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Cougars Conquer Colorado State To Remain Unbeaten
BYU's Luke Staley racks up 196 yards on the ground and scores five times.
Nov 2, 2001
By TIM KORTE
PROVO, Utah (AP) - The final score means more to BYU coach Gary Crowton than the final statistics.
Luke Staley ran for 196 yards and five touchdowns, while Brandon Doman threw for 284 yards and a TD and ran for 165 yards and two TDs as No. 13 BYU beat Colorado State 56-34 Thursday night.
The Cougars (9-0, 5-0 Mountain West) struggled defensively, allowing 386 rushing yards and 459 total yards, but Crowton said the only part that mattered was the outcome.
"We're 9-0. We've won, and it's a team effort by everybody," he said. "It was a football game and that's what happens. I wish we could win them all 56-0, but that just doesn't happen."
BYU remained one of three unbeaten I-A teams, along with Miami and Nebraska, and the Cougars helped Crowton beat his former team. He was a quarterback, defensive back and returned punts at Colorado State (4-5, 3-2) from 1977-78.
"I have to give a lot of credit to BYU," Rams coach Sonny Lubick said. "They've got a couple of excellent players in their quarterback, Doman, and Luke Staley. We knew that coming in."
Staley's 20-yard TD run in the third quarter made him BYU's career touchdown leader, breaking the record of 40 set by Jamal Willis from 1991-94. Staley has 42 TDs in three seasons, including 22 this fall.
"Growing up, always dreaming about coming to play in this stadium, to be able to break that record in front of a full crowd of 65,000 fans, it's kind of like a dream come true. It was exciting."
He added a 3-yard run with 2:21 to play, the second time this season he's had five TDs in a game. After the ensuing kickoff, BYU fans chanted "B-C-S! B-C-S!" in reference to long-shot hopes about reaching a BCS bowl game.
"I have very rarely thought about that," Staley said. "It's not something
that's important to our team right now. Last week, we were just preparing for
Colorado State."
When someone pointed out that BYU fans think the BCS is important, Staley said, "It's important that we win every game."
To get to a BCS bowl, the Cougars will need to play better defense, especially against the run. BYU gave up 237 yards rushing to Henri Childs and 174 to quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt.
Last week, the Cougars beat San Diego State 59-21, but let running back Larry Ned go for 239 yards. But tough as it was for the BYU defense against Colorado State, the Cougars came up big in the fourth quarter.
BYU led 49-34 and Colorado State faced fourth-and-1 when Van Pelt pitched to Childs, who had an open track to the end zone, but fumbled. Linebacker Justin Ena recovered for BYU.
The next time the Rams had the ball, Brett Keisel tipped a pass that Ryan Denney caught for an interception. Colorado State was driving again with less than a minute to play when Kurt Elliott caught Van Pelt's third interception.
The victory put BYU firmly in control of the Mountain West race. The Cougars also reversed a 45-21 loss last season, a game where the Rams built a 45-0 halftime lead and were still throwing in the fourth quarter.
Staley took care of the retribution, scoring twice on 2-yard runs in the first quarter and adding a 44-yard TD in the second.
On the play that set the BYU record, Staley took the snap at quarterback with Doman on the wing as a receiver. Staley darted through a big hole in the middle and got a great clearing block from Toby Christensen.
The Cougars, who came in leading the nation in scoring at 51 points a game, seemed to have everything in hand after the first 15 minutes, building a 21-0 lead in a quick-strike fashion that has become routine.
But the BYU defense went to sleep in the second period, and the Rams struck for two TDS before 265-pound defensive tackle Bryan Save tied it at 21-21 when he caught Doman's fumble on one bounce and rumbled 28 yards. |
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