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Hall, BYU rally to beat Utah, clinch MWC title

Nov 25, 2007 - 1:22 AM PROVO, Utah (Ticker) -- A miracle play from Max Hall and a pair of ill-advised penalties by Utah allowed Brigham Young to record another wild win in the latest edition of the "Holy War."

Hall's 49-yard completion to Austin Collie on 4th-and-18 helped set up Harvey Unga's game-winning 11-yard touchdown run as No. 23 BYU rallied for a 17-10 triumph over Utah in a Mountain West Conference thriller.

It was the second straight improbable victory in this fierce rivalry for the Cougars (9-2, 7-0 MWC), who clinched their second consecutive conference title.

"There was no panic on the sideline," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "There wasn't any loss of composure."

BYU has won 15 consecutive MWC contests and has not lost in conference play since a 41-34 setback to the Utes here on November 19, 2005.

BYU won this annual contest in amazing fashion last season, as John Beck tossed an 11-yard TD to Jonny Harline as time expired to lift the Cougars to a 33-31 triumph.

A repeat victory in the 89th all-time meeting between these teams seemed unlikely for BYU, which faced a 4th-and-18 from its own 13-yard line with just 1:11 remaining.

But after avoiding a pass rush, Hall rolled to his right and lofted a perfect pass to a wide-open Collie, who raced to Utah's 39 before being pushed out of bounds.

"Certain things happen to allow you to win games," Hall said. "I think that was definitely a magic play."

The Utes lost their cool following the long completion, committing a pair of 15-yard personal fouls to give the Cougars the ball at the Utah 14. BYU capitalized two plays later, as Unga plowed into the end zone from 11 yards out to give the Cougars the lead for good.

Hall zipped a pass to Collie to complete the two-point conversion and give BYU a 17-10 cushion with 38 seconds remaining.

Utah (8-4, 5-3) did not go down without a fight, driving the ball to midfield with three seconds left.

But Brian Johnson's desperation heave into the end zone was batted down, clinching the win for the Cougars and setting off a wild celebration at Lavell Edwards Stadium.

Despite playing with a sprained right shoulder, Hall finished 17-of-40 for 269 yards and was intercepted once. His favorite target was Collie, who hauled in five receptions for 126 yards.

Unga rushed for 141 yards on 23 carries for BYU, which closes out its regular season next week at San Diego State in a contest which was postponed due to the California wildfires in mid-October.

Utah's Darrell Mack rushed for 56 yards and scored the go-ahead one-yard run which gave the Utes a 10-9 lead and an apparent upset victory with 1:34 remaining.

"It was tough to swallow. Each team touched the end zone only one time," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "It came down to the wire just like last year, and unfortunately it went the other way."

Johnson completed 17-of-29 passes for 129 yards and two interceptions for the Utes, who fell to 52-33-4 all-time against the Cougars.