BYU football notebook: Last 4 meetings' score is BYU 186, Wyoming 17

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The last couple of years, BYU hasn't figured out how to beat TCU. But, boy, the Cougars sure know how to take care of Wyoming.

Including Saturday's 52-0 victory, the Cougars have outscored the Cowboys 96-0 the past two seasons with back-to-back shutouts, including last year's 44-0 victory in Provo. In their last four meetings, BYU has outscored Wyoming by a combined total of a whopping 186-17.

The Cougars beat Wyoming 35-10 in 2007 and 55-7 in 2006.

"BYU teams will keep doing what they're doing," said senior defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen. "They have a good head coach here and I'm sure he'll make Wyoming better. We've had their number lately and hopefully it continues to happen."

Saturday's game marked Wyoming's worst defeat overall since a 59-0 blanking by the Cougars in 1985. It was also the worst home loss to BYU in school history. And, finally, it was Wyoming's first shutout loss at home since losing 34-0 to Utah in 2000.

LIFE OF RILEY: Sophomore quarterback Riley Nelson replaced Max Hall with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter.

Nelson threw an interception into the end zone with five minutes remaining, but it was waved off due to a penalty. That was his only pass attempt.

Nelson rushed 10 times for 71 yards and scored on a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:48 left in the game that made the score 52-0.

"We started talking about (putting Nelson in the game) after we scored the touchdown to make it 38-0," said coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Then we decided that after one more score he would play from then on."

"It was good for Riley. He works really hard," Hall said of Nelson's performance. "I love being with him in the quarterbacks room. He asks a lot of questions and is always trying to get better. He really learns fast. He's going to be a good quarterback and he'll do a lot of good things."

MENDENHALL IN NOVEMBER: Under Mendenhall, BYU has posted a 13-2 record in the month of November (2-1 in 2005, 4-0 in 2006, 4-0 in 2007, 3-1 in 2008). Both losses have come against arch-rival Utah.

PITTA SETS RECORD: Dennis Pitta's 13-yard reception late in the first quarter set a new BYU record. Pitta has caught a pass in 39 consecutive games, eclipsing the mark held by Glen Kozlowski (1981, 1983-85).