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PROVO, Utah -- BYU running back Curtis Brown did it all in the Cougars' 24-13 win over the Wyoming Cowboys Saturday, running for a touchdown, throwing for another, and rushing for a season-high 159 yards.
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With the victory, the Cougars improved to 3-4 overall, 2-1 in the Mountain West Conference. Wyoming fell to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
"It feels good to win," BYU coach Gary Crowton said. "The defense played strong. They've been playing strong all year. I also thought the offensive line did a great job."
The Cougar defense limited the Cowboys to 322 net yards and forced four turnovers, all interceptions.
Behind a solid offensive line, the BYU running game gained 237 yards and scored two touchdowns. As a team, the Cougars had 416 yards of total offense. The other BYU touchdown was a 40-yard pass from Brown to Austin Collie, the first score of the game.
"Early in the game we did some good things and we kept running it," Crowton said. "Curtis (Brown) did a good job and so did Fahu (Tahi). We tried to keep them rotating to keep them fresh."
Tahi had 12 carries, 70 yards, and one touchdown.
Wyoming quarterback Corey Bramlet completed 23 of 40 pass attempts for 219 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions. His longest pass was a 35-yard touchdown strike to Jovon Bouknight in the third quarter, giving Wyoming its only lead of the night at 13-10.
The Cowboy lead was short lived as BYU answered on its next possession, traveling 80 yards on nine plays, all runs, in 3:49 to take a 17-13 lead with 13:37 left in the game. Brown had five runs for 43 yards on the drive and capped it off with a nine-yard touchdown run. Tahi added 25 yards on three carries and Collie had a 12-yard run on a reverse.
Tahi sealed the deal in the fourth with a 15-yard touchdown run, putting the Cougars up 24-13 to cap a 12-play 83-yard drive.
On Wyoming's first two drives, the BYU defense forced a punt, which the Cougars lost, and then a missed field goal.
Once the offense got the ball, it was all Curtis Brown. After an incomplete pass, Brown ran twice for 29 yards to put the Cougars on the Wyoming 40. He then took a pass from John Beck behind the line of scrimmage and threw a perfect 40-yard touchdown pass to Austin Collie to put the Cougars up 7-0. It was Collie's fourth touchdown of the season, all of which have been for 40 yards or more.
Wyoming got on the board with 12:01 to go in the second on a 45-yard field goal by Deric Yaussi, making the score 7-3. The Cowboys only moved the ball 16 yards on six plays but had excellent field position thanks to a 24-yard punt return by Hoost Marsh that put the ball on the BYU 43.
After the Wyoming field goal, the Cougars were forced to punt and lost a fumble. Wyoming was no better during the stretch, throwing two interceptions. The first was a pick by Aaron Francisco on the BYU two after the ball bounced off the helmet of Nate Soelberg.
The second interception of the quarter was by Jon Burbidge, giving the ball to the Cougars on their own five-yard line. A pass interference call gave BYU the ball on the 19 and two plays later, Beck connected with Todd Watkins on a 52-yard pass moving the Cougars to the Wyoming 26. Three unsuccessful plays later and Matt Payne came on to hit a 46-yard field goal with 4:18 left in the second, his 12th consecutive successful attempt from 40 to 49 yards, tying an NCAA record set by John Carney of Notre Dame in the 1984-85 season.
Yaussi hit another field goal just before the end of the first half, cutting the BYU lead to 10-6. The field goal came at the end of a 52-yard, seven play drive.
The name of the game in the third quarter was field position. Both teams struggled to move the ball, punting the ball back and forth. Payne pinned the Cowboys inside the 20 twice but on his third punt of the quarter, Marsh returned the ball 22-yards to put Wyoming on the BYU 39. After two short runs, Bramlet found Jovon Bouknight on a 35-yard touchdown pass over the middle to give the Cowboys the 13-10 advantage.
The Cougars will be back in action next Saturday at Air Force (3-3 overall, 2-1 MWC). The game will be broadcast at 1 p.m. on ESPN plus.
