POINSETTIA BOWL

Linebacker leads way with 2 TDs

— For the longest time, it seemed as if the Poinsettia Bowl was going to be touchdown-free.

A field-position struggle resulted in only three field goals going into the fourth quarter.

Then linebacker Kyle Van Noy stepped up and scored two touchdowns on turnovers, leading Brigham Young to a 23-6 victory over San Diego State on Thursday night.

“Turnovers were huge for us,” said Van Noy, who had two of BYU’s five takeaways. “I think that when we got that first turnover, I think that changed the momentum of the game.”

With San Diego State pinned on its 3 on a punt, Adam Dingwell dropped back to pass in the end zone.

Van Noy broke free from the outside and knocked the ball out of Dingwell’s hand and jumped on it for the game’s first touchdown.

The play was upheld after video review.

“I wouldn’t make those plays if all 11 guys weren’t doing what they were doing,” Van Noy said. “The ball just happened to land in my lap.”

Dingwell fumbled the snap on San Diego State’s next play from scrimmage and it was recovered by Jordan Johnson at the 14. Jamaal Williams scored on a run up the middle on the next play, BYU’s second touchdown in 17 seconds.

With 6:09 left, Van Noy intercepted Dingwell’s pass and weaved 17 yards through traffic and into the end zone. Van Noy was selected the game’s defensive MVP.

“He’s a fantastic football player,” BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall said of Van Noy. “He changed the game for us and was the reason we won.”

The Cougars (8-5) won for the sixth consecutive time against San Diego State, a former rival from the Western Athletic and Mountain West conferences. BYU went independent after the 2010 season, when it beat San Diego State thanks to a controversial fumble. BYU was making its 12th bowl appearance in San Diego. The first 11 were in the Holiday Bowl.

San Diego State (9-4), playing in the hometown bowl for the second time in three years, missed the chance for its first 10-victory season since 1977 and had its seven-game winning streak snapped.

Dingwell finished with five turnovers, including three interceptions. Four of his turnovers were in the fourth quarter.

As big as the defensive plays were for the Cougars, their punt unit came up huge in pinning down the Aztecs four times in the second half. They downed two punts by senior Riley Stephenson at the 1, one at the 2 and another at the 3. They were among six punts inside the 20.

Stephenson “changed the game,” Mendenhall said. “”And he could have easily been the MVP.”

San Diego State Coach Rocky Long agreed.

“I don’t know who got the Most Valuable Player, but I’ll tell you who I thought the Most Valuable Player was, was their punter,” Long said. “Field position made it tough on the offense.”

Stephenson said the Cougars practice pooch punts all the time.

Sports, Pages 25 on 12/21/2012

Upcoming Events