Austin Collie returned the opening kickoff 75 yards to set up the Cougars' first touchdown, and Bryan Kariya blocked a punt to set up another score as BYU barely avoided a spirited upset attempt by UNLV.

"The difference is they were better on special teams, especially in the first half," said Rebels coach Mike Sanford. "They won the special teams battle."

Collie got BYU started on its 42-35 win.

Taking Ben Jaekle's kickoff at the goal line, he started up the middle, broke toward the BYU sideline and suddenly found himself in the clear at the 30-yard line. Eventually, he was caught from behind at the UNLV 25, but the Cougars scored six plays later.

For Collie, it was only his third kickoff return of the season, as freshman O'Neill Chambers has emerged as BYU's top threat.

"It's been awhile since I've been back there on kickoff returns and I'm glad I got the opportunity to be back there with O'Neill," Collie said.

"It was a fantastic play that we ran - kind of a fake-right, go-left type of return. The guys blocked it up and I haven't seen a hole that big since high school, maybe. It was unbelievable. . . .

"I can't tell you how clutch our kickoff return team was in that situation. They did exactly what they needed to do - executed - and all I had to do was run north and south." In the second quarter, UNLV was forced to kick from its end zone after BYU punter C.J. Santiago buried the Rebels with punt that was downed at the 1.

After a three-and-out forced by the BYU defense, Kariya's punt block gave the Cougars possession at the 5, setting up another short-field score.

Asked about the special teams play of Collie, Kariya and Santiago, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said, "I have mixed feelings on that. Those things [in the first half] are all very positive, but when you kick two balls out of bounds and they start on the 40 and they get another kick return out to about the 40 . . . there are still areas in our kick coverage that needs to be improved."