Provo » Air Force is known for chewing up yardage, chewing up the clock and making life difficult for every team it plays with its unique option offense.
On Saturday, however, BYU's defense made life miserable for the Falcons instead of it being the other way around.
As a result, the Cougars were able to roll to an easy 38-21 win for their ninth victory of the season. And the defense as a whole had a lot to do with that.
"I thought we defended the option very well today and managed the points," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We got a lot of young players a chance to get in the game but our safeties made some huge plays for us today, Scott Johnson and Andrew Rich. They play with their hearts and I don't think there's a spot on their jerseys that isn't green."
Air Force was limited to 212 yards rushing when the Falcons rolled up more than 350 yards when the two teams met last season. The Cougars forced four turnovers and they forced the Falcons into multiple three and outs, which served to speed up the tempo of the game.
The fact that Air Force couldn't slow the tempo and control the clock proved vital as Brent Denney, Johnson, Shawn Doman and Jan Jorgensen all recorded 10 or more tackles. Rich had two interceptions.
"That was big for us," Doman said.
» BYU' forces four turnovers.
» Andrew Rich records seven tackles and picks off two passes.
» Brent Denney leads the team with 13 tackles.
