Oct. 19, 1999
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Changing conferences hasn't seemed to have affected Brigham Young's resolve to win games.
No. 19 BYU tries to remain undefeated in conference play and stay tied at least a tie with Utah for the league lead when it visits UNLV on Saturday.
The Cougars (5-1, 2-0 MWC) had won 19 Western Athletic Conference titles in 37 seasons before switching to the new Mountain West Conference before this year.
BYU remained tied with Utah for a share of the league lead by beating New Mexico 31-7 last Saturday night.
Quarterback Kevin Feterik, the nation's total offense leader, passed for a season-low 211 yards, but it didn't matter given New Mexico's punchless offense and BYU's stingy defense.
Feterik, averaging 354 yards of total offense, was 14-of-25 in the first half. He completed just one more pass before leaving toward the end of the third quarter.
After the game, Feterik said he was bothered by a thigh bruise, but he is expected to play Saturday.
BYU's punishing defense sacked New Mexico quarterback Sean Stein seven times and limited the Lobos to just 124 total yards, including minus-10 yards rushing.
"Our defense was so outstanding," BYU coach LaVell Edwards said. "I don't think they got four or five first downs against our first team."
The Cougars hope their defense can stifle a Rebels' offense that may begin to be hitting its stride.
UNLV (3-3, 1-1) earned its first road conference win since 1994 with a 35-32 win over Wyoming on Oct. 9.
The Rebels, who entered the contest averaging 15.8 points a game, scored the most points in a game since a 55-48 overtime loss to San Jose State on Nov. 22, 1997.
"Every player walked off that field saying `I'm OK, our team's OK,"' UNLV coach John Robinson said.
"We're not a real good team or anything, but we believe in ourselves and to have that belief reinforced is a good thing," he said.
Rebels quarterback Jason Vaughan, who entered the game averaging 137.4 yards passing, finished with 186 in completing 12 of 27 passes and two touchdowns.
Jeremi Rudolph led UNLV's ground attack with 149 yards on 39 rushes.
