LOGAN -- It took the BYU offense all of one minute to get into the end zone. Utah State spent the rest of the night trying to catch up to the No. 8 team in the country.

The Aggies had as much chance of doing that as negotiating Sardine Canyon during a snowstorm on a scooter.

A 24-point first quarter was really all BYU needed on Friday night, capitalizing on three early Aggie turnovers in a 34-14 win in front of 23,101 at Romney Stadium.

The biggest upset of the game was BYU's first-unit defense playing the entire second half -- and surrending its first score in 11 quarters, a 40-yard run by Aggie running back Robert Turbin with 13:47 to play. Utah State scored again later in the quarter on a 5-yard pass from Diondre Borel to Tarren Lloyd. The home crowd started chanting "overrated" and roared its approval during a furious final drive by the Aggies that included 11 plays and eight penalty flags. A sack by Matt Bauman at the BYU 31 finally ended the game.

"They were hootin' and hollering down 24, so you know that means something," BYU wide receiver Austin Collie said. "We know other teams are trying harder and are out to beat us."

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall praised Utah State coach Brent Guy and his team's effort.

"I like how competitive his team played all the way to the end and I think that's a sign that Utah State is making progress," he said.

The Cougars (5-0) remain unbeaten and pushed their consecutive victory streak to 15 games. But after the first quarter, BYU's performance wasn't pretty -- or even "special spirit" attactive.

After forcing a three-and-out on Utah State's first possession, the Cougars scored on their third offensive play. On third-and-6 from the BYU 24, Max Hall threw a strike to Austin Collie, who got a great block from Harvey Unga to make the corner. Collie threw a stiff arm on USU's Caleb Taylor at about the 20 to complete a 76-yard scoring play and a 7-0 BYU lead.

"I came back to the ball and Max put the ball right where it needed to be," said Collie, who had his third straight 100-yard game with eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns. "I just ran to open space."

Cougar sophomore nickelback Brandon Bradley got the next score, picking up a fumble forced by linebacker Shawn Doman and cruising 38 yards to the end zone. The defense forced another turnover -- this one off a crushing sack by linebacker Coleby Clawson that was recovered by Bauman -- to set up Mitch Payne's 45-yard field goal. Twenty-three seconds later, David Nixon's interception on USU's next possession preceded Unga's 11-yard scoring run and it was 24-0 with 1:23 to play in the first quarter.

From that point on, Utah State (1-4) played BYU straight up, even outscoring the Cougars the rest of the way, 14-10. BYU was frustrated by two Hall interceptions that stopped scoring drives and two missed Payne field goals, one of them blocked. Hall finished 23-of-37 for 303 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions -- and a personal foul late in the game, reportedly pushing an Aggie defender after a quarterback sneak for a first down.

"Our offense played good but we didn't play to our potential," Collie said.

Borel created plays all night long for the Aggies, rushing for 70 yards (losing 30 in sacks) and throwing for 114 yards and a touchdown. He also fumbled twice and threw an interception.

"They scored off our turnovers and I think if we would have limited those, we would have been more in the game instead of playing catch-up," Borel said.

BYU was ragged the whole game, piling up 12 penalties for 123 yards and converting just 9-of-17 on third downs.

"There was a little bit of rust and some lack of precision," Mendenhall said. "I didn't expect it to be sustained as long as it was. There were a lot of plays to be made that we didn't make. For us to reach our goals and to continue to improve we're going to have to be a little bit sharper."

With seven Mountain West Conference games remaining, the Cougars are still in the hunt for a BCS bowl berth.

"We're 5-0 right now," Collie said. "We're gonna continue to fight and win football games. That's really all that matters."

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com. He is the host of "The Home Team" on AM 1400 KSTAR weekdays from 4-6 p.m.