"In general, Max Hall's development has been something I have been pleased with," Mendenhall said. "Tonight I don't think we were as clean as we needed to be, not only at his position but others as well."

BYU looked ready for a rout, following Hodgkiss' pick-six return with a 13-play, 85-yard drive in which seven different Cougars gained yards on carries or catches. The drive culminated when on third-and-four from the EWU 22, Hall found Unga across the middle, with the latter veering right following Joe Semanoff's block for the TD.

But BYU bogged down as Nichols led the Eagles to a second-quarter score, a 28-yard pass to Aaron Boyce, who finished with nine receptions for 135 yards.

The Cougars finally scored just before intermission, with Unga following a 17-yard self-propelled carry on a fourth-and-one at the EWU 30 with a 13-yard TD blast for a 21-7 halftime advantage.

While the Eagles flirted with only one second-half scoring opportunity (an Alex Smart incompletion on a fake field goal), the Cougars scored three times — Tonga's 7-yard rush following Mahuika's kickoff return, Hall's 1-yard keeper soon after Kehl's interception, and Vakapuna's 6-yard burst on the heels of Mahuika's punt return early in the fourth quarter.

The Cougars failed to convert on two other second-half possessions starting in Eagle territory, and once the snows started, everyone in the stadium — teams and fans — was anxious for the one-sided game to get over and to find refuge indoors.

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E-mail: taylor@desnews.com