Then, the game changed suddenly as Hall threw the first of his five interceptions on a third-and-3 play. To make matters worse for the Cougars, Hall was flagged for a personal foul penalty, giving Utah the ball at the Cougar 44. Three plays later, Johnson hit David Reed with a 32-yard touchdown strike to stake the Utes to a 27-17 halftime lead.

Down 27-24 in the third quarter, Hall fumbled and the ball was recovered by Utah's Paul Kruger, leading to another Ute touchdown. A Kruger interception on the Cougars' next possession resulted in a 41-24 Utah advantage.

"I thought our intensity into the second half was what it needed to be," Collie said. "We knew we were right back in it, but we couldn't hold on in the end."

BYU players and coaches didn't pin the blame for the loss on Hall, however.

"I don't fault Max because of the leadership he's displayed all year. I think he was just trying to help his team win," Mendenhall said.

"Everyone takes the blame," Jorgensen said. "You can't put it on the offense, you can't put it on the defense, you can't put in on the coaching staff. We all had our faults tonight. It doesn't go on one person. It goes on everybody. Part of being a team is picking up when one side is struggling. The other side has to pick up the slack."

"I take a lot of the responsibility," Hall said. "Man, I think our guys played hard. I played hard. Bottom line, we just made mistakes. I take the bulk of it, but it's a team effort. We just have to regroup."

BYU linebacker David Nixon said not all is lost after Saturday's setback.

"I'm proud of our guys. We fought until the end. We didn't give up. We're sitting 10-2. We're going to go to a bowl game, win that and finish a pretty good season."

Collie, meanwhile, praised the Utes and their performance.

"They were the better team tonight," he said. "I wish them the best of luck in the BCS. They're a great football team."

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com