 38 Cougars 0 7 0 0 7 Date: October 24 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT (College Gameday) Game start: 5:36 pm MST Elapsed time: 2:47 Game attendance: 64,641 Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), Cloudy with showers, winds S 6 mph Referee: T. Adrian Hill TV announcers (Versus): Joe Beninati, Glenn Parker, & Tim Neverett Source:[8]

Scoring summary 1 6:16 TCU Joseph Turner 4-yard run (Ross Evans kick) TCU 7-0 1 2:27 TCU Ed Wesley 28-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick) TCU 14-0 2 5:03 TCU Jimmy Young 12-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick) TCU 21-0 2 1:42 BYU Harvey Unga 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) TCU 21-7 3 9:35 TCU Ross Evans 28-yard field goal TCU 24-7 3 5:53 TCU Antoine Hicks 75-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick) TCU 31-7 4 12:00 TCU Ross Tucker 7-yard run (Russ Evans kick) TCU 38-7

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Wyoming

BYU hit the road for the final back-to-back road trip of the year. Their first stop would be in Laramie. The Cougars came into the game with a 42-30-3 record against the Cowboys.^[23]

#25 BYU at Wyoming

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 14 7 10 7 38 Cowboys 0 0 0 0 0 Date: November 7 Location: War Memorial Stadium, Laramie, WY Game start: 12:05 pm MST Elapsed time: 2:45 Game attendance: 19,201 Game weather: 54 °F (12 °C), Partly Cloudy, winds S 13 mph Referee: Randy Smith TV announcers (Mtn.): James Bates, Todd Christensen, & Andrea Lloyd Source:[9]

Scoring summary 1 4:43 BYU JJ Di Luigi 44-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 7-0 1 2:33 BYU Mitch Payne 36-yard field goal BYU 10-0 2 13:12 BYU Manase Tonga 2-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 17-0 2 10:41 BYU McKay Jacobson 79-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 24-0 2 4:24 BYU Manase Tonga 6-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 31-0 3 10:10 BYU Bryan Kariya 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 38-0 3 7:17 BYU JJ Di Luigi 15-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 45-0 4 4:48 BYU Riley Nelson 10-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 52-0

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New Mexico

The final road game on the back-to-back road trip took the Cougars to Albuquerque for their regular showdown with the Lobos. The Cougars came into the game with a 43-13-3 record against the Lobos.^[24]

#22 BYU at New Mexico

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 7 10 7 0 24 Lobos 7 0 6 6 19 Date: November 14 Location: University Stadium, Albuquerque, NM Game start: 12:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:06 Game attendance: 24,344 Game weather: 47 °F (8 °C), Cloudy, winds ESE 7 mph Referee: David Epperley TV announcers (Mtn.): Ari Wolfe, Blaine Fowler, & Keenan McCardell Source:[10]

Scoring summary 1 8:43 UNM Donov Porterie 3-yard run (James Aho kick) UNM 7-0 1 0:51 BYU Manase Tonga 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 7-7 2 5:49 BYU Mitch Payne 42-yard field goal BYU 10-7 2 1:56 BYU Andrew George 27-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 17-7 3 6:28 UNM Daryl Jones 26-yard pass from Donov Porterie (James Aho kick failed) BYU 17-13 3 0:00 BYU Luke Ashworth 13-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 24-13 4 4:07 UNM Victor James 20-yard pass from Donov Porterie (Donov Porterie 2-point conversion pass failed) BYU 24-19

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Air Force

The final home stretch began with an old match-up against everybodies favorite run-and-gun squad, the Air Force Falcons. The Cougars came into the game with a 23-6 record against the Falcons.^[25]

Air Force at #22 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Falcons 0 7 0 14 21 • Cougars 3 21 7 7 38 Date: November 21 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 1:34 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:12 Game attendance: 64,071 Game weather: 46 °F (8 °C), Cloudy & Snow possible, winds NW 14 mph Referee: Land Clark TV announcers (CBS CS): Tom Hart & Aaron Taylor Source:[11]

Scoring summary 1 6:00 BYU Mitch Payne 49-yard field goal BYU 3-0 2 13:57 BYU Dennis Pitta 8-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 10-0 2 11:46 BYU Dennis Pitta 16-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 17-0 2 5:15 BYU Luke Ashworth 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 24-0 2 3:15 AFA Josh Cousins 27-yard pass from Ben Cochran (Erik Soderberg kick) BYU 24-7 3 13:24 BYU O'Niell Chambers 10-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 31-7 4 14:18 AFA Jonathan Warzecka 3-yard run (Erik Soderberg kick) BYU 31-14 4 5:23 BYU Andrew George 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 38-14 4 1:57 AFA Savie Stephens 4-yard run (Erik Soderberg kick) BYU 38-21

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Utah

The regular season ended with the third edition of the Deseret First Duel. The winner would take a 2-1 lead in head-to-head football since the Holy War became sponsored by Deseret First Credit Union. The Cougars came into the game with a 30-50-4 against the Utes.^[26] With both teams at 6-1 in conference play, and with TCU likely headed to a BCS game, BYU and Utah came in knowing the winner would be getting a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.

#21 Utah at #19 BYU

1 2 3 4 OT Total Utes 6 0 0 14 3 23 • Cougars 0 13 7 0 6 26 Date: November 28 Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT Game start: 3:06 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:54 Game attendance: 64,301 Game weather: 45 °F (7 °C), Partly Cloudy & Hazy, winds NNW 9 mph Referee: Randy Christal TV announcers (Mtn. & CBS CS): James Bates, Todd Christensen, Toby Christensen, & Sammy Linebaugh Source:[12]

Scoring summary 1 11:16 Utah Joe Phillips 39-yard field goal Utah 3-0 1 6:13 Utah Joe Phillips 21-yard field goal Utah 6-0 2 14:47 BYU Mitch Payne 28-yard field goal Utah 6-3 2 6:43 BYU Harvey Unga 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 10-6 2 0:04 BYU Mitch Payne 37-yard field goal BYU 13-6 3 10:11 BYU Manase Tonga 1-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 20-6 4 14:49 Utah Joe Phillips 31-yard field goal BYU 20-9 4 7:16 Utah Eddie Wide 1-yard run (David Reed 2-point conversion from Jordan Wynn) BYU 20-17 4 0:29 Utah Joe Phillips 40-yard field goal Tied 20-20 OT 0:00 Utah Joe Phillips 29-yard field goal Utah 23-20 OT 0:00 BYU Andrew George 25-yard pass from Max Hall BYU 26-23

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Las Vegas Bowl

The fifth consecutive trip to the Las Vegas Bowl awaited BYU after their win over the Utes. Their opponent would be Bronco Mendenhall's alumni school- Oregon State, his first meeting against them with BYU. It was the first ever top 25 showdown in Vegas Bowl history. It also would feature a match of runner-up's as Oregon State was one of three teams tied for second in the Pac-10. BYU would go into the game with a 3-5 record lifetime against the Beavers.^[27] After going 19-for-30 for 192 yards with 3 touchdowns, Max Hall would win the MVP honor. Hall would leave as the most winning quarterback in BYU history at 43-9. His running back, Harvey Unga, would leave the school as the all-time leading rusher.

2009 Las Vegas Bowl: #18 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU

1 2 3 4 Total Beavers 7 0 0 13 20 • Cougars 14 9 7 14 44 Date: December 22 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium, Las Vegas, NV Game start: 6:01 pm MST Elapsed time: 3:37 Game attendance: 40,018 Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C), Cloudy, winds N 37-44 mph Referee: Randy Christal TV announcers (ESPN/Sports USA): Rece Davis, Lou Holtz, Mark May, & Todd Harris (ESPN) Rich Cellini, Gary Barnett, & Roman Oben (Sports USA) Source:[13]

Scoring summary 1 8:46 OSU Sean Canfield 1-yard run (Justin Kahut kick) OSU 7-0 1 2:47 BYU Harvey Unga 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 7-7 1 1:41 BYU Matt Bauman 34-yard fumble recovery BYU 14-7 2 9:21 BYU Mitch Payne 28-yard field goal BYU 17-7 2 6:22 BYU Luke Ashworth 25-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick failed) BYU 23-7 3 8:51 BYU Dennis Pitta 17-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 30-7 4 12:51 BYU Manase Tonga 15-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick) BYU 37-7 4 9:00 OSU Jacq. Rodgers 1-yard run (Justin Kahut kick failed) BYU 37-13 4 3:22 BYU Manase Tonga 18-yard run (Mitch Payne kick) Tied 44-13 4 2:35 OSU Damola Adeniji 31-yard pass from Ryan Katz (Justin Kahut kick) BYU 44-20

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References