"I wasn't surprised at all by what Brandon did," said Ben Horton, who caught three passes for 54 yards. "I don't want to take away from the other quarterbacks' abilities, but I thought Brandon was a gamer all along, and I was very excited to see him get in there today. His confidence and ability was outstanding. I'm glad he got the chance to prove what he can do tonight."

For Doman, who started the season third-string behind Bret Engemann and Charlie Peterson, it was a long time coming. "I've been patient. I've respected the coaches, I've respected the players who played in front of me," he said. "I was honored to get my chance.

"I don't know if this validates me. I never second-guessed myself," he continued. "I always knew the team would play well and I would play well. The offensive line, I have to give all the credit to those guys. They guys had blood and sweat all over them."

While the Cougars opened the game the way they have so many times this season, with a couple of punts on their first two drives, BYU drove 93 yards on its third possession, capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Luke Staley. It marked the Cougars' first first-quarter TD since Sept. 23 against UNLV.

On three consecutive plays on that drive, Doman completed a 24-yard pass to Pittman, scrambled for 29 yards and hooked up with tight end Tevita Ofahengaue for 23 yards. All game long, Doman leaned on his strengths — working out of the pocket.

"Coach Reynolds utilized me for what I believe I can do," Doman said. "He got me out of the pocket. That's a weapon I think that you just can't replace. I'm not saying I'm this great quarterback, but I like to move around. I like to run."

The Lobos came into the contest leading the league in sacks (29) but had zero sacks against Doman. "Sacking the quarterback hasn't been a problem for us this year, but it was tonight," said New Mexico coach Rocky Long. "They were very familiar with our defense and we paid for it. I think they were a lot quicker and fresher than we were. We knew Doman was a good scrambler, but he also proved to be tough to tackle."

When the game was over, amid the post-game celebration, Doman smiled and soaked up the moment. "Coach Edwards is an icon. He's going to go down in history forever," he said. "What an honor to play in his last home game here. It's a dream come true."

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com