Rock and roll — Vakapuna's TD sparks Cougars past Rams

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Using a 24-3 victory Saturday against Colorado State to guarantee a first winning season since 2001 and a return to the Top 25 rankings since early 2002, the BYU football team stifled the Rams by allowing a mere 26 yards rushing and 151 yards total offense.

Fui Vakapuna scored two of BYU's three short rushing TDs, his first an alert 5-yard play coming when he tried to leap over defenders before being thrown back-first onto a pile of bodies. Vakapuna rolled over, regained his feet and ran into the end zone on a scoring play that needed a lengthy instant-replay review before being ruled a touchdown.

Linebacker Cameron Jensen led the defense with nine tackles — including seven solo stops — and two of the Cougars' five sacks as BYU racked up its fifth consecutive victory to improve to 7-2 overall and 5-0 in Mountain West Conference play.