BYU Gains an Easy Win Over Wyoming : WAC: Ty Detmer becomes school’s all-time passing leader as No. 8 Cougars beat No. 25 Cowboys, 45-14.

Ty Detmer, a target the last time he played at Laramie, was a terror on Saturday.

Detmer had his 21st consecutive 300-yard passing game and moved into fifth place on the NCAA career passing yardage list as eighth-ranked Brigham Young battered No. 25 Wyoming, 45-14, in the Western Athletic Conference.

Detmer, then a redshirt freshman, made his first varsity start against Wyoming in 1988. He was sacked five times and had four passes intercepted in a 24-14 loss.

Detmer had an opportunity Saturday to show what he has learned since that troubling start.

The junior completed 35 of 50 passes for 484 yards, climbing past former BYU quarterback Jim McMahon into fifth place on the NCAA career yardage list with 9,670 yards. He has three games and another season in which to get the 1,755 yards he needs to supplant San Diego State’s Todd Santos on the top of the list.

“It was good to come back and see everything again and have more experience,” Detmer said. “We played a great game.”

BYU Coach LaVell Edwards thought his team’s performance was the best of the year.

“It was our best defensive effort, and I think we are getting better each game,” he said. “If we can keep this going, I think this is about as good a football as we have had at BYU.”

As far as Wyoming Coach Paul Roach is concerned, the Heisman Trophy race is over.

“If you were going to start to form a football team tomorrow, who would you want, (1988 Heisman winner Barry) Sanders or Detmer?” Roach asked. “I just think he’s truly outstanding, and I hope he wins it because I really think he’s deserving of it. I mean, he does more for a football team than anybody I’ve seen in a long time.”

Detmer had plenty of time to show his stuff as the Cougars (8-1) improved to 6-0 in the WAC by limiting Wyoming (9-2, 5-2) to 189 yards. When he wasn’t throwing, he was handing off to the likes of Peter Tuipulotu, who carried nine times for 75 yards and three touchdowns, and Mike Salido, who had 96 yards in 10 carries and a touchdown.

“Defensively, we ran into a machine,” Roach said. “They come in here averaging 620 yards, and today I understand they got even more than that.

“In the second half, we just didn’t do anything offensively. We just played baseball--three and out.”

Tuipulotu got BYU’s first touchdown on a 30-yard run up the middle late in the first quarter that put BYU ahead, 10-0. Salido scored on a 13-yard pass from Detmer to make it 17-0 after one quarter.

Wyoming, which had the ball for only 19 minutes 40 seconds, scored late in the half on Tom Corontzos’ six-yard run and tight end Gordy Wood’s 23-yard reverse.