Sterling effort from Brown goes without reward

PROVO — During rivalry week, BYU's Curtis Brown, who has been known to provide opponents with bulletin board fodder, kept quiet.

On Saturday against Utah, he let his play do the talking. Brown rushed 20 times for 153 yards and two touchdowns, plus caught seven passes for 84 yards.

"Curtis made some big plays today," said quarterback John Beck. "He was huge for us."

But it wasn't enough in the Cougars' 41-34 overtime defeat to the Utes.

Still, Brown enjoyed a record-setting day. His five-yard touchdown early in the third quarter pushed him over the 1,000-yard rushing plateau (he has 1,095 for the season). It also made him BYU's first single-season 1,000-yard rusher since Luke Staley accomplished the feat in 2001.

What's more, Brown also recorded his 11th career 100-yard rushing game, the most in BYU history.

None of that really mattered to him, however. "We lost," Brown said. "Obviously, the performance wasn't good enough. The point is, we lost."

As for not saying much to the media this week, Brown said it was by design. "The coaches already know how much confidence I have in our team," he said. "People in the media are going to call me out and try to get me to talk about how proud I am of my team. I'm going to continue to do it each and every day. I have a lot of confidence in my team and the way they played tonight."

SENIORS HONORED: BYU said goodbye Saturday to 30 seniors who played their final game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. In a postgame ceremony, the following seniors received their traditional letterman's blanket: defensive back Ryan Beck, quarterback Matt Berry, quarterback Jackson Brown, defensive lineman Manaia Brown, kicker Travis Epperson, defensive lineman Vince Feula, tight end Jeremy Gillespie, wide receiver Trent Griffith, defensive back Chris Hale, offensive lineman Nathan Hall, defensive back Breyon Jones, linebacker Justin Luettgerodt, defensive lineman Justin Maddux, defensive lineman Daniel Marquardt, offensive lineman Gary McGiven, defensive back Michael Morris, wide receiver Greg Mortensen, offensive lineman Lance Reynolds Jr., offensive lineman Brian Sanders, defensive lineman Sosiua Sekona, defensive lineman T.J. Sitake, defensive back Nate Soelberg, running back Fahu Tahi, defensive lineman Kyle Tew, offensive lineman Scott Tidwell, linebacker Paul Walkenhorst, wide receiver Todd Watkins, wide receiver/holder Riley Weber and defensive back Spencer White. Walkenhorst and Sitake are the only current Cougars who have experienced a victory in the BYU-Utah game.

SELLOUT CROWD: Saturday marked the first time a game at LaVell Edwards Stadium had been declared a sellout prior to game day since BYU hosted Notre Dame in the 2004 season-opener. A crowd of 64,312 attended the contest, the highest since that Notre Dame game, which drew 65,251 fans.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com