BYU football: Offense happens in Vegas

LAS VEGAS — BYU's dominating 59-21 victory over UNLV Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium begged one question.

Is the Cougar offense that good, or is the Rebel defense that bad?

BYU's balanced offensive attack rolled up more than 600 yards of total offense against a UNLV team that yielded nearly 800 the previous week against Nevada. It was so easy for the No. 18 Cougars (5-1, 2-0), and so many different players were involved in the offense, that even a freshman walk-on, Jo Jo Pili, scored a touchdown.

That's only because BYU decided to spread the wealth a little bit as running back Harvey Unga scored three touchdowns before that. Unga finished with 149 yards and 20 carries, and his TDs went for 33 yards, 1 yard and 33 yards, respectively.

"Harvey is a very good football player. Before you know it he's has 100-plus yards," BYU head football coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Quarterback Max Hall completed 21-of-27 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns and, for the first time in eight games, did not throw an interception. The last time Hall didn't record a pick was last November in a win over San Diego State in Provo.

Even BYU's special teams got into the act. Wide receiver O'Neill Chambers returned a fourth-quarter kickoff 97 yards, just two yards short of the goal line. That set up a 2-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw by backup quarterback Riley Nelson, who relieved Hall in the fourth quarter.

UNLV (2-4, 0-2), meanwhile, may soon be relieving coach Mike Sanford of his duties. Sanford was already on the hot seat going into the game after an embarrassing 63-28 loss to the Wolf Pack. The Cougars' victory probably cranked up the heat on Sanford's job status. It won't get any easier next week for the Rebels, who host Utah.

"They played a complete football game and improved in a lot of areas," Mendenhall said.

BYU's defense all but shut down UNLV's ability to run the ball and forced three Rebel turnovers — all interceptions.

Following the opening kickoff, UNLV drove into BYU territory on its first drive, but it stalled before a punt gave the Cougars the ball on the 19. BYU promptly marched 70 yards to set up a 28-yard field goal by Mitch Payne as the Cougars took a 3-0 advantage.

On the Rebels' ensuing possession, Clayton scrambled toward the sideline and, as he threw the ball out of bounds, BYU linebacker Jordan Pendleton stretched out and grabbed the ball with his left hand as he tip-toed the sideline and hauled in the interception.