Payne Is Good for Brigham Young

Matt Payne kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired to give Brigham Young a 41-38 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night, keeping the Cougars’ slim bowl championship series hopes alive.

The Cougars (12-0) extended their winning streak to 14 games and for the second straight game needed last-minute heroics to remain unbeaten.

Brandon Doman threw for 390 yards and five touchdowns, but Luke Staley did most of the work on the final 63-yard drive, running five times.

Staley ran for 149 yards in 28 carries.

The Cougars were No. 12 in the BCS rankings.

The top 12 teams are eligible to be selected for one of four big-money bowl games.

Ranked 113th in the nation in scoring, Mississippi State (3-8) looked comfortable going shot-for-shot against the nation’s highest scoring team.

Kevin Fant was 20 for 28 for 346 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, Dicenzo Miller ran for 119 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries and Justin Jenkins had seven catches for 133 yards and two scores.

The teams combined for 1,035 yards.

BYU, which needed two touchdowns in the final 31/2 minutes to beat Utah in its previous game, trailed, 31-21, in the third quarter before rallying behind Doman, who was 23 for 32 with three interceptions.

The senior quarterback found Doug Jolley down the sideline for a 26-yard scoring play early in the fourth quarter to tie it at 31.

BYU was threatening again on its next drive when Pig Prather intercepted a long pass at the Bulldog nine.

Fant and the Mississippi State offense went to work with a well-balanced 91-yard drive.

Miller finished the drive by darting into the end zone from 23 yards to give Mississippi State a 38-31 lead with about 10 minutes left.

The Cougars came right back with a 69-yard touchdown drive. Doman rolled right and threw back to an open Spencer Nead, who ran in from 12 yards to tie it at 38 with 6:11 left.

BYU finally came up with a stop, forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their last drive.

The Cougars drove the field methodically on the final drive, with Doman completing two passes for 31 yards.

Fant, who became the starter four games ago, threw two touchdown passes in the first half as the Bulldogs took a 21-7 lead in the second quarter.