Saturday, December 18, 2010 02:00 PM (ET)

Recap: Brigham Young 54, Texas El Paso 24

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 18, 2010

Freshman Jake Heaps set a New Mexico Bowl record throwing for four touchdowns and BYU rolled to a 52-24 win over UTEP in the first bowl game of the year.

Fellow freshman Cody Hoffman caught three of the touchdowns as the Cougars scored the most points in the history of the bowl, which started in 2006. Heaps, who completed 25 of 34 passes for 264 yards, also set a BYU freshman record with 15 touchdowns, breaking Ty Detmer’s mark. Hoffman caught eight balls for 137 yards.

A 31-3 loss to TCU dropped BYU to 2-5 but the Cougars won five of their last six to finish 7-6. UTEP, too, continued its streak. After starting 5-1, the Miners lost six of their last seven and ended up 6-7.

The Cougars dominated from start to finish, scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions and opened up a 31-10 lead at the half with Heaps throwing for three scores. With its strong running game also in gear, BYU racked up 518 yards of total offense, while the Cougar defense held the Miners to 232 total yards and -13 rushing. BYU intercepted UTEP three times, two by Andrew Rich.

UTEP’s Trevor Vittatoe threw for 245 yards. Kris Adams caught three passes for a game-high 153 yards and three touchdowns.

BYU has won four of its last five bowl games and is 11-17-1 all-time.
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