Sept 29, 2001
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By TIM DAHLBERG
AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS - With the game on the line, Brigham Young coach Gary Crowton wasn't asking much from a big-play team averaging 606 yards a game. All he wanted was a measly 4 yards, and a chance to win.
Brandon Doman gave him that and a whole lot more in the final minutes Saturday night, bringing No. 20 BYU from behind for a mistake-filled 35-31 victory over UNLV.
Doman's 42-yard pass to Mike Rigell on fourth-and-4 set up his 21-yard touchdown run on the next play for the winning touchdown that kept BYU unbeaten in four games.
UNLV, meanwhile, remained winless and lost on an opponent's final drive for the second time in four games.
"I was just hoping to get four yards," Crowton said of the fourth-and-4 play that BYU needed to keep its hopes alive.
Rigell was wide open across the middle when Doman hit him with a short pass that he carried to the 21. On the next play, Doman rolled left and then took off scrambling to his right all the way into the corner of the end zone.
"We've been making the big plays all season," Rigell said. "The back just let me get underneath him."
Playing for the first time in 21 days, the Cougars (4-0, 0-1) were sloppy from the opening kickoff and went into an offensive slump in the second half before scoring on the final drive.
After not scoring the entire second half, BYU went 91 yards in eight plays, with Doman scoring the winning touchdown with 1:12 left.
"Not playing for 21 days hurt us," Crowton said. "Mistakes, fumbles, kickoff returns. Those are the things you can't practice for."
BYU opened the game with a fumble on the kickoff return that UNLV took back for a score. The Cougars fumbled five more times and Doman threw an interception, leading to 24 UNLV points.
Even worse for an offense averaging 55.3 points a game, BYU had trouble moving the ball most of the second half.
"The layoff was probably the biggest thing," said Luke Staley, who fumbled the opening kickoff. "We hadn't hit for two weeks and it showed."
UNLV (0-4, 0-1) went ahead on a field goal with 6:32 remaining, then the teams both went three and out before BYU's winning drive.
The Rebels did find a new offensive threat in tiny freshman running back Dominique Dorsey, though, who scored two touchdowns. And coach John Robinson said his team remains ready to win.
"I think our team will finish 7-4 and we will play in a bowl game," Robinson said.
BYU, which came into the game with the nation's top offense, was down 7-0 only 13 seconds into the game when Staley fumbled the return and Derek Olsen picked it up and ran 22 yards for a touchdown. the winning score.
BYU played well enough in spurts to take a 28-21 halftime lead, and appeared on its way to another big offensive game.
But UNLV's defense stiffened in the second half, shutting BYU out until Donan's late score pulled out the game for the Cougars.
Doman also threw two touchdown passes for BYU, which was held to 448 total yards.
UNLV got two touchdowns and two long kick returns from Dorsey, who ran for 77 yards. But UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas struggled once again, completing 11 passes for 132 yards and throwing two interceptions.
In losing, UNLV might have found a potent offensive threat in Dorsey, the 5-foot-6 freshman who had rushed only nine times in the first three games. Dorsey darted inside effectively and ran 14 times, picking up 77 yards and two touchdowns.
"I think Dominique is establishing himself as a great player. He is just so fast," Robinson said.
