Max Hall threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and No. 8 BYU extended its winning streak to 15 games by beating Utah State 34-14 on Friday night in Logan, Utah.
The Cougars (5-0) converted three turnovers into 17 points while pulling ahead 24-0 in the first quarter, then held on for their ninth straight victory over the Aggies despite some sloppy moments.
Utah State (1-4) became the first team to score on BYU in nearly a month with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the Aggies were down 34-0 at the end of the third quarter. That didn’t discourage Utah State fans from chanting “over-rated!” and celebrating every mistake the Cougars made.
Hall threw two interceptions and was sacked for the first time this season when the Aggies brought him down with 4:02 left in the game. The Cougars also had what appeared to be a fumble overturned by the officials and committed several personal fouls in frustration — including one by Hall.
The Cougars had 12 penalties for 123 yards.
Although the outcome was never in question, Utah State fans stayed until the very end to get every last taunt in at BYU, which hadn’t visited Logan since 2002.
Robert Turbin scored for Utah State on a 40-yard run with 13:47 to play, ending a shutout streak by BYU that spanned two games and more than three full quarters. The streak started when BYU blocked an extra point attempt by Washington to preserve a
28-27 win on Sept. 6, followed by shutouts of UCLA (59-0) and Wyoming (44-0).
BYU didn’t allow a point for a span of 166 minutes, 15 seconds before Turbin’s run.
Harvey Unga ran for 89 yards and a touchdown as the Cougars gained 406 yards on the Aggies. Brandon Bradley returned a fumble 38 yards for a touchdown for the Cougars.
BYU was off last week and the offense barely got a workout in the first quarter Friday. The Cougars scored on their third play and another drive later in the period took just one play.
On third-and-6, Hall passed to Austin Collie on a short pattern and the receiver broke it for a 76-yard touchdown, knocking down Utah State’s Caleb Taylor with a stiffarm inside the 20.
The Aggies committed the first of three costly turnovers on the next drive. Shawn Doman caused Diondre Borel to fumble and the ball squirted out of a pile of players. Bradley scooped it up and ran 38 yards for a touchdown with 8:09 left in the first quarter.
Coleby Clawson forced another fumble while sacking Borel and BYU added a 45-yard field goal by Mitch Payne to go up 17-0 with 1:46 left. The Cougars got the ball back seven seconds later when David Nixon made an interception on a tipped pass.
A penalty for a late hit gave the Cougars the ball at the 11 and Unga ran it up the middle from there, dragging several Aggies across the goal line as BYU went up 24-0.
The Aggies gave the Cougars another great opportunity when Curtis Marsh fumbled on a kickoff return after a field goal by BYU. The Cougars recovered at the 20, but Kejon Murphy intercepted a pass by Hall in the end zone and returned it
40 yards.
Cincinnati 33, Marshall 10
Redshirt freshman Chazz Anderson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score in his college debut to lead visiting Cincinnati to victory over Marshall.
Anderson is Cincinnati’s third starting quarterback this season after injuries sidelined Dustin Grutza and backup Tony Pike. Coach Brian Kelly made a game-time decision to start Anderson over redshirt freshman Zach Collaros, who led the go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter in a
17-15 win over Akron last week.
Anderson looked like a calm veteran at times, leading the Bearcats (4-1) on two long scoring drives in the second half to break open a close game. He finished 16-of-26 for 158 yards and was intercepted once against one of the nation’s worst pass defenses.
Marshall (3-3), looking to reverse three straight losing seasons under coach Mark Snyder, has scored just one touchdown in its past two games. The Thundering Herd fell to 0-3 against BCS teams this season and were outscored 111-27 by Cincinnati, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Marshall redshirt freshman Mark Cann had his second straight poor outing. He went 17-of-36 for
178 yards, was intercepted three times and sacked three times.
Midway through the third quarter, Anderson drove Cincinnati
89 yards and found Dominick Goodman in the end zone for the second time, this one from 7 yards out for a 23-10 lead.
After Aaron Webster’s interception on Marshall’s next series led to Jake Rogers’ 40-yard field goal, Anderson capped an
86-yard drive with a 1-yard run with 10:12 left in the game for the final margin.
Cincinnati outgained Marshall 122-119 in the first half but jumped ahead 16-3 with the help of Thundering Herd mistakes.
Cincinnati’s Connor Barwin blocked a Kase Whitehead punt out of the end zone for a first-quarter safety. The Bearcats took over at the Marshall 48 after the ensuing free kick and needed just four plays to reach the end zone, with John Goebel scoring on a
21-yard run for a 9-0 lead.
It seemed every time Marshall started to move the ball, mistakes and penalties ended drives.
Marshall advanced to the Cincinnati 37 in the second quarter, but Darius Marshall ran in circles and lost 14 yards, Cann was sacked and Whitehead shanked a 17-yard punt.
A penalty wiped out a 25-yard reception by Darius Passmore on Marshall’s next possession. Two plays later, Cann’s pass bounced off Cody Slate’s shoulder and Cedric Tolbert returned the interception 35 yards to the Marshall 14. Anderson then found Goodman in the end zone for a
16-0 lead.
The lone bright spot for Cann was a 57-yard scoring pass to Slate on Marshall’s first series of the second half to cut it to 16-10.

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