USU, BYU football notebook: First-half turnovers were game-changing

PROVO — Two turnovers, one made early in the first half by BYU, and the other made late in the first half by Utah State, were key turning points in the Cougars' 35-17 victory over the Aggies Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

A fumble by BYU wide receiver Spencer Hafoka on the first series of the game gave the Aggies the ball at the Cougar 42-yard line. USU quarterback Diondre Borel ended up scoring on the ensuing drive and the Aggies jumped out to a 7-0 lead.

Leading 14-7 with less than a minute remaining in the half, Cougar safety Andrew Rich recovered a Borel fumble at the BYU 29. BYU took over with 38.9 seconds and scored quickly on a three-yard run by Manase Tonga as the Cougars went up 21-7 at intermission.

"It captured some momentum back for us," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said of the fumble recovery.

LIFE OF RILEY: BYU backup quarterback Riley Nelson, who transferred from Utah State during his mission, trotted into the game on third-and-6 at the BYU 36-yard line with 1:03 remaining in the third quarter. But the Cougars were whistled with a false start penalty and Nelson quickly trotted out of the game.

With about six minutes left in the game, Nelson returned and gained 13 yards on a quarterback draw.

INJURY UPDATE: BYU wide receiver McKay Jacobson did not play due to a tight hamstring.

CORNERED: Redshirt BYU freshman Robbie Buckner made his first career start at the field cornerback spot Friday in place of junior Brian Logan, who did not start because he missed a walk-through earlier in the day in violation of a team rule.

Logan entered the game in the second half, sharing time with Buckner.

WO-MAN: The only Division I female official, Sarah Thomas, served as the line judge during Friday's game.

BYU VS. UTAH STATE: Friday's game marked the 79th game in the series, which dates back to 1922.

With the victory, the Cougars won their 10th consecutive game against the Aggies and they've claimed 26 out of the last 29 meetings, dating back to 1975.

USU has not beaten BYU since a 58-56 shootout win in 1993. The Aggies haven't defeated the Cougars in Provo since 1978.

BYU and USU are scheduled to resume their series in 2010 (Logan), 2011 (Provo) and 2012 (Provo).

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: The Cougars played their first Friday night game at home since losing to UNLV, 24-20, back in 2004.