Far West Roundup : No. 11-Ranked BYU Rallies for 31-30 Win

The last nine minutes of 11th-ranked Brigham Young’s 31-30 come-from-behind victory over New Mexico on Saturday left Cougar Coach LaVell Edwards wrung out.

“I told the team afterward that I didn’t know whether to be frustrated, mad, happy or whatever,” Edwards said after watching his team come from 13 points down at Provo, Utah.

“I had all the emotions because we did everything out there in the last two drives,” he said. “Those two last drives were something that made me proud of them.”

Trailing 30-17, quarterback Steve Lindsley hit Mark Bellini with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 5:51 remaining.

When New Mexico was held without a first down and punted, Lindsley threw a 47-yard pass to Richard Zayas to the Lobos’ eight-yard line. On the third play after that, Lakei Heimuli scored from the one and Leonard Chitty’s kick made it 31-30.

The difference was a missed extra point by Joe Bibbo after New Mexico quarterback Billy Rucker rushed 17 yards for the Lobos’ final score with nine minutes remaining.

Eleven seconds earlier, Rucker had raced three yards for a touchdown to cap an 84-yard drive. BYU’s Mike O’Brien fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Sean Mermer recovered to set up Rucker’s final score.

Edwards said that had New Mexico not missed that point-after, he would have tried to tie rather than go for the win because this was a Western Athletic Conference game.

“Generally, we will play for a tie in a league game because it won’t kill you. But in a nonconference game, we would play for a win. The way the conference is this year, it’s going to be tough to go without a loss,” he said.

Lindsley, who completed 28 of 40 passes for 361 yards and 3 touchdowns, was intercepted 3 times. The Cougars lost 3 fumbles, allowing New Mexico to overcome a 17-7 halftime deficit.

The defeat dropped New Mexico to 0-2 overall. BYU, the defending conference champion, is 2-0 overall.

San Diego St. 37, Utah 30--Chris Hardy ran for 3 touchdowns, including the game-winner with 52 seconds remaining, to lead the Aztecs to a Western Athletic Conference victory at Salt Lake City.

The 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior running back was the game’s leading rusher with 131 yards in 28 carries. Aztec quarterback Todd Santos completed 30 of 38 passes for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Utah took a 30-29 lead with 10:11 remaining when safety Mike Jones intercepted a Santos pass on the Aztec 21 and carried it in for the score. The Utes tried for a two-point conversion but failed.

After the ball changed hands four times, Utah punted to the San Diego State 29 with 2:14 remaining. After a couple short gains, Santos passed to split end Kenny Moore for 41 yards to the Utah 22. Three plays later, Hardy scored from the two to make it 35-30, and Santos passed to tight end Robert Awalt for a two-point conversion.

San Diego is 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the WAC, while Utah is 0-1.

Wyoming 23, Pacific 20--At Laramie, Wyo., Greg Worker kicked a 38-yard field goal as time ran out.

The victory was the first for Coach Dennis Erickson, as Wyoming improved to 1-1. Pacific dropped to 1-1.