SEATTLE -- Harvey Unga made a mistake, and says he'll have to learn to be more upfront about his condition.

He created the second-and-goal from the 6-yard line with a nifty run of nine yards that left him gassed. He took a big hit on the next play.

"Times like that, maybe I need to learn that I need to come out; let someone else take the spot (for a play)," Unga said. "But you make mistakes and learn from them. I was struggling out there, huffing and puffing, and the guy made a good play on the ball. He got it square on the tip, and I thought I had it; tried to dive in. The ball was a little loose, I was trying to get my momentum and I coughed it up."

It was a rare breach of form for the sophomore, who shredded BYU's rushing reputation against big-name competition by getting 136 yards on 23 carries.

The Cougars finished with 137 yards net. Fui Vakapuna, in his first action of the year, earned 15 on two carries (plus his first touchdown), and the team took a loss of 14.

The Cougars played UW's Pac-10 foe, UCLA, twice last year and came up with just 88 yards on the ground. It built on a trend since 2003 of having just one game with 100 yards rushing -- a critical stat to coach Bronco Mendenhall -- compared to 15 without against BCS opponents.

The one time? The 2006 Las Vegas Bowl, when Curtis Brown had 122 yards against Oregon, which wasn't exactly the most inspired opponent in a 38-8 December blowout. The last time before that was 2002 against Syracuse, when Marcus Whalen had 140 yards on 19 carries.

BYU was 2-4 in its last six games against BCS competition, averaging 81 yards rushing.

Unga was quiet in the season opener against Northern Iowa, designed because the Panthers chose to emphasize taking him away.

But along with the 23 rushes at UW, he had five catches for 39 yards. His presence was necessary, and effective.

Those 28 "touches" is the second highest number he's put up at BYU, trailing only a total of 30 last October at UNLV.

"To be honest, I never really pay attention to how many touches I get," Unga said. "It just kind of comes along. But I was happy, I'm grateful. I kind of stumbled there one time, but we won't talk about that."

But the running game deserves to be discussed a lot. Vakapuna had an 11-yard touchdown run on his first try this year to tie the score at 21 late in the third quarter. He missed the UNI game after a summer classwork issue.

Unga's versatility was back, along with Vakapuna's health. The hamstring no longer appears to bother him.

"When I'm happy, I play happy," the senior said. "I play energized. It's a good thing."

• Gambling man: On the game-winning PAT block, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall decided to roll the dice.

"I asked (special teams coach) Paul Tidwell if there was any chance they would have the nerve to fake it," Mendenhall said. "He told me, 'There's always a chance.' I said, 'All-out rush' and the players nodded like they believed they could block it. It was similar to the conversation we had against UCLA (in the Las Vegas Bowl) last year."

Jan Jorgensen, who was held without a sack and had just two tackles, said he found a chink in the Washington PAT team earlier in the game.

"(On the block) there was great penetration all over," Jorgensen said. "I was able to squeze through, stick out my left hand and get it."

• A big win? While Mendenhall tried to downplay the importance of the victory, Jorgensen said the players knew what was at stake on Saturday.

"It's big," Jorgensen said about the win. "From my point of view, I'm just tired of hearing we can't win on the road early in the season. We know that we can do it and we have the players to do it. Now we don't have to listen to that anymore.

"It (a close road win) just battle tests you. It's always nice to get into a close game like that and know you can pull it off. We have the confidence to pull off a close win."

• Chasing Locker: Washington sophomore quarterback Jake Locker was as good as advertised. He finished 17-of-32 for 204 yards and a touchdown through the air and constantly made plays with his feet, rushing for 98 yards (he lost 36 yards on sacks) and two more scores. Washington's gritty 17-play drive to pull within one point with two seconds left was pretty much all Locker and his athletic ability.

"It was very frustrating," Jorgensen said. "He's amazing. Our defensive line or linebackers would get through there thinking we've got a sack on the guy and he was able to squeeze around and go. The threat is when he doesn't get his first two reads he just tucks it and goes. He finds creases and makes creases on his own."

Mendenhall said his defense had different plans to stop Locker, none of which worked very effectively.

"We had a pressure plan but we had unblocked players that couldn't get him on the ground," Mendenhall said. "Then we had plans where we dropped eight players but he ran around and through us. I don't know if there's an effective plan when you don't match up athletically. We used every weapon we thought we had."

• Scary moment: Washington safety Darin Harris was knocked unconscious in the fourth quarter attempting to tackle BYU tight end Dennis Pitta. Harris was taken from the field in an ambulance, but not before a bizarre scene ensued on the field. Harris' mother sprinted from one end of the field to the other to join her son after first being restrained by security.

"Right now, I think the outlook for Darin Harris is very good," Washington head coach Tyrone Willingham said. "There is no form of neck injury we are able to see right now, so he should be fine from that standpoint. We believe that it's more of a concussion than anything else. You could see when he was down that he was moving and wanting to get back on there and play. It was very close, but I think he'll be alright."

It was reported in the press box that Harris was conscious and moving his extremities when he was taken from the field.

• Lucky pants? Mendenhall usually wears tan slacks for his game-day attire but chose sweatpants against Washington.

"I hesitate to tell you," he said to the assembled media, "but I think I wore these pants against Oregon and UCLA. I'm sure I'm going to regret saying that."

• Extra Points: BYU has the nation's longest winning streak at 12 games. The last time the Cougars won 12 in a row was 2001. ... BYU had lost eight straight games on the road against BCS conference teams. ... Announced attendance was 64,611. ... BYU senior center Dallas Reynolds, who served in Seattle during his LDS mission, was chosen by his teammates to carry the "Y" flag onto the field. ... BYU punted only twice in the game and had just four possessions in the second half. Two resulted in touchdowns, one ended in a fumble into the end zone and the fourth was a kneel down to run out the final two seconds. ... Max Hall opened the season with 68 straight attempts without an interception. He was picked by Washington's Mason Foster in the second quarter to end that streak. ... BYU junior linebacker Vic So'oto suffered a broken foot in the first quarter and was replaced by junior Coleby Clawson.