QB Nelson powers BYU to easy win against Hawaii
HONOLULU -- Riley Nelson threw for 363 yards and three scores to lead Brigham Young to a 41-20 win over Hawaii on Saturday.
The Armed Forces Bowl-bound Cougars (9-3), who trailed in the second quarter, rallied with 34 consecutive points to end postseason aspirations for the Warriors (6-7). Hawaii needed to beat the Cougars to secure a berth in the Hawaii Bowl.
Nelson, who missed most of the last two games due to injury, completed 25 of 37 passes. BYU racked up 530 yards of offense -- including 296 in the second half -- and 28 first downs.
"We moved the ball in the first half, but we didn't put points on the board in the first half because of a couple missed kicks," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We had to tighten up a few things, which happened in the second half. We played with a little more emotion ... I think we improved again and are still gaining momentum."
Hawaii led 13-7 with less than four minutes to play in the second quarter following a 79-yard touchdown pass from David Graves to Trevor Davis, but it was all Cougars after that.
BYU's Justin Sorensen cut the score to 13-10 with a 33-yard field goal just before halftime.
Nelson put the Cougars ahead for good early in the third quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ross Apo -- his second of the game. He also caught a 22-yard touchdown from Nelson in the second quarter.
On Hawaii's ensuing drive, BYU's Uona Kaveinga forced a fumble, which was recovered by Joe Sampson and returned 26 yards for a touchdown to extend the Cougars' lead to 24-13.
■ UNR 56, Idaho 3 -- At Reno, backup quarterback Tyler Lantrip passed for 340 yards and four touchdowns as the Wolf Pack routed the Vandals.
Aaron Bradley had seven catches for 136 yards and three touchdowns for the Wolf Pack (7-5, 5-2 Western Athletic). Rishard Matthews had 12 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown.
Lampford Mark rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown for the Wolf Pack, who had 587 yards of total offense.
The lone score for Idaho (2-10, 1-6) was a 19-yard field goal by Trey Farquhar with 4:01 left in the second quarter.
