PROVO — Thousands of fans who filled LaVell Edwards Stadium wore blue shirts proclaiming that they are "Fully Invested," borrowing one of coach Bronco Mendenhall's favorite phrases. In Saturday's season-opener against Arizona, the Cougars put a down payment on what they hope is another stellar season.
The Wildcats, meanwhile, left town almost totally bankrupt — bereft of a win and nearly devoid of points.
For months, BYU has talked about "raising the bar," and before a sellout crowd, it enjoyed razing Arizona, 20-7.
Playing in his debut in front of two legendary predecessors, Gifford Nielsen and Ty Detmer — whose No. 14 jerseys were retired at halftime — BYU quarterback Max Hall completed 26 of 39 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman running back Harvey Unga scored a pair of TDs and rolled up 194 yards of total offense.
And, oh yeah, the defense pitched a shutout for 59 minutes before the punchless 'Cats finally reached the end zone with 53 seconds remaining.
With the victory, BYU avenged last season's heartbreaking 16-13 setback in Tucson. The Cougars also extended their winning streak to 11 games, carrying over from the 2006 campaign.
"I would like this program to be known as a great program and the next group of players coming in picking up where they left off, just going forward," Mendenhall said. "This is one step in that direction. That is our ultimate goal."
In place of last year's offensive stars — quarterback John Beck, running back Curtis Brown and tight end Jonny Harline — Hall, Unga and Dennis Pitta acquitted themselves well and helped lead the Cougar offense, which racked up 392 yards of total offense.
"Max Hall came out and showed he's capable of running this team today," said receiver Austin Collie, who played in his first game for the Cougars since 2004 after returning from a mission in January. "He did extremely well. He put on a show today, and that's what we as a football team was expecting of him."
At the same time, Collie pointed out, there is room for improvement.
"With the things we saw today, we could have put up 42 points," he said. "It's just all about getting into the blue zone and executing. When we finish those things off, we'll have one of the best offenses in the nation."
Hall marched the Cougars into Wildcat territory on the first drive of the game but fumbled after being blindsided on a blitz by All-Pac-10 cornerback Antoine Cason. Hall fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Arizona linebacker Spencer Larsen.
On the following series, though, Hall responded by directing a 72-yard drive that ended on a 27-yard catch-and-run by Unga.
"Harvey Unga is exceptional," Mendenhall said. "He is very poised for a young player, and he is very skilled out of the backfield. He runs with both speed and power, and he is anxious to play whatever role he is assigned."
The Cougars struck again in the waning seconds of the first half when they capitalized on favorable field position. Hall found Pitta in the end zone from two yards out to propel BYU to a 13-0 halftime lead after a missed PAT.
BYU added another touchdown late in the fourth quarter on Unga's 11-yard run for a 20-0 advantage.
It looked like the Cougar defense would hold the Wildcats scoreless, but quarterback Willie Tuitama led Arizona on a 10-play, 80-yard drive, culminating with a touchdown pass to Earl Mitchell in the game's final minute.
"We called an all-out blitz, and they ended up throwing a pass. They outsmarted us there," said linebacker Bryan Kehl. "I'm still mad we let them score."
Yet it was a dominating defensive performance as the Cougars held Arizona and its revamped spread offense to 255 yards of total offense, 32 yards rushing and 11 first downs.
"That defense played their hearts out today," Kehl said. "We played four quarters. We didn't die down in the second or third or fourth. They drove on us there at the end, but we were stingy.
"Our defense represented today. I expected us to play well. We exceeded our expectations. We knew we'd play well and we knew we'd keep the points down. The number of first downs they got was just phenomenal. I don't think anyone expected that, even ourselves."
BYU visits No. 14 UCLA next Saturday.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com