Corley and Detmer Lead BYU Over Air Force, 44-35

Stacey Corley returned two kickoffs for touchdowns, and Ty Detmer passed for 334 yards and four touchdowns as Brigham Young turned back an Air Force rally for a 44-35 victory Saturday in a Western Athletic Conference game.

The Cougars (8-2 and 5-1) can win their first WAC title since 1985 with victories in their final games against Utah and at San Diego State.

Air Force (8-3 and 4-1) must win its final games at Utah and at Hawaii and hope BYU loses once.

Corley’s 99-yard return of the opening kickoff gave BYU a 7-0 lead, but the Falcons came back to take a 17-7 lead.

Then Corley returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown and Detmer took over as BYU took a 38-20 lead.

Then after Dee Dowis brought the Falcons within 38-35 on a three-yard touchdown run, BYU’s Micah Matsuzaki recovered an onside kick, setting up Detmer’s 45-yard scoring passes to tight end Chris Smith with 1:07 left in the game.

Corley’s two kickoff returns for scores is a WAC record, and he’s the seventh player in NCAA history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in one game.

Detmer has 25 touchdown passes this season, an NCAA record for a sophomore.

Dowis’ two rushing touchdowns gives him 39 for his career, which would have tied the NCAA record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback except that Southwestern Louisiana’s Brian Mitchell, who had five Saturday against Lamar, now has 43.

Dowis’ 179 yards passing and 86 rushing against BYU gives him 1,030 and 1,096, respectively, this season, making him one of five players in NCAA history to top 1,000 in both rushing and passing.