LAS VEGAS — In a city known for fast-living, California had its vast array of fast athletes on display Thursday night in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Ultimately, that speed killed BYU as the Golden Bears ran past the slower, mistake-prone Cougars, 35-28, before a bowl-record crowd of 40,053 at Sam Boyd Stadium.
The Cougars trailed by as many as 21 points, 35-14, in the second half before cutting the deficit to seven at 35-28 with 5:35 remaining in the game.
In the waning moments, BYU was driving for the potential game-winning touchdown when quarterback John Beck was picked off by Bear cornerback Daymeion Hughes with 1:28 left.
"Coming back is something we've been doing all year long," said Beck, who completed 35 of 53 passes for 352 yards — all were Las Vegas Bowl records. "On that final drive, I thought we were going to win it. But stuff happens. It didn't go our way." . . .
BYU didn't go away, however. The Cougars scored on a touchdown pass from Beck to Jonny Harline to cut the deficit to 35-21, then, on fourth-and-goal from the nine, Beck hit Todd Watkins for a touchdown to make it 35-28.
"I felt they recovered just fine," (BYU head coach Bronco) Mendenhall said of his players' second-half rally. "They played like they've been taught to play and how they've been trained." . . .
Mendenhall credited the Bears' play and lamented his team's 12 penalties for 103 yards. Eleven of those penalties came in the first half. He added that he didn't emphasize special-teams enough during bowl preparation as Cal won the field-position battle.
"The end result is we played good enough to lose by seven," Mendenhall said. "The disappointing aspect is it was a loss. The positive aspect is that we exhibited resiliency. We know we could have won that game, and, again, we played good enough that we knew we could have beaten this team and lost by seven. Cal was a great measure for us."
GAME STATS
BYU CAL
First downs 27 26
Rushes-Yards (Net) 27-94 43-241
Passing-Yards (Net) 352 228
Comp-Att-Int 35-53-2 16-23-0
Plays-Yards 81-446 64-469
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 12-103 9-85
Punts-Avg. 4-41.8 4-41.3
Punt returns-Yards 1-3 0-0
Kickoff returns-Yards 1-24 3-88
Int. returns-Yards 0-0 2-26
Possession Time 33:07 26:53
Sacks by-Yards 1-5 1-5
3rd-down conv. 6-14 5-10
4th-down conv. 3-3 0-0
RUSHING
BYU, Jo. Beck 7-42, C. Brown 12-28, Tahi 8-24. California, Lynch 24-194, Forsett 8-37, Jordan 2-10, Manderino 2-7, Levy 4-0, Team 3-(minus 7).
PASSING
BYU, Jo. Beck 35-53-2-352. California, Levy 16-23-0-228.
RECEIVING
BYU, Meikle 12-93, Harline 7-73, Watkins 5-93, C. Brown 5-45, M. Allen 2-31, Tahi 2-9, Coats 1-7, Ashworth 1-1. California, Jackson 6-130, Jordan 3-15, Beegun 2-32, Lynch 2-27, Manderino 2-20, DeSa 1-4.
ATTENDANCE: 40,053
BRIGHAM YOUNG SCHEDULE
Sept. 3 Boston College 20, BYU 3
Sept. 10 BYU 45, Eastern Illinois 10
Sept. 24 TCU 51, BYU 50 (OT)
Oct. 1 San Diego State 31, BYU 10
Oct. 8 BYU 27, New Mexico 24
Oct. 15 BYU 24, Colorado State 14
Oct. 22 Notre Dame 49, BYU 23
Oct. 29 BYU 62, Air Force 41
Nov. 5 BYU 55, UNLV 14
Nov. 12 BYU 35, Wyoming 21
Nov. 19 Utah 41, BYU 34 (OT)
Dec. 22 California 35, BYU 28
Overall: 6-6
Conference: 5-3
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com