WAC ROUNDUP : BYU Uses Big Plays to Escape

In a game much tougher than anyone expected, No. 25 Brigham Young turned to big plays to overcome Division I-A newcomer Northeast Louisiana, 24-10, Saturday at Provo, Utah.

Patrick Mitchell provided one of them--a fourth quarter end-zone interception that stopped the Indians, who were trailing, 17-10, at the time.

John Walsh passed for 256 yards and three touchdowns--two to Hema Heimuli--to lead BYU (8-2). Jamal Willis rushed for 134 yards in 26 carries.

NLU (1-8), an independent playing its first season out of Division I-AA, stayed close through most of the game. The Indians led, 7-3, after the first quarter.

Through three quarters the teams were fairly even statistically. BYU had 332 yards total offense. Northeast Louisiana had 313. In the fourth quarter, however, BYU took over, gaining 133 yards to Northeast’s 87.

Nevada 62, Fresno State 35--Nevada of the Big West embarrased the Bulldogs of the WAC at Fresno, as Mike Maxwell completed 33 of 46 passes for 443 yards and five touchdowns.

Nevada ran up 683 yards of total offense and never punted.

Alex Van Dyke had 15 catches for 173 yards and three touchdowns for the Wolf Pack (8-1), and tailback Ken Minor rushed for 155 yards in 26 carries. Minor started in place of Marcellus Chrishon, out with a sprained ankle.

For Fresno State (4-6), it was the most lopsided defeat at home since 1981 and marked the first time in 11 years the Bulldogs have lost two in a row.

Nevada forced five turnovers in the game, four of those on interceptions of Richie Donati. Nevada had only two interceptions in its previous eight games.

No. 14 Colorado State 35, Wyoming 24--The Rams, trailing 21-7, rallied for a WAC victory at Fort Collins, Colo.

catch in the end zone.

Colorado State (8-1, 6-1) went ahead, 28-24, on a 28-yard pass from Anthoney Hill to Eric Olsen, who made an over-the-shoulder catch in the end zone.

Wyoming dropped to 4-6, 2-4.

Air Force 10, Army 6--Preston McConnell scored on a 10-yard run and Randy Roberts kicked a 26-yard field goal as the Falcons continued their dominance over Army with a victory at West Point.

It was Air Force’s sixth consecutive victory over Army (3-6) and secured the Commander in Chief’s Trophy for the Falcons (6-3) for a record sixth consecutive time.