This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Earlier this week, UNLV coach Bobby Hauck told reporters in Las Vegas that BYU's Christian Stewart was a better passer than Taysom Hill.

Stewart proved the UNLV boss knew what he was talking about on a frigid Saturday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium in front of 53,622 shivering fans. OK, that was the announced attendance; It was probably closer to 40,000 — at least in the first quarter.

Stewart threw for more than 300 yards for the third time — 325, to be exact — and three touchdowns as the Cougars rolled past the Rebels 42-23 to become bowl eligible.

BYU accepted an invitation to play in the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 22 after the game. Tickets are $60, according to a bowl news release issued after the game.

Here's how BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall summed up the sixth win:

"I am pleased with the win. This has not been an easy season, and the games aren't easy, but I believe we will finish strong. Tonight was a nice football game for our team. A lot of good things. Certainly a lot that we can still work on.

But I am encouraged, and I am seeing a lot of guys grow up and a lot of guys develop.

Looking for our next two games in the regular season to see our team improve and culminate with our 10th straight bowl game. I am encouraged and looking forward to our finish."

The Cougars racked up 592 yards after a slow start — three three-and-outs on their first five possessions — and didn't commit a turnover on offense. Both giveaways came on special teams: a fumbled kickoff and a muffed punt. Interestingly, the Cougars had six touchdown drives, and not a one of them lasted longer than a minute, 43 seconds.

Mendenhall said Stewart has made himself a good quarterback.

"If you just look at his body of work, he's really done a nice job. His completion percentage is high, his production is strong, his leadership is good. It is just a matter of continuing to increase the level of play around him in all phases to match the improvement and growth that he is having. But I am really proud of Christian and I like who he is and how he plays," Mendenhall said.

Stewart had a funny line when asked about how the cold temperatures (30 degrees at kickoff, around 24 at end of game). After praising the equipment staff for having heaters and coats, etc., on the sidelines, he noted that they even had players drink chicken broth to stay warm.

"I felt like we should have been shooting a commercial, or something." Stewart said.

Defensively, the Cougars played fairly well, but were not dominant. UNLV picked up 402 yards, about 25 yards above its season average. There were two big plays — a 68-yard touchdown run and a 40-yard touchdown reception — by UNLV that marred an otherwise decent showing by BYU's defense.

"They played pretty well, for the most part," Mendenhall said of the defenders. " The one big run play, whenever that was, that was disappointing, and I think it was on third or fourth down, we gave up the big sideline route. So two big plays. Other than that, I think we were more consistent than we have been for that number of plays. I guess that's what stood out to me."

Most impressive is how the defense stopped UNLV in the red zone, forcing three field goals. Twice UNLV had great field position after BYU miscues, and both times the defense kept the Rebels out of the end zone.

"I would like to not have sudden change, but we are making some progress there," Mendenhall said. "We have focused on it a bunch, and we are making some progress that way. There were a few momentum places, while I am on that topic, where we had a chance to kind of capitalize and separate even further, and there was a special teams miscue. That was frustrating.

And we still have some penalty issues. What is becoming clearer, now, is it is not team wide. It is becoming player-specific. So that is progress and we are dialing it in at a higher level that way."

A few more notes and quotes from the game:

* BYU has scored touchdowns on 11-straight red zone possessions.

* Mendenhall is now 15-1 in November games, soon to be 16-1 after 0-11 Savannah State visits next week. Asked about that game, Mendenhall pointed out without being prompted that the Cougars have to play an FCS opponent because a MWC broke a contract. Mendenhall didn't say which team, but it is almost certainly Hawaii.

* Two freshmen started, meaning that BYU has a combined 27 starts by freshmen this season. Last year, it had four total starts by freshmen.

* Junior defensive end Graham Rowley had his first career sack.

* OLB Bronson Kaufusi had two sacks and a career-high 9 tackles.

* Don't know why Nate Carter doesn't get more carries. He entered late in the game and had 55 yards on seen carries, including a 31-yarded.

* Sophomore safety Kai Nacua recorded his second career interception, and probably should have had a third.

From UNLV coach Bobby Hauck:

On BYU's play:

"BYU played a nice game tonight. Bronco and the staff had them ready to go. They came out of the bye week, and they were ready to play. They did some good things, and they gave us a couple of wrinkles that we hadn't seen that were good for them."

On Christian Stewart's play:

"Their quarterback, Stewart, did a really nice job. We had him sacked four times tonight where we had a hold of him, but he got away and made plays. Those are drive killers and those are huge yardage steals."

On whether the weather affected the visitors:

"We're warm weather guys, and I don't think the elements affected us one bit. I thought our guys were tough and physical."