Y. outlasts Irish

Berry finished with 187 yards passing on 15-of-23 completions. In what ebbed into a defensive wrestling match, the Cougars out-gained Notre Dame 285 to 276 yards. BYU's defense absorbed 47 Irish passes, allowing one long one for a score. Notre Dame, who ran over the Cougars a year ago in a win, gained just 11 yards on the ground.

Beck (7-of-10 for 167 yards) led the Cougars on a 75-yard scoring drive on BYU's first possession, setting up a 5-yard Fahu Tahi touchdown run with a 50-yard bomb to Watkins.

The Cougars made it 10-0 in the first quarter on a 44-yard field goal by Payne after Nebraska transfer Brown knocked down a Quinn third-down pass attempt on the Fighting Irish 20 yard-line, forcing a punt and BYU possession at midfield.

BYU's defense then took control of the game, using a series of pooch punts by Payne to pin down Notre Dame inside the Irish 15 yard-line on three second-quarter possessions after Brown forced a fumble that Brady Poppinga recovered to start the second quarter.

Soon after the turnover, Beck left the field for the locker room after taking a hit on an option pitch play. Beck didn't come out until the Cougars ran another play. In somewhat conservative play calls to protect the 10-point lead, the strategy didn't lead to any first downs, but set up a BYU 53-yard Payne field goal with 1:34 to play in the first half for a BYU 13-0 lead.

Notre Dame's first score, a chip-shot field goal as time expired in the first half, came on the first excursion across the 50 in the game by the Irish. D.J. Fitzpatrick's 21-yarder ended a 77-yard drive aided by a Poppinga facemask penalty. Just before that score Burbidge had his hands on a Quinn pass in the flats that may have led to a Cougar defensive touchdown.

The Cougar defense kept the pressure on in the third, with sacks on Quinn by linebackers Markell Staffieri and Poppinga as the Cougars shook off a fumble by Fahu Tahi that set up the Irish on the Cougar 35 on BYU's first possession of the second half. Poppinga's sack killed a Notre Dame fourth-and-2 play.

Those plays set up a pair of Berry first-down tosses to tight end Daniel Coats, leading to a 42-yard touchdown bomb to the freshman Collie that build a 20-3 Cougar lead.

The Irish answered in 13 seconds on a 54-yard Quinn to Rhema McKnight receiver screen to close to 20-10 with 4:24 in the third. It was McKnight's longest catch and run of his career.

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com