Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
By DOUG ALDEN
AP Sports WriterPROVO, Utah (AP) - Max Hall tied a school record with seven touchdown passes and No. 18 BYU handed UCLA its worst loss in nearly 80 years, overwhelming the Bruins 59-0 Saturday.
The Cougars extended the nation's longest winning streak to 13 and improved to 3-0 for the first time in seven seasons. They grabbed control with four touchdowns in the first 5:18 of the second quarter.
BYU forced four turnovers and blocked a field goal attempt while stunning UCLA (1-1) in Rick Neuheisel's second game coaching his alma mater. In 1929, The Bruins were shut out by USC 76-0 and by Stanford two weeks later 57-0.
It was BYU's most lopsided victory since shutting out New Mexico 65-0 in 1988 and the timing was ideal for the Cougars, who outgained UCLA 521-239 and came up with a demonstrative victory one week after edging Washington 28-27 on a blocked extra point attempt. The Cougars felt a little maligned when much more was made of a celebration penalty on Washington after the touchdown with 2 seconds remaining than BYU coming up with a play to win it.
There was nothing to dispute this time.
Hall finished 27-for-35 for 271 yards with one interception. He had six touchdown passes in the first half as the Cougars took a 42-0 lead, then got his seventh on a 6-yard pass to Harvey Unga with 7:43 left in the third quarter to tie the BYU record shared by Marc Wilson and Jim McMahon.
Unga, Dennis Pitta and Austin Collie each caught two of touchdown passes and Michael Reed had the other before Hall was pulled midway through the third quarter with BYU up 49-0. Mitch Payne added a 24-yard field goal for the Cougars and Wayne Latu scored on a 13-yard run late in the third quarter.
The Bruins were shut out for the first time since a 27-0 loss to rival USC in 2001.
UCLA's best scoring chance was Kai Forbath's 27-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, which went wide to right as BYU fans reveled in the shutout. Forbath also had a 32-yard attempt in the second quarter, which BYU blocked and returned to the UCLA 48.
The Bruins and Cougars were playing for the third time in a year. The teams split two meetings last season, with BYU winning the Las Vegas Bowl by blocking a kick by Forbath in the closing seconds.
Hall hit Collie on a 2-yard slant 30 seconds into the second quarter, capping an 80-yard drive and giving BYU a 14-0 lead.
BYU's Jan Jorgensen, who came up with the game-winning blocked kick against Washington last week, forced a fumble barely a minute later when he blindsided UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft and BYU recovered at the 37. Hall hit Collie in stride for a touchdown on first down to make it 21-0 with 12:59 left in the second quarter, then BYU got the ball right back when Scott Johnson upended Raymond Carter and the ball came free for another fumble that BYU recovered at the 30.
Hall finished that drive with a 12-yard touchdown to Reed with 10:07 left before halftime, then on the kickoff the Cougars forced and recovered another fumble. Hall hit Unga for a 15-yard touchdown after that, then found Pitta again from the 2-yard line with 14 seconds left in the half.
(Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
