"In the first half, I didn't have my football team on an even keel," Mendenhall said afterward. "They were playing outside of their assignments and techniques and emotions. That overrode and overshadowed playing football. It was inappropriate and reflective of the way they played in the first half. At halftime, once they settled down and refocused, they played as I would have expected them to play from the beginning."

"We got sucked into the way Utah plays, with the extracurricular stuff that was going on and the trash-talking," explained wide receiver Todd Watkins. "That's not our game."

"In the first half, it was a little rowdy. There was cheap stuff all over the field," Brown said. "We can't get caught up in that if we want to be successful. At that point, we were caught up in it. As they got up on us, we tried to make too big of a play and played outside our assignments. At halftime, we got focused."

The offense ran the same first 25 plays in the second half that it ran in the first, but the results were much different. Brown scored two touchdowns early in the third quarter as the Cougars fought their way back, cutting the deficit to 24-17.

"It was nothing new," Brown said. "It was about executing, doing everything right. That's just what we did. We gained momentum and the defense gave us a chance to come back and win the game."

BYU eventually tied the game at 34, with 4:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, on a 37-yard field goal by Jared McLaughlin. A couple of minutes later, the Cougars had an opportunity to go ahead for the first time, starting their final possession in regulation on their own 38-yard line. But three straight incomplete passes doomed the drive.

The next time the Cougar offense got the ball back, trailing 41-34 in OT, it stalled again.

"We got things going and made big plays (in the second half). To feel that kind of confidence and that momentum in your favor then to end the game the way it ended, it was a big swing of emotions," Beck said. "I believed with all my heart that we were going to get it at the end. I never doubted, because I believe in my guys."

Over the past three games, BYU had produced a plus-11 turnover margin, scoring 52 points during that stretch as a result of turnovers. But against Utah, the Cougars caused zero turnovers.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com