Cougars crumble in California

STANFORD, Calif. — It didn't take long for BYU football to slip into last season's script.

In 2003, it took the Cougars until Nov. 22, or 11 games, to get to third-quarterback depth, when walk-on Jackson Brown started against Utah. This season it took just more than four quarters.

Stanford took advantage of BYU miscues and the Cougars' move down the quarterback food chain, carving out an impressive 37-10 victory at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. The win lifted the Cardinal to 2-0 as Notre Dame killers BYU dropped to 1-1, limping home for a showdown with defending national champion USC next Saturday.

Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards, hounded last year in Provo before delivering a Cardinal victory, picked apart the Cougar defense in leading the hosts to 37 straight points.

The Cougars got to their third quarterback in one game and three plays when Matt Berry cut his throwing hand in BYU's first possession of the contest. For the second week in a row, all the reps invested in a starting quarterback went down in flames.

Jason Beck, who Crowton had planned on redshirting this season, was elevated to backup last week when John Beck was injured against Notre Dame and nursed a sore shoulder this week. He was as surprised as anyone to find himself the starter after four Cougar offensive plays that included a punt.

Medical personnel cleared Berry to play but when asked if he believed he could perform, he said he didn't think it would work.

Jason Beck battled early, but ended three consecutive possessions with interceptions late in the game as the Cougars, spirited in their opener in Provo, played frustrated and out of focus here on the Left Coast.

In a strange move late in the game, head coach Gary Crowton inserted John Beck, if for anything else, to settle his squad down in the fourth quarter after Jason Beck miscues. John Beck's first pass, a short completion to Austin Collie, ended up in a Stanford fumble recovery. So much for settling the crew.

The Cougars came out in the second half, trying to cut a seven-point deficit and moved the ball down field into enemy territory only to have out-of-control play by a senior backfire, kill a drive, set up a turnover and Stanford score for a 24-10 Cardinal lead.

That may have been the story Saturday night as Stanford simply stepped over a mistake-laden Cougar squad.