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PROVO - The Brigham Young football players insisted all week they wouldn't take Eastern Washington for granted, and they delivered as promised.
Behind another splendid rushing performance by Harvey Unga and an opportunistic defense, BYU defeated Eastern Washington 42-7 on Saturday in front of 64,522 at LaVell Edwards Stadium to stretch its home winning streak to nine games.
Eastern Washington (4-3) is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), and received $325,000 to make the trip to Utah.
The Cougars (5-2. 3-0) got exactly what they paid for - a victory that puts them one step away from bowl eligibility.
But despite the lopsided score, the Cougars weren't pleased with their performance on offense, especially their passing game.
BYU quarterback Max Hall was off target on several throws and his receivers dropped many catchable balls. Hall finished 15-for-30 for 156 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The passing yards were BYU's lowest of the season, following last week's 214-yard output against UNLV.
"Certainly it wasn't as clean as I would have hoped for," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Credit the Eastern Washington defense. I thought they did a really nice job, but I didn't think our offense executed like they are capable of tonight."
But thanks to Unga, BYU's defense, and Bryce Mahuika's return yardage, it was a moot point against the Eagles.
Unga accumulated 202 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. The redshirt freshman eclipsed the 100-yard rushing mark by halftime and finished with 146 yards on 21 carries.
"A lot of Harvey's yards weren't runs that were blocked very well. He just simply had great vision and wouldn't go down," Mendenhall said. "I wasn't crediting necessarily the holes we opened or necessarily the execution of the run game, but him specifically is to be credited."
BYU's defense intercepted three passes, two of which led to touchdowns. Safety Corby Hodgkiss got the Cougars off to a fast start with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown on the first offensive possession of the game, and Unga took over from there.
Hall found Unga cutting across the middle for a 22-yard touchdown with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter, and Unga gave BYU a 21-7 lead at halftime by bouncing outside for a 17-yard gain on fourth-and-1 and completing the drive with a 13-yard run while dragging defenders on his back.
The Cougars slammed the door shut on Eastern Washington's upset hopes amid swirling snow in the second half when Mahuika returned the opening kickoff 61 yards, and Manase Tonga scored two plays later on a 7-yard run.
BYU's defense held Eastern Washington to 266 yards, and surrendered its only points in the second quarter when EWU quarterback Matt Nichols eluded a sack by Bryan Kehl and found Aaron Boyce for a 28-yard touchdown.
"I think we could have done better in the first half with execution, effort and physicality, but I felt like we turned it up a notch in the second half," Kehl said. "We have to use this as a learning experience. For a while there, that team was playing with us. That is how it goes in college football this year if you look around the country."
BYU can now focus exclusively on defending its Mountain West Conference title with its final five games coming against conference opponents, beginning with San Diego State on Saturday.
Although it wasn't a perfect performance, the Cougars were grateful they didn't add their name to the lengthy list of upset victims this season.
"A win is a win," Unga said. "We will take it any way we can whether it be a JC, Division I-AA or a Division I school."
* PLAY OF THE GAME: BYU safety Corby Hodgkiss returns an interception 39 yards for a touchdown on Eastern Washington's opening series to give BYU an early 7-0 lead. It was Hodgkiss' first interception return for a touchdown.
* PLAYER OF THE GAME: Harvey Unga. The redshirt freshman running back has another sensational game with 202 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. Unga rushes 21 times for 145 yards and catches four passes for 57 yards.