Provo » A mountain of expectations to rival the size of the peaks that hover above LaVell Edwards Stadium have crushed the BYU football team once again, this time in a fashion every bit as embarrassing as last year, perhaps even more.

Crumbling when the national spotlight was again at its brightest, the Cougars were thrashed 54-28 on Saturday night in front of a sellout crowd of 64,209 and a national television audience by a Florida State team that a week ago barely defeated a Division I-AA team at home.

"A frustrating loss for our football program," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall, in perhaps the understatement of the season. "But I don't think it changed a thing" regarding how his program will move toward its 2009 goals.

Certainly, it had to change the nation's perception of BYU football, after the Cougars had awed the pollsters by beating Oklahoma 14-13 to rise to No. 7 in one national poll.

Gone is BYU's 18-game home winning streak, but also evaporating was any national credibility earned for themselves and the Mountain West Conference from that win in Texas two weeks ago.

"It is actually embarrassing," said BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen. "We couldn't even make a tackle today."

And to think that as the game began, it was all sitting there on a silver platter for the Cougars: a potential BCS-busting run, an outside shot at a national championship-game bid and a probable move up the rankings, with No. 3 USC tumbling at Washington about the time the Cougs were kicking off against the 1-1 Seminoles.

"This is tough," acknowledged BYU quarterback Max Hall, who was brilliant in the first half -- the few times he got to handle the ball -- but made critical mistakes in the second half while pressing too hard to get his team back in the game. "We knew we had a special chance to do something....In the end, they were a better football team tonight."

Facing their first legitimate offensive line of the season, the Cougars (2-1) were simply no match for Florida State's experienced offensive line and junior quarterback Christian Ponder, who surely moved Hall out of the Heisman Trophy race and himself to its fringes with a near-perfect performance.

"I was impressed today that they were more physical than I anticipated," Mendenhall said of FSU's offensive line. "They were very athletic in the first two football games. I didn't think they would be able to move us off the line of scrimmage. And not only did they do that, they did it consistently."

Masterfully directing FSU's offense like a hot ice cream scoop through vanilla, Ponder connected on 21 of 26 passes for 195 yards and two TDs. But his ability to pick up third downs with his running ability -- he scampered for 77 yards -- is what Mendenhall and Jorgensen said led to BYU's downfall.

"I think we could have done a much better job preparing for Christian Ponder's running ability," Jorgensen said.

The Seminoles were 9-for-9 on third-down conversions before the Cougars finally stopped them 2 yards short on a third-and-13 situation, forcing their first and only punt with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter.

By then, the score was 44-21 and the only suspense remaining was whether the Cougs would suffer a worst home loss than they did when another national power came to Provo, USC, and whipped the 42-10 on Sept. 18, 2004.

Back then, little as at stake. This time, plenty was on the line.

The onslaught started the first time FSU touched the ball -- after the opening kickoff. Ponder scrambled for a first down on third-and-2, and 69 yards later the Seminoles were in the end zone with the first of seven touchdowns. The Cougs looked like they were poised to answer, but receiver O'Neill Chambers fumbled at the FSU 13, and before BYU could breathe again it was down 13-0.

"It is just two games into the season," Chambers said. "Wee still got a lot more games to go, and we can win out, either way. Hey, it is not a conference game, so it is OK. They are an ACC school. They are supposed to win, so it happens."

Still, it probably couldn't have happened at a worse time for the Cougars. But it isn't like they haven't been down that road before.

drew@sltrib.com