BYU runs, runs and runs some more over Rebels

If you want run, BYU proved it can deliver it Saturday in a 59-21 thrashing of UNLV.

The wobbly Rebel defense stepped into the kill box of one of the Mountain West's Big Three. That's like trying to graze on the Serengeti with a limp. You get devoured.

The Rebels gave up a whopping 559 yards rushing to Nevada a week ago. That matador effort allowed BYU junior Harvey Unga to gain 109 yards with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter.

Unga feasted. He ordered all the courses.

BYU's victory marked the first time since 2006 the Cougars scored in double figures in every quarter.

BYU gained 563 total yards in the first three quarters while Unga finished with 20 carries for 149 and three touchdowns, tying his career high for running scores in a game.

The big Tongan tore his way to huge plays including touchdown runs of 33 and 52 yards. He ran away from Rebel tacklers on both jaunts. It looked Simpsonesque.

Unga was so effective, the Cougars barely needed to display Max Hall's arm. And when coordinator Robert Anae did, it was deadly at nicking and blooding up the Rebels.

This is one game you'd hate to be UNLV's shell-shocked safeties. Pass or run. Run or pass? They were jittery as Baghdad parking valets.

The biggest difference in BYU and UNLV Saturday from a year ago when these two teams battled to a 45-32 donnybrook in Provo was disparity in defense.

BYU is noticeably better. UNLV is absolutely not.

The Cougars, missing Brian Ogletree, Steven Thomas and Tucker Lamb on special team cover, gave up a 94-yard kickoff return to Deante Purvis in the first half. UNLV also found a way to get 4.4 sprinter Michael Johnson on Cougar middle linebacker Matt Bauman for a 75-yard third-quarter bomb.

The Rebels, missing linebacker Star Fuiamono due to injury, simply appeared vulnerable over the field, in both short and long yardage situations. O'Neil Chambers even ripped off a 97-yard kickoff return.

But it was the Cougar defense that sparked BYU's fortunes in this game where offenses were supposed to score.

Bronco Mendenhall said he would not bring in a nickel back to cover five-receiver sets by opposing offenses unless that guy was better than the ones on the field.

Well, sophomore linebacker Jordon Pendleton, forced to cover UNLV receivers, made what surely will survive as one of the biggest highlight cuts of the season when he one-handed a Omar Clayton pass intended as a throw-away out of bounds in the first quarter.

Pendleton leaned and reached out of the boundary line and tipped the ball to himself while toeing the white line.

That play set up Unga's first touchdown run and a 10-0 lead.

Scott Johnson, the Concussion Kid, then got his first career interception defending BYU's goal line in the second quarter. On a pass intended for UNLV's star Ryan Wolfe, Johnson simply broke on the pass from a deep perch and scooped it up on a diving roll. He made it two in the third, snagging an Omar Clayton sideline bomb.

It marked the first time since 2002 BYU had a player with two picks in a game.

For the Cougars, the win should keep BYU in the ranks of the ranked.

It also underscored BYU's remarkable record in this town. The Cougars are now 11-3 in Sam Boyd Stadium.

The crowd of just 25,597 sounded about half BYU fans and they even had some blue seats in the north end zone, perhaps a welcome mat for the Cougars in an otherwise red colored stadium.

e-mail: harmon@desnews.com