Oct. 10, 2009
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LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Harvey Unga ran for three touchdowns and 149 yards and No. 18 BYU beat UNLV 59-21 Saturday night.
Max Hall completed 21 of 27 passes for 320 yards and two more scores, helping the Cougars (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) gain 611 yards and lead by double digits for the final 48 minutes.
The Rebels scored 5 minutes into the second half on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Omar Clayton to Michael Johnson to make it 24-14, but BYU only needed four plays to respond.
Hall's 35-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Pitta put the Cougars back up by 17 and the Rebels weren't a threat again. BYU added a 1-yard run from Jo Jo Pili and a 15-yard touchdown pass to JJ Di Luigi for a 45-14 lead at the end of the quarter.
Unga scored all three of his touchdowns in the first 20 minutes, breaking free for a 52-yard run with 11:12 to play in the second quarter to give BYU a 24-7 lead.
Unga also ran it in from 33 yards and 1 yard and Mitch Payne added a 28-yard field goal.
BYU, which entered averaging 34 points and 432 yards per game, took advantage of a UNLV defense that surrendered 773 yards last week in a 63-28 loss at Nevada.
The Cougars have scored 136 points to win their three games since a 54-28 loss to Florida State on Sept. 19.
A 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Deante' Purvis gave the Rebels their only points in the first half. It was UNLV's first kickoff return for a touchdown since 1999.
