Bottling up the Beavers proved Cougars' finest hour

LAS VEGAS BYU isn't supposed to do these bowl game deals in style.

But Tuesday night, the Cougars painted one for the ages in the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas.

Bronco Mendenhall rolled out a gem in Sam Boyd Stadium with an impressive 44-20 win over Oregon State. It was a statement-like jewel from his seniors, capping his third 11-win season in four years.

Simply put, the No. 15 Cougars embarrassed a No. 16 Beaver team that was a few plays from the Rose Bowl in a 37-34 loss to rival Oregon 20 days ago.

As much as OSU struggled miserably with a 50-mile-an-hour Las Vegas winter wind, Mike Riley's squad had a tougher time dealing with a polished BYU squad primed and ready to deliver what may come to be known as BYU's best-ever bowl game performance.

Defensively, this might just be BYU's best bowl effort ever, forcing three Beaver turnovers. The Cougars came out and punched the Beavers in the mug right out of the chute and they never recovered.

"Jaimie Hill really called a great game," said BYU linebacker coach Barry Lamb. "He really had everyone prepared for this game and it showed. The kids responded."

BYU's defensive game plan and execution was nearly flawless in bottling up OSU's potent speed out of the backfield and wideout positions, especially from the Rodgers brothers, James and Jacquizz. All-Pac 10 quarterback Sean Canfield never found a rhythm with his arm or any of his weapons.

When Beaver star Jacquizz Rodgers wasn't running backwards he was smashing into plugged gaps, and his first-quarter fumble, the first of his career through 621 touches, led to a 34-yard Matt Bauman touchdown run.

That play, plus a pair of six-yard OSU punts into the wind, set the stage for BYU's dominance. At that point, a 7-7 tie, BYU appeared to buck up in the wind and the Beavers let it carry them away.

When Jacquizz' brother James fumbled a pass in the fourth quarter on a hit by senior free safety Scott Johnson, it set up BYU's 37th straight point of the game.

Meanwhile, Max Hall parlayed Harvey Unga runs with touch passes to tight ends Andrew George and Dennis Pitta. Hall finished his college career with a bang, riddling the Beaver defense with touchdown passes to Pitta, Manase Tonga and Luke Ashworth.

Hall had as good a bowl game as any BYU quarterback since John Beck against Oregon and Jim McMahon against SMU, primarily because his defense played so well.