Air Force bashes BYU

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Troy Calhoun had never beaten Brigham Young as a player, assistant or head coach at Air Force.

With one last attempt before BYU bolts from the Mountain West Conference after this season, Calhoun pulled out all the stops, going for it late in the third quarter on fourth down in a close game, utilizing little-known players and calling gadget plays.

Finally, Calhoun the coach had that elusive victory over BYU that Calhoun the player or assistant could never achieve.

Mikel Hunter scored twice, and the Falcons forced three turnovers, helping Air Force snap a six-game slide against BYU with a 35-14 win Saturday.

"You can add this to the steppingstones for Coach Calhoun," quarterback Tim Jefferson said.

For all the Falcons, for that matter.

They played with a sense of urgency, with BYU set to leave and become an independent.

With no future dates between the two on the docket, the Falcons didn't want this losing streak looming indefinitely.

"A nice relief off of our shoulders," Jefferson said.

This series had been one-sided of late, with the Cougars winning by an average of 19 points since 2004. But the Falcons (2-0, 1-0 MWC) turned the tables, taking the lead just before halftime and outscoring BYU 14-0 in the second half.

Air Force entered the game with the nation's top rushing offense and had its option attack cranked up against the Cougars (1-1, 0-1), rushing for 409 yards. Asher Clark led the way with 121 yards.

Hunter wasn't used all that often, touching the ball just three times. But the sophomore, who's not exactly a known presence, still had a big day for the Falcons, catching a 37-yard TD pass from Jefferson and scoring on a 33-yard reverse.

■ UNR 51, Colorado State 6 -- At Reno, Colin Kaepernick had 402 yards of total offense, rushing for two touchdowns and passing for two others, as the Wolf Pack routed the Rams (0-2).

Kaepernick had 11 carries for 161 yards and hit 21 of 29 passes for 241 yards before being pulled early in the fourth quarter with the Wolf Pack leading, 44-6.

UNR (2-0), which will move from the Western Athletic Conference to the Mountain West next season, had 631 yards of total offense.

■ No. 4 Texas Christian 62, Tennessee Tech 7 -- At Fort Worth, Texas, Matthew Tucker ran for two touchdowns, Andy Dalton threw for a score while setting another school record, and the Horned Frogs stretched their home winning streak to 15 games with a 62-7 victory over the Golden Eagles (0-2) from the Football Championship Subdivision.

Dalton tied Max Knake's school record of 622 career completions with his second against the Golden Eagles, a 24-yard touchdown pass to Josh Boyce less than five minutes into the game to put TCU (2-0) ahead to stay.

■ No. 5 Texas 34, Wyoming 7 -- At Austin, Texas, Garrett Gilbert passed for 222 yards and a touchdown, and the Longhorns shook off another slow start to beat the Cowboys.

After spending most of the first game against Rice running the ball, Texas opened up its passing playbook against the Cowboys. The result was similar: a methodical win with a few big plays sprinkled in for an offense still trying to find its rhythm.

Texas (2-0) held the Cowboys to 257 total yards. Wyoming (1-1) played just five days after the death of freshman linebacker Ruben Narcisse, who was killed in a car accident in Colorado.

■ San Diego State 41, New Mexico State 21 -- At Las Cruces, N.M., Ronnie Hillman ran for 150 yards and four touchdowns as the Aztecs beat the Aggies (0-1).

Ryan Lindley threw for 319 yards and a touchdown and Vincent Brown had five catches for 99 yards as the San Diego State moved to 2-0 for the first time in 16 years and snapped a 14-game nonconference losing streak.

■ Texas Tech 52, New Mexico 17 -- At Albuquerque, N.M., Taylor Potts tossed three touchdown passes, including two to Lyle Leong, to lead the Red Raiders in a rout of the Lobos.