The BYU football team has five games left to make good on the tantalizing promise the Cougars have shown so far.

"The exciting thing is we haven't played our best game yet," BYU quarterback Max Hall said. "That's still to come."

That was fairly obvious after BYU's pedestrian 42-7 victory over Division I-AA Eastern Washington on Saturday, especially on the offensive side. Dropped passes, missed blocks and a general lack of execution had the Cougars stopping themselves as much or more than the resistance offered by EWU.

"For most of the year I've seen enough flashes in between the mistakes to be encouraged," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Today (Saturday) there were not enough flashes. Prior to this game, I've been optimistic and confident that we would have more flashes and eliminate mistakes. Today I didn't see that."

The BYU offense did put up five touchdowns (the sixth was scored by the defense), but three of those scores were set up by the special teams and another by the defense. The offense only had one scoring drive of more than 50 yards and had three of less than 20. The BYU running game (145 yards from redshirt freshman Harvey Unga) carried the offense for much of the game.

"After awhile, teams get film on you, and they're able to pick up on what you're doing," Hall said. "The thing we're really harping on is execution. What it comes down to is me making the right adjustments and reads, going through my progressions and getting the ball to the right guy.

"Our offense has shown glimpses of putting it all together. We want to start playing games like that when it matters at the end of the season."

Hall isn't the only Cougar feeling the need to improve over the final five games of the season.

"Our team in general needs to sharpen up going into the last stretch of league play," said BYU senior safety Quinn Gooch, "so we can really start playing like a championship team. Instead of a flash here, a quarter here, a couple of downs here playing good football, we need to be more consistent throughout the game from start to finish."

BYU (5-2, 3-0 MWC) gets back to conference play on Saturday at San Diego State. The Aztecs (2-5, 1-2) dropped a heartbreaking 20-17 decision at home to New Mexico, giving up a long drive and game-winning touchdown in the final moments.

"Next week, we'll be in hopefully sunny San Diego," Hall said, "looking to have a big game."

For that to happen, the Cougars need to play a lot better than they did against Eastern Washington.

"Our goal is to win the conference," Mendenhall said. "Improvement has to happen everywhere. I didn't think our offense executed like they are capable. This is a great chance to add a different sense of urgency as we go down to San Diego State and resume conference play."

• Making plays: Senior safety Corby Hodgkiss got BYU off to a fast start with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown on Eastern Washington's first offensive possession. Hodgkiss took over the starting role after season-ending injuries to Dustin Gabriel and David Tafuna during fall camp.

"Corby has played solid the entire year," Mendenhall said. "I haven't heard one word that our secondary suffered because Corby is playing. He's simply been inserted and we've moved right along.

"Hopefully, I can develop this program in a manner where the next player comes in and the same standards are held and same performance standards are set."

• Injury report: Garrett Reden, a redshirt freshman from Valley Center, Calif., got the opportunity to start at offensive guard for BYU on Saturday when junior Ray Feinga was suspended for a violation of team rules. In the third quarter, Reden went down with a gruesome ankle injury. On Sunday, BYU head football trainer Kevin Morris reported that Reden suffered a fracture/dislocation of the right ankle and said Reden will undergo surgery early this morning to repair the fracture and stabilize the ankle joint. Reden will miss the remainder

of the season.

After redshirting the 2006 season, the 6-foot-3, 290-pound native of Valley Center, Calif., was making his second career start at offensive guard during Saturday's game. Reden has played in all seven of the Cougars' games this season.

"Garrett's a great guy and really stepped up when we needed him," Hall said. "To see him go down like that, a lot of guys took it hard. We're sad for him, but we'll pray for him and hopefully he'll be alright and get back with us."

•Ouch again: It's been a tough two weeks for junior linebacker David Nixon. Last week against UNLV, he suffered a "bellringer" and sat out two days of practice with a mild concussion. Against Eastern Washington, he was hurt early in the game.

"I got a cleat to a nerve in my leg," Nixon said. "I kind of lost feeling in my leg. I've gotten banged around the past two weeks, but that's just part of the game. You play with it and keep going. I'm fine, it's no biggie."

• Streaks: BYU has won 11 straight Mountain West Conference games, matching its 11-game stretch from Oct. 10, 1998, to Nov. 6, 1999. This week, BYU plays at San Diego State and will attempt to increase its MWC road win streak to seven games.

The Cougars have won nine straight games at LaVell Edwards Stadium and have outscored their opponents by an average score of 31-10.

After losing at Tulsa on Sept. 15, BYU has won four straight games.

• Goose eggs: Saturday s win against the Eagles marks the first second-half shutout the BYU defense has recorded this season. All totaled, BYU has recorded 12 shutout quarters on the season, including three scoreless quarters against Arizona, Air Force and Eastern Washington.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com