BYU would enter the 2009 Cowboy Classic with a 14-22 record against the Big XII. However BYU was 1-0 against the Sooners. The only previously meeting was the 1994 Copper Bowl, where BYU won 31-6.[15]
Andrew George 5-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
Tied 7-7
2
0:02
OU
Jimmy Stevens 35-yard field goal
OU 10-7
4
11:47
OU
Jimmy Stevens 22-yard field goal
OU 13-7
4
3:03
BYU
McKay Jacobson 7-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 14-13
BYU headed back down South for their second game of the season. The Green Wave would be their featured opponent. BYU and Tulane came into the contest with a 1-1 record against each other. The last meeting between the two was back in 2001, when BYU defeated the Green Wave 70-35 in Provo.[16]
Manase Tonga 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
FSU 20-14
2
0:24
FSU
C Piurowski 5-yard pass from C Ponder (D Hopkins kick)
FSU 27-14
2
0:00
FSU
D Hopkins 33-yard FG
FSU 30-14
3
12:52
FSU
JG Reid 63-yard Int return from Max Hall (D Hopkins kick)
FSU 37-14
3
5:11
FSU
JC Ponder 6-yard run (D Hopkins kick)
FSU 44-14
3
0:00
BYU
Spencer Hafoka 8-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
FSU 44-21
4
10:21
FSU
JD Hopkins 31-yard FG
FSU 47-21
4
7:32
FSU
J Fortson 16-yard pass from C Ponder (D Hopkins kick)
FSU 54-21
4
3:13
BYU
JJ Di Luigi 29-yard pass from Riley Nelson (Mitch Payne kick)
FSU 54-28
BYU would try and bounce back after the loss to FSU. The loss to FSU ended a winning streak the Cougs had had at home since 2004. With a 37-27-3 record against the Rams, things looked good for BYU.[18]
Dion Morton 9-yard pass from Grant Stucker (Ben Deline kick)
BYU 21-7
3
6:56
BYU
Dennis Pitta 18-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 28-7
3
2:51
CSU
Leonard Mason 5-yard run (Ben Deline kick)
BYU 28-14
4
14:02
CSU
Ben Deline 38-yard FG
BYU 28-17
4
7:04
BYU
Harvey Unga 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 35-17
4
5:02
CSU
Tyson Liggett 13-yard pass from Grant Stucker. (2-point conversion failed)
BYU 35-23
4
4:05
BYU
Spencer Hafoka 24-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 42-23
The 2009 Beehive Boot began with the Battle for the Old Wagon Wheel as Utah State visited the Cougars. With a 42-23-3 record in one of the longest rivalries in the nation, BYU looked to try to continue to show the FSU game was a fluke.[19]
Dennis Pitta 6-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
Tied 7-7
2
14:22
BYU
Luke Ashworth 48-yard pass from Max hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 14-7
2
0:29
BYU
Manase Tonga 3-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 21-7
3
8:05
USU
Chris Ulinski 20-yard field goal
BYU 21-10
4
13:09
BYU
Harvey Unga 8-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 28-10
4
2:45
BYU
Dennis Pitta 13-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 35-10
4
0:03
USU
Xavier Bowman 16-yard pass from Diondre Borel (Chris Ulinski kick)
BYU 35-17
After the Conference Weekend showdown, the Cougs headed on the road for their second road game of the year against a team they have thoroughly dominated, UNLV. Going into the 2009 season, the Cougars found themselves 13-3 against the Rebels lifetime.[20]
M. Johnson 75-yard pass from Omar Clayton (Kyle Watson kick)
BYU 24-14
3
8:33
BYU
Dennis Pitta 35-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 31-14
3
4:41
BYU
Jojo Pili 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 38-14
3
2:44
BYU
JJ Di Luigi 15-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 45-14
4
13:40
UNLV
R. Anthony 4-yard pass from Omar Clayton (Kyle Watson kick)
BYU 45-21
4
13:17
BYU
Riley Nelson 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 52-21
4
8:17
BYU
JJ Di Luigi 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 59-21
Back-to-back road games would be the norm most of the season, as was this case with Vegas and then San Diego. BYU would challenge the Aztecs with a 25–7–1 record against them intact.[21]
DeMarc Sampson 7-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick)
Tied 7-7
2
14:20
SDSU
Brand Sullivan 1-yard run (Lane Yoshida kick)
SDSU 14-7
2
9:06
BYU
Bryan Kariya 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
Tied 14-14
2
0:0
BYU
Max Hall 1-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 21-14
3
8:23
SDSU
DeMarc Sampson 36-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick)
Tied 21-21
3
3:38
BYU
Andrew George 19-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 28-21
4
14:49
BYU
Dennis Pitta 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 35–21
4
8:17
SDSU
Alston Umuolo 6-yard pass from Ryan Lindley (Lane Yoshida kick)
BYU 35–28
4
2:21
BYU
Mitch Payne 44-yard field goal
BYU 38–28
Heading into Homecoming BYU looked to get back on the winning track against TCU. The Cougars had won 5 of the first 7 meetings against TCU, but the Horned Frogs took the win in 2008 to get their 3rd win against the Cougars.[22]
#8 TCU at #16 BYU
1
2
3
4
Total
• Horned Frogs
14
7
10
7
38
Cougars
0
7
0
0
7
Date: October 24
Location: LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT (College Gameday)
Ed Wesley 28-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick)
TCU 14-0
2
5:03
TCU
Jimmy Young 12-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick)
TCU 21-0
2
1:42
BYU
Harvey Unga 3-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
TCU 21-7
3
9:35
TCU
Ross Evans 28-yard field goal
TCU 24-7
3
5:53
TCU
Antoine Hicks 75-yard pass from Andy Dalton (Ross Evans kick)
TCU 31-7
4
12:00
TCU
Ross Tucker 7-yard run (Russ Evans kick)
TCU 38-7
BYU hit the road for the final back-to-back road trip of the year. Their first stop would be in Laramie. The Cougars came into the game with a 42-30-3 record against the Cowboys.[23]
JJ Di Luigi 44-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 7-0
1
2:33
BYU
Mitch Payne 36-yard field goal
BYU 10-0
2
13:12
BYU
Manase Tonga 2-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 17-0
2
10:41
BYU
McKay Jacobson 79-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 24-0
2
4:24
BYU
Manase Tonga 6-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 31-0
3
10:10
BYU
Bryan Kariya 2-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 38-0
3
7:17
BYU
JJ Di Luigi 15-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 45-0
4
4:48
BYU
Riley Nelson 10-yard run (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 52-0
The final road game on the back-to-back road trip took the Cougars to Albuquerque for their regular showdown with the Lobos. The Cougars came into the game with a 43-13-3 record against the Lobos.[24]
Andrew George 27-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 17-7
3
6:28
UNM
Daryl Jones 26-yard pass from Donov Porterie (James Aho kick failed)
BYU 17-13
3
0:00
BYU
Luke Ashworth 13-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 24-13
4
4:07
UNM
Victor James 20-yard pass from Donov Porterie (Donov Porterie 2-point conversion pass failed)
BYU 24-19
The final home stretch began with an old match-up against everybodies favorite run-and-gun squad, the Air Force Falcons. The Cougars came into the game with a 23-6 record against the Falcons.[25]
Dennis Pitta 8-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 10-0
2
11:46
BYU
Dennis Pitta 16-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 17-0
2
5:15
BYU
Luke Ashworth 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 24-0
2
3:15
AFA
Josh Cousins 27-yard pass from Ben Cochran (Erik Soderberg kick)
BYU 24-7
3
13:24
BYU
O'Niell Chambers 10-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 31-7
4
14:18
AFA
Jonathan Warzecka 3-yard run (Erik Soderberg kick)
BYU 31-14
4
5:23
BYU
Andrew George 9-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 38-14
4
1:57
AFA
Savie Stephens 4-yard run (Erik Soderberg kick)
BYU 38-21
The regular season ended with the third edition of the Deseret First Duel. The winner would take a 2-1 lead in head-to-head football since the Holy War became sponsored by Deseret First Credit Union. The Cougars came into the game with a 30-50-4 against the Utes.[26] With both teams at 6-1 in conference play, and with TCU likely headed to a BCS game, BYU and Utah came in knowing the winner would be getting a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.
Fans storming the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium after #19 BYU beat #21 Utah 26-23 in overtime
Manase Tonga 1-yard pass from Max Hall (Mitch Payne kick)
BYU 20-6
4
14:49
Utah
Joe Phillips 31-yard field goal
BYU 20-9
4
7:16
Utah
Eddie Wide 1-yard run (David Reed 2-point conversion from Jordan Wynn)
BYU 20-17
4
0:29
Utah
Joe Phillips 40-yard field goal
Tied 20-20
OT
0:00
Utah
Joe Phillips 29-yard field goal
Utah 23-20
OT
0:00
BYU
Andrew George 25-yard pass from Max Hall
BYU 26-23
The fifth consecutive trip to the Las Vegas Bowl awaited BYU after their win over the Utes. Their opponent would be Bronco Mendenhall's alumni school- Oregon State, his first meeting against them with BYU. It was the first ever top 25 showdown in Vegas Bowl history. It also would feature a match of runner-up's as Oregon State was one of three teams tied for second in the Pac-10. BYU would go into the game with a 3-5 record lifetime against the Beavers.[27] After going 19-for-30 for 192 yards with 3 touchdowns, Max Hall would win the MVP honor. Hall would leave as the most winning quarterback in BYU history at 43-9. His running back, Harvey Unga, would leave the school as the all-time leading rusher.