Cougars turn to tried, true weapons

FORT COLLINS — This is one time BYU needed a little predictability.

The Cougars found themselves in a shootout Saturday night with a fired-up Colorado State team, and while they've been trying to play share the ball the past two weeks, it came time for prime time players.

As quick as one could blink in the fourth quarter, Max Hall turned to his old standbys Austin Collie, Dennis Pitta and Harvey Unga. The trio responded with 21 points in the quarter to lift the 17th ranked Cougars to a dramatic 45-42 win.

It wasn't supposed to be this kind of game. Las Vegas had the Cougars a two-touchdown favorite. But three BYU turnovers led directly to half CSU's points and turned this game into a derby, a sprint to the end. Defenses were welted and quartered.

What better guys could Hall have had on his side? BYU gained 539 yards on the night and 464 came from his Three Amigos.

Collie and Pitta were in their element against the Rams. Pick your poison.

"Both are just studs," said Hall, whose pass efficiency with five touchdown passes was 214.

"Austin made some big plays in the first half and then Dennis came back in the second half and delivered."

Collie, the nation's leading receiver, had three TD catches in the first half and got his seventh-straight 100-plus game before halftime, finishing with 156 yards. His big catches on BYU's final drive for the winning score were routine but vital.

In the end, CSU corner Nick Oppenneer had to resort to a Hack-A-Collie move; he just grabbed Collie when he made his move. For some odd reason, CSU had Oppenneer play Collie man-on-man in the first half. It had Hall salivating all over his chinstrap. Collie had six catches for 118 yards and scoring strikes of 56, 15 and 10. And a 66-yarder that went the distance got called back.

Genius.

Then CSU shifted attention to Collie and left Pitta off his leash. A week after catching 2 for 19 yards against UNLV, Pitta found himself covered by a single human. And Hall zeroed in.

Pitta's two fourth-quarter touchdown catches were the type you roll on a highlight reel.

On the first, CSU brought the house at Hall and left Pitta going against corner Brandon Owens. By the time Hall got Pitta the ball, another defender came crashing in and Pitta's helmet popped off like a soda battle cap. But he hung on to the ball to give the Cougars a 31-28 lead with 13:15 to play.