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Hall, BYU cruise past Northern Iowa

Aug 31, 2008 - 4:06 AM PROVO, Utah (Ticker) -- Brigham Young entered the 2008 season as a sleeper capable of crashing the BCS party. The Cougars' performance for three quarters Saturday did little to dispel those notions.

Max Hall threw for 486 yards and two touchdowns as 16th-ranked Brigham Young overcame a lackluster third quarter en route to a 41-17 victory over Northern Iowa.

The Cougars (1-0), who are the preseason favorites in the Mountain West Conference and find themselves ranked in the preseason top 25 for the first time since 1997, surged to a 27-3 lead by halftime, thanks in part to three touchdowns from Harvey Unga.

"We have a very good football team," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We made enough plays to win and I think we showed signs of being the team that we are capable of being."

Unga ran for a pair of touchdowns and also caught a score from Hall, who completed 34-of-41 passes and also ran for a score early in the fourth to extend BYU's lead to 34-17.

Northern Iowa (0-1) took advantage of three turnovers by the Cougars in the third quarter to cut its deficit to 27-17. The Panthers, who are ranked No. 3 in the Football Championship Subdivison, also used some trickeration to get back into the game.

"Ball security was one of the things we can improve on, and with that being different, most likely the game would have been much more convincing," Mendenhall said. "We saw enough mistakes and things that we can certainly improve on over the next week."

Wide receiver Victor Williams connected with fellow wideout Josh Collins for a 76-yard touchdown on the first play after one of the Cougars' three turnovers. On BYU's ensuing possession, James Ruffin jarred the ball loose from Hall, and Mark Huygens fell on it in the end zone for another score.

BYU pulled away with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 1-yard keeper by Hall.

A junior, Hall completed passes to eight different players, including 11 catches by Dennis Pitta. The junior tight end set a career high with 213 receiving yards.

With the win, BYU extended the nation's longest winning streak to 11.