Y.'s winning ways a distant memory

PROVO — Toby Christensen's body language pretty much said it all.

In the interview room at LaVell Edwards Stadium Thursday night following BYU's embarrassing 50-12 loss to Boise State, coach Gary Crowton was addressing the media when the senior wide receiver took a seat next to him and hung his head — a picture of frustration, dejection and disbelief.

It's been that kind of season for Christensen and the rest of the Cougars. Lack of success is difficult to swallow for Christensen, who is the son of former BYU and National Football League star Todd Christensen . Toby grew up with a clear understanding of the Cougars' storied history and rich tradition.

These days, that all seems like a distant memory as BYU is likely chugging toward its second consecutive losing season. The only way the Cougars can avoid another losing season is winning their last two games, against Notre Dame and Utah.

With a bye week coming up, the Cougars have 16 days before visiting the Fighting Irish. Then they return home to take on the arch-rival Utes.

Christensen says he hasn't given up on the season. "This is my senior year. There's not a big market in the NFL for 5-foot-11 white guys. This could be it for me," he explained. "I'm going to go out and play as hard as I can. I hope everyone else (on the team) is going to do that and if I can do anything to motivate them to do that, then I will.

"We're playing at Notre Dame. If we're 0-9 or 0-15, whatever it is, it's every kid's dream to play at Notre Dame. We've all seen 'Rudy,' and I think everyone's going to get up for that game. It's going to be fun for us." For BYU, fun would not be the word to describe what happened Thursday night against the Broncos. The hapless Cougar offense gave up four turnovers, and no team in the country has given up more turnovers this season (32) than BYU.

"We're making the same mistakes," Crowton said. "We've got a little time to rest. We need to work out some problems. We're still not playing together. We're making too many errors."

Quarterback Matt Berry, who hurt his hand early in the game, threw three interceptions on three straight possessions in the first half before being replaced by John Beck, who went down with a broken index finger on his throwing hand.

Todd Mortensen played most of the second half, completing 5-of-24 attempts for 51 yards and a pick. Sophomore walk-on Jackson Brown, who has run the scout team all season, took his first collegiate snaps on BYU's final possession. He completed 5-of-9 attempts for 57 yards.