Darnell Dickson

How does eighth-ranked BYU measure itself after Friday's 34-14 victory over Utah State?

On one hand, you have a dominating first quarter, with the Cougar defense causing three turnovers (one was a fumble return for a score) and an offense that put up 17 more points.

On the other hand, you have the other three quarters, where the Cougars couldn't seem to place as much importance on the finish as the Aggies.

On the other hand ... all right, no third hands, but Utah beat this same Utah State team 58-10 three weeks ago in Logan.

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall tried to put a face on the win for his 5-0 team.

"The main thing I shared with the team -- and I won't tell you everything I shared -- is now this isn't just about winning football games," he said. "It's about improving as a program. It's gratifying to win but we need to see a certain level of consistency, poise, maturity and resolve, regardless of circumstances around us.

"For our games remaining to be played, in a tough conference, we need to be a bit more mature, poised and execution sound, no matter what the circumstances are."

Unlike UCLA and Wyoming, Utah State didn't roll over after falling behind early (24-0) and continued to play hard. The Aggies scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and nearly added a third before time expired.

"We can play better football than we did, but give Utah State credit, especially their defensive players and their quarterback," Mendenhall said. "They showed a lot of grit in the second half.

"What's clear to me now is the expectation. How many you win by and how well you play is important, and what's been acknowledged is that it means more. It's certainly satisfying to win on the road with a convincing margin."

Whether it's convincing enough to keep the Cougars in the nation's Top 10 will be seen today when the polls come out.

• Which Denney is that? BYU junior defensive end Brett Denney had a huge first quarter with three tackles for loss and a sack. All three TFL's came on the read option play. USU quarterback Diondre Borel faked to his running back and tried to skirt Denney's side but was dropped for a loss each time. Denney finished with six tackles (all solo) and four tackles for loss.

"The credit goes to our coaching staff, they know defense," Denney said. "They know how to call plays. I just had to step in the gap and make a play."

• Humble pie: Junior wide receiver Austin Collie, who had his third straight 100-yard receiving game with eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns, called the Utah State game "a little humbling point in our season."

"We need to understand teams are out there to beat us," he said. "We need to play with a chip on our shoulder. I think we just overlooked these guys a little bit. Every offense has a game like this, every player has a game like this. We got a little humbled and we got a win, and that's a positive thing."

• Coach's lament: "They capitalized on all those (turnovers) like a Top 10 team will do to you. We put ourselves in such a big deficit that when we went in 24-0 at the half we were actually pretty lucky. It could've been worse, from what had happened.

"I told them it's a heavyweight fight when you're playing with Top 10 teams. You've got to answer them with punches. We didn't do that in the first half. Every time they got the ball and made a play we could not respond." -- Utah State head coach Brent Guy.

• Aggie bites: Utah State is 1-9 vs. AP Top 25 teams at home. The Aggies have scored 107 points in their first five games. Last year, USU didn't reach 107 points until Game 7 vs. Nevada.

• Hall monitor: BYU junior quarterback Max Hall has thrown a touchdown pass in seven consecutive games and in 17 of his 18 starts. The only game he didn't throw a touchdown pass was in the 2007 season finale against Utah. Hall threw two interceptions against Utah State, the first time he'd done that since two picks at UNLV on Oct. 13, 2007.

• They said it: "The end result was a 34-14 setback to the Cougars on Friday night at Romney Stadium.

"Give the Aggies a mulligan in the first quarter and things might've been different. After all, they kept BYU off the scoreboard during the second 15 minutes of play and outscored them through the final three quarters." -- Wade Denniston, Logan Herald Journal

• On to the next one: BYU hosts New Mexico next Saturday at 4 p.m. (The Mtn.). The Cougars hold a 42-14-1 lead in the series and beat the Lobos 31-24 last year in Albuquerque.

"New Mexico' s a good team," Denney said. "Every time we play them they come in fighting. We can't take them lightly, that's for sure."

• Extra Points: BYU has won 15 games in a row, its longest such streak since winning 15 consecutive games during the 1983-85 seasons. ... BYU is 31-4 when leading at halftime and 30-1 when taking a lead into the fourth quarter under Mendenhall. ... BYU is 4-1 coming off a bye week under Mendenhall. ... Senior center Dallas Reynolds made his 43rd consecutive start on Friday. ... Utah State had more first downs (23 to 19), more rushing yards (129 to 103) and more time of possession (30:03 to 29:57).

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it He's the host of "The Home Team" on AM1400 KSTAR weekdays from 4-6 p.m.