Air Force Falls To BYU, 41-24
10/23/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - John Beck threw for 319 yards and four touchdowns, and Curtis Brown ran for 128 yards to help Brigham Young overcome a sluggish start and beat Air Force 41-24 on Saturday.
Dennis Pitta blocked a punt and caught two touchdown passes, Todd Watkins had six catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, and BYU (4-4, 3-1 Mountain West) had 527 yards to win for the third time in four games.
Air Force (3-4, 2-2) couldn't get much going with its option - 213 yards on 47 carries - didn't give quarterback Shaun Carney much time to throw and allowed a touchdown off a blocked punt for the third time in two games.
The Falcons scored twice in the fourth quarter, including Darnell Stephens' second TD run, but couldn't get closer than 10 points.
BYU made sure of that with a dominating third quarter. After struggling most in the first half, the Cougars had three touchdowns and a 222-49 advantage in total yards to turn a seven-point deficit to a 24-10 lead.
Beck had a lot to do with it.
The sophomore shook off a difficult first half, hitting Watkins on a 70-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the third quarter. Beck followed with a 38-yard pass to fullback Naufahu Tahi on the next drive, setting up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Pitta on a screen.
Beck also tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Austin Collie on the first play of the fourth quarter to put BYU up 31-10. He finished 20-for-31.
Air Force followed Collie's touchdown with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Carney to Greg Kirkwood> just 34 seconds later, but that only cut the lead to 31-17 because of yet another miscue by punter Donny Heaton.
Heaton had two punts blocked and four others that went less than 20 yards last week against New Mexico. He didn't have any trouble with four kicks in the first half, but dropped a snap late in the third quarter. Pitta moved in for the block - BYU's first in 12 years - and Gary Lovely ran it in 10 yards for a touchdown that put the Cougars up 24-10.
It was a surprising turnaround after the way BYU started.
Beck seemed off-kilter in the early going, repeatedly sailing passes over and behind his receivers. He overthrew Collie on what would have been a touchdown on BYU's second drive and his first pass of the second quarter was thrown behind Daniel Coats, leading to Bobby Giannini's interception at the Cougars 29.
Air Force, after managing just 50 yards on 18 plays in the first quarter, capitalized on the next play when Stephens took off left and cut back across the field for a 29-yard touchdown run.
The Cougars had another mistake three plays later, when Brown fumbled a handoff from Beck and Air Force's Nate Terrazone recovered at the BYU 36. That set up Michael Greenaway's 48-yard field goal that put the Falcons up 10-3.
Dennis Pitta blocked a punt and caught two touchdown passes, Todd Watkins had six catches for 153 yards and a touchdown, and BYU (4-4, 3-1 Mountain West) had 527 yards to win for the third time in four games.
Air Force (3-4, 2-2) couldn't get much going with its option - 213 yards on 47 carries - didn't give quarterback Shaun Carney much time to throw and allowed a touchdown off a blocked punt for the third time in two games.
The Falcons scored twice in the fourth quarter, including Darnell Stephens' second TD run, but couldn't get closer than 10 points.
BYU made sure of that with a dominating third quarter. After struggling most in the first half, the Cougars had three touchdowns and a 222-49 advantage in total yards to turn a seven-point deficit to a 24-10 lead.
Beck had a lot to do with it.
The sophomore shook off a difficult first half, hitting Watkins on a 70-yard touchdown pass on the second play of the third quarter. Beck followed with a 38-yard pass to fullback Naufahu Tahi on the next drive, setting up an 11-yard touchdown pass to Pitta on a screen.
Beck also tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Austin Collie on the first play of the fourth quarter to put BYU up 31-10. He finished 20-for-31.
Air Force followed Collie's touchdown with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Carney to Greg Kirkwood> just 34 seconds later, but that only cut the lead to 31-17 because of yet another miscue by punter Donny Heaton.
Heaton had two punts blocked and four others that went less than 20 yards last week against New Mexico. He didn't have any trouble with four kicks in the first half, but dropped a snap late in the third quarter. Pitta moved in for the block - BYU's first in 12 years - and Gary Lovely ran it in 10 yards for a touchdown that put the Cougars up 24-10.
It was a surprising turnaround after the way BYU started.
Beck seemed off-kilter in the early going, repeatedly sailing passes over and behind his receivers. He overthrew Collie on what would have been a touchdown on BYU's second drive and his first pass of the second quarter was thrown behind Daniel Coats, leading to Bobby Giannini's interception at the Cougars 29.
Air Force, after managing just 50 yards on 18 plays in the first quarter, capitalized on the next play when Stephens took off left and cut back across the field for a 29-yard touchdown run.
The Cougars had another mistake three plays later, when Brown fumbled a handoff from Beck and Air Force's Nate Terrazone recovered at the BYU 36. That set up Michael Greenaway's 48-yard field goal that put the Falcons up 10-3.
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