This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • The powerful BYU rugby machine continued to roll on Saturday afternoon, walloping Arkansas State 68-20 in a Penn Mutual Varsity Cup semifinal match at South Field.
With the win, top-ranked BYU (22-0) advances to the Cup's championship match. The Cougars will face longtime nemesis California on May 7 (2 p.m.) in the final at South Field in Provo. The Bears eked past Central Washington 14-13 in Berkeley on Saturday in the other semifinal.
BYU edged Cal 30-27 last year in the final at Sandy's Rio Tinto Stadium for its fourth-straight national championship, and fifth overall.
Arkansas State was expected to give BYU a better test than the Cougars got last week when they steamrolled Dartmouth 75-15 in the quarterfinals, but the Red Wolves found scoring against BYU difficult until the waning moments.
BYU scored two tries in the final five minutes of the first half to take a 27-8 lead into the break, and then opened the second half with four-straight tries in 13 minutes to remove any doubt about the outcome.
Tua Laie, Matt Jensen, Josh Anderson, Luke Mocke, Zane Mendenhall, Joshua Whippy, Jared Whippy and Ricky Tu'ihalangingie scored for the Cougars and Jared Whippy made mutliple conversions.
BYU won its first national championship in 2009, beating Cal in the final. They won another national title in 2012, beating Arkansas State in the final. Their last three national championships have come in the Varsity Cup division of collegiate rugby, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Twitter: @drewjay