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PROVO — The BYU Cougars took on the UNLV Rebels in Provo Saturday night and despite a slow start, the Cougars got their feet under them and pulled out the W.
UNLV went into the game with a depressing 2-8 record and a month or so ago looked like a cupcake game for the Cougars. Take out Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, however, and the game didn’t seem like a guaranteed win.
UNLV took the lead early with a record-long field goal for their place-kicker.
UNLV is on the board first in Provo. 46 Yard field goal puts them on top of BYU 3-0 with 9:13 left in 1st — ESPN 700 (@ESPN700) November 16, 2014
The Cougars then started moving the ball and scored 14 unanswered points, but a muffed kick-off return and missed tackles allowed the Rebels to score 10 quick points and cut the lead to 1 going into the half.
BYU defense bails out special teams gaffe, holds UNLV to 21 yard field goal from Leiva. Rebels trail Cougars 14-13. #BYU — John Coon (@johncoonsports) November 16, 2014
Like so many other times this year, BYU and quarterback Christian Stewart decided to turn it on in the second half. Stewart had over 300 yards and three TDs. He had another toss that went for a TD, but it was ruled a rushing TD because it was behind the line.
Regardless, Stewart played a solid game and made great plays with both his arm and his legs.
Christian Stewart makes seven UNLV tacklers miss on his was to a first down. He turned a sack into a gain. #BYU#BYUFootball — Jamie Sanders (@sandmanx24) November 16, 2014
Running back Paul Lasike also had a solid night scoring three TDs, two on the ground and one through the air.
Paul Lasike gets his career-high 3rd TD of the night on a 26 yard pass from Christian Stewart. #BYU now up 35-16 w/ 5:42 to go in the 3rd. — Jake Hatch (@JakeHatch77) November 16, 2014
BYU had some issues, especially on special teams, but even with the mistakes BYU became bowl eligible with the win. After a cold night in Provo, a nice warm game in sunny Miami for the Miami Beach Bowl sounds nice to all those cold fans.
BYU beats UNLV 42-23! After a cold night in Provo, Miami is looking nice! #UNLVvsBYU — BYUtv Sports (@byutvsports) November 16, 2014
> BYU will have a bowl presentation after the game. Naturally, some joke about Miami being warm will occur. [\#brr](https://twitter.com/hashtag/brr?src=hash) > > — tiny hobo (@hobocita) [November 16, 2014](https://twitter.com/hobocita/status/533826948401598464)
Up next for BYU is the 0-11 Savannah State Tigers.
John Clyde has been writing about movies, news, sports and pretty much anything awesome for more than five years. He is the co-host of the Flix Junkies podcast and will always entertain you with his stories.
