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Logan • Utah State football players and coaches should be happy they longer have to deal with BYU receiver Mitch Mathews. All of those Aggie fans in his extended family will have to live with him, though.

Mathews concluded his productive career against USU with six catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the Cougars' 51-28 win Saturday at Maverik Stadium. In three games, playing with three different BYU quarterbacks, Mathews totaled 19 receptions for 387 yards and six scores.

"I have a special place in my heart to play extra hard against these guys, and it's been fun," Mathews said. "I respect the heck out of 'em."

That feeling should go both ways, after a member of the Mathews family delivered another memorable performance against USU. In 2011, Marcus Mathews caught a deflected pass for the winning touchdown in BYU's 27-24 victory. His younger brother took over from there. Mitch Mathews caught three touchdown passes from Taysom Hill in Logan in 2013 and, after being held to one TD in a 2014 loss, he came back with another big showing Saturday. Mathews caught two touchdown passes in a span of 4 minutes, 2 seconds before and after halftime, helping the Cougars score 28 straight points.

His 72-yard reception came on the first play after BYU had fallen behind 21-10, as Mathews became "wide-smokin' open," by USU coach Matt Wells' account. Mathews' 35-yard catch on the opening drive of the third quarter was somewhat controversial, as he jockeyed with a USU defensive back in the end zone.

All he knew was he caught the football. "I thrive with passes over 10 feet [high]," he said. "Hopefully, I went up and got it at that height."

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall is so accustomed to Mathews' work that when he excels as he did Saturday, "it's to the point where I don't even notice that anything really was different," Mendenhall said. "You throw it to him and he usually comes down with it."

That's what BYU quarterback Tanner Mangum loves about the 6-foot-5 Mathews, calling him a "nice security blanket" after Mangum's 284-yard, four-touchdown game required a lot of help from his receivers.

kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt —

Mitch's day

BYU receiver Mitch Mathews vs. Utah State

Year Rec. Yds. TD

2013 5 112 3

2014 8 117 1

2015 6 158 2

Total 19 387 6