Football Falls To BYU, 63-33

Oct 20, 2001

By TIM KORTE
AP Sports Writer

PROVO, Utah - Brandon Doman chatters so much on the field, it sometimes makes his BYU teammates crazy. Rather than fracturing the Cougars, his fiery style has kept them unbeaten.

Doman completed 20 of 32 passes for a season-high 338 yards and four touchdowns and also ran for a 7-yard score to lead No. 18 BYU to a 63-33 victory over Air Force on Saturday.

He teamed with tight end Doug Jolley for three touchdowns, all from 18 yards, as "The Domanator" exploited Air Force's defense all day.

The Falcons weren't the only ones who had to tolerate Doman, who's quick to challenge receivers when they drop passes, praise linemen for good blocks or pester the referees to spot the ball favorably.

"He's just an intense competitor. He's probably the most intense person I've ever met, to the point of being obnoxious," Jolley said. "Sometimes, you just get sick of him."

It's a label Doman won't fight.

"I'm intense and I can definitely be obnoxious at times," he said. "But I think it's a quarterback's job to be intense, to have his mouth moving, to talk to the refs. Maybe I could lessen my talking a little bit, but I just love to play."

The Falcons (4-2, 2-1 Mountain West) were the first BYU opponent with a winning record, but the Cougars (7-0, 3-0) silenced criticism of their soft schedule with an outstanding effort.

"This was good for our confidence," Doman said. "The way our offense is designed, if it's rolling we're going to score often."

Since the Falcons started playing in 1955, they'd never allowed so many points. Until this weekend, the biggest rout in Air Force history was a 57-27 loss at Notre Dame in 1990.

"Their quarterback is one of the most poised quarterbacks I've ever seen," Falcons coach Fisher DeBerry said. "BYU probably didn't do a single thing wrong the whole game."

Staley, meanwhile, ran for 134 yards after sitting out last week amid eligibility concerns. The Cougars squeaked out a 24-20 win at New Mexico while he wore street clothes on the sideline.

Cleared to play this week, he had scoring runs of 2 and 5 yards as BYU built a 42-13 halftime lead. Doman and Staley would have had more yards but both left midway through the third quarter.

"I wanted to have 225 yards, and who knows what would have happened if I had stayed in," Staley said. "You've got to give credit to our offensive line. They were great."

The Falcons haven't won in Provo since 1982 but they had won three of the previous four meetings as BYU struggled to slow Air Force's option. This time, the Cougars solved it.

Quarterback Keith Boyea, who ran for 196 yards last week in a win over Wyoming, was held to 61 yards. Except for a 36-yard run in the first half, Boyea was usually smothered by BYU ends Ryan Denney and Brett Keisel.

Air Force had 108 rushing yards through three quarters before scoring 20 points and running for 226 yards in the fourth against BYU's reserves.

"The ends, the tackles, we all played great assignment football," said linebacker Justin Ena. "Everybody did their job. They had some big runs, but we really cracked down on the assignments and we took care of it."

Then there was Doman, a former third-string quarterback who moved into the lineup late last season.

After the Cougars forced a punt on the opening series, it took them five plays and 1:41 to go ahead 7-0 on Doman's first TD pass to Jolley. On the same drive, he found Jolley for a 38-yard gain.

"If he was just an average guy, he wouldn't be a quarterback anymore," Jolley said. "To be honest, he doesn't have quarterback skills. He's just a competitor and he's a winner, and he makes the offense run."

BYU gambled with the ensuing kickoff, but Aaron Edmonds recovered his own onside kick and Doman needed only six plays before Staley scored his first TD to make it 14-0 six minutes into the game.

"We saw that we had a good chance of getting it," BYU coach Gary Crowton said, referring to the onside kick. "We wanted to get 14 points up there fast."

Doman, who also found Reno Mahe on a 14-yard score in the second quarter, confidently pumped his fist as he jogged off the field after throwing his third TD to Jolley early in the third.

"We had a great, great preparation week," Doman said. "I think when we do that, we come into games fired up and we play well."

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