Horse whipping — Cougs spooked by Broncos

PROVO — Originally, Thursday night's game between BYU and Boise State was scheduled for Halloween. The contest was later changed to one day earlier, but no matter. For the Cougars, it turned out to be fright night at LaVell Edwards Stadium anyway.

Once again on ESPN, BYU masqueraded as a Division I-A football team. The Cougars' 50-12 non-conference loss to Boise State wasn't as bad as its 45-point debacle against Colorado State exactly three weeks ago, but it was close. If nothing else, it further tarnished the Cougars' national image.

Edwards Stadium has turned into a house of horrors this season for BYU (4-6), which has now lost four straight home games for the first time since 1968. In their last two home games, the Cougars have been outscored by a combined 108-25.

In what has become a tradition this season, most Cougar fans went home early — this time, presumably, to get an early start on their trick-or-treating preparations.

What went wrong for BYU on Thursday? "Just about everything," said wide receiver Toby Christensen.

Against the Broncos (8-1), BYU committed four turnovers and went through four quarterbacks. Matt Berry left the game after throwing three interceptions, then John Beck suffered a broken finger, as well as a laceration, on his throwing hand. "He may be out for the rest of the year," said coach Gary Crowton.

Junior Todd Mortensen played almost all of the second half before being spelled in the last offensive series by sophomore Jackson Brown, who took snaps for the first time in his career. Maybe former quarterback Lance Pendleton probably would have seen action at QB, too, but he had already sustained a broken thumb in the game. "We got a little beat up at the quarterback spot," Crowton said. "That hurt us a lot."

Meanwhile, Boise State wide receiver Tim Gilligan shredded BYU all night long, both on offense and special teams. He caught eight passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns from quarterback Ryan Dinwiddie, plus he had a 33-yard punt return. Gilligan was running all alone so much on Thursday, it was like watching an episode of Gilligan's Island.

If not for a couple of bad snaps by Boise State long-snapper Mike Dominguez, the final score would have been a little more lopsided. The Cougars scored their first four points without even touching the ball as Dominguez launched a pair of snaps over the head of punter Kyle Stringer (once in the first quarter and again in the third) into the end zone for safeties.