BYU football: Cougars manage Vegas blowout

LAS VEGAS — In the self-proclaimed City of Entertainment — also known as, at least on Tuesday night, the Windy City — No. 15 BYU put on a dazzling show on a national stage against a Pac-10 opponent, in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas.

The Cougar offense, defense and special teams dominated No. 16 Oregon State and cruised to a 44-20 victory on a blustery evening at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"We just wanted to play well and make another statement for this program and (the Mountain West Conference)," said BYU senior quarterback Max Hall, who, despite the windy conditions, completed 19 of 30 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns and earned the bowl's Most Valuable Player award.

"Our program is on its way to continued national prominence," said coach Bronco Mendenhall, who added that his team could land in the top 10 of the final rankings.

"We didn't have fun last year like we did this year," said senior tight end Dennis Pitta. "It was awesome to cap it off with a win against a team like Oregon State. We started the season off right by beating Oklahoma and then finished the season beating a great team like Oregon State."

Trailing 7-0, BYU scored 37 unanswered points, including back-to-back touchdowns in a little more than a minute late in the first quarter, to crush the mistake-prone Beavers.

It was a sweet victory for BYU's senior class, which helped produce a 43-9 record over the past four seasons.

"I was thrilled with the way our seniors led our team," Mendenhall said. "It's clear they wanted our team to finish on the right note."

The victory marked BYU's third win in its last four bowl appearances. For Oregon State, the loss snapped a five-game bowl winning streak.

"It's a disappointing way to end the season," said OSU coach Mike Riley. "I hate it for the seniors. We haven't ended a season this way in a long time and it's hard. I'm sorry for them."

BYU, which placed second in the MWC, finished the season at 11-2 overall while OSU, which tied for second place in the Pac-10 and came up just a few points short of going to the Rose Bowl, ended up 8-5.

With wind gusts clocked at 37 miles per hour at kickoff – increasing to as high as 53 mph later in the game – Oregon State kicked off to open the game.

"We took the ball to start the game because our seniors felt like they could move the ball against the wind," Mendenhall said. "The wind was something we thought was significant. We just had to manage it the best way we knew how. It was a factor (in the win), not the factor."

The Beavers' first two possessions started in BYU territory and they scored on their second drive, thanks to a couple of long runs by Jacquizz Rodgers and his brother, James, followed by a one-yard touchdown run by quarterback Sean Canfield.