ELLENSBURG, Wash. – BYU started on a torrid pace and held on to beat Central Washington Saturday in Washington.

This was the first 15s loss of the season for CWU, and a nice boost for BYU after last week's victory over Saint Mary's. The Cougars powered in for two early tries and a penalty to lead 17-0 and held a 24-0 advantage at halftime.

CWU rebounded somewhat in the second period, getting tries from Corey Nuti, Jeremy Lenaerts, and Beau Davis made it 38-19 with ten minutes to go. Even though CWU outscored BYU 24-22 in the second half, the Cougars replied every time Central put a try over.

"Today was all about execution and we failed to do that on both sides of the ball," CWU Head Coach Todd Thornley said.  "The times when we did what we were supposed to, we look very threatening, but BYU is a very good team and took advantage of our mistakes.  We had a lot of opportunities in the first half but could not capitalize, and against a quality opponent like we had today, we can't let that happen."
 
Thornley said his team got some big performances, but added that "collectively we need to all be on the same page."

Next up for the Wildcats is University of Victoria in a midweek clash in BC. BYU played Dixie State and the Glendale Raptors next week. Then CWU and BYU meet for a rematch in Provo.