Oct 28, 2001
By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer
SAN DIEGO - Defensive end Ryan Denney returned a blocked field goal 82 yards for a touchdown to start a run of big scoring plays as No. 16 Brigham Young remained undefeated with a 59-21 victory over San Diego State on Saturday night.
The Cougars also got touchdowns on Luke Staley's 63-yard run, the first of his three scores, linebacker Isaac Kelley's 60-yard interception return, and a 68-yard pass from backup quarterback Charlie Peterson to Toby Christensen late in the game.
The Cougars rallied from an early deficit to improve to 8-0, continuing their best start since going 13-0 and winning the national championship in 1984. BYU leads the Mountain West Conference at 4-0.
Staley has 17 touchdowns, setting BYU's single-season record. The old mark was 16 by Waymon Hamilton in 1981. Staley gained 165 yards on 17 carries, his fifth 100-yard game this year. He also scored on runs of 3 and 8 yards.
Brandon Doman threw touchdown passes of 32 yards to Soren Halladay and 4 yards to Gabriel Po'u Reid, both in the second half. Doman had his lowest output this season, completing 15 of 19 passes for 154 yards.
San Diego State's Larry Ned, playing with his sprained left ankle heavily wrapped, gained 239 yards on 35 carries, scoring on runs of 1 and 23 yards. He has 1,168 yards this season.
It San Diego State's worst loss in eight seasons under coach Ted Tollner. The Aztecs (2-6, 1-3) were ensured their third straight losing season.
Denney's return opened the scoring early in the first quarter. Justin Ena blocked a 23-yard field-goal attempt by Tommy Kirovski and Denney, who's 6-foot-7, 275 pounds, picked it up and rambled ahead of the pack to score.
The Aztecs went ahead 14-7 with two touchdowns by Ned in a span of 17 seconds.
Ned scored on a 1-yard run with six seconds left in the first quarter, and the Aztecs got the ball back when BYU's Mike Rigell fumbled the kickoff and Stephen Larsen recovered at the Cougar 23-yard line. Two plays later, Ned scored.
Following a 34-yard field goal by BYU's Matt Payne, the Aztecs had a chance to pad their lead but Lon Sheriff was intercepted at the BYU 4 by Levi Madarieta.
The Cougars had their other two big plays in a matter of minutes to take the lead for good. Staley broke two tackles, including one at the line of scrimmage, on his 63-yard run that made it 17-14.
San Diego State drove into BYU territory when a pass by Sheriff bounced out of Ned's hands to Kelley, who raced 60 yards to score for a 24-14 lead with 1:46 left before halftime.