For the past three years, home is where BYU never loses.

The No. 17 Cougars blasted San Diego State 41-12 Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium, their school-record 18th straight home victory. In BYU's long and storied football history, the Cougars have never gone three straight seasons without tasting defeat at home -- until now.

"It's special," BYU junior tight end Dennis Pitta said of the streak. "We don't plan on losing at home for a long time."

Senior Day was big for several seniors, including linebacker David Nixon (14 tackles and an interception), wide receiver Michael Reed (five catches for 95 yards) and running backs Fui Vakapuna and Wayne Latu (one touchdown each). But it was the a pair of juniors -- quarterback Max Hall and wide receiver Austin Collie -- and four San Diego State turnovers that keyed the blowout win in front of the program's 12th straight sellout (64,107).

Hall was 25-of-30 (83 percent) for 317 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Collie had his eighth straight 100-yard receiving game (nine catches for 127 yards and two scores), which included a 61-yard bomb for a touchdown to open the fourth quarter.

"We were pretty sharp," Hall said. "We did have a few three-and-outs, which we don't want, but for the most part, we moved the ball well and did everything we needed to do to win."

San Diego State's first turnover came after the Aztecs had forced a three-and-out on BYU's opening possession. A shotgun snap took quarterback Ryan Lindley by surprise and hit him directly in the chest. The ball was recovered by BYU's Brett Denney and seven plays later, Vakapuna powered in from seven yards out for the first score of the game.

All four Aztec turnovers led to BYU scores.

"I thought our defense played well and caused turnovers, which gave us short fields and changed momentum," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think that was part of the underlying story of the game."

Nixon made an athletic play for an interception late in the first half, which set up Mitch Payne's second field goal and gave BYU a 20-0 halftime advantage.

San Diego State fumbled the second half kickoff, which was recovered by Spencer Hadley at the Aztec 29-yard line. Five plays later, Latu scored on a 3-yard run for a 27-0 BYU lead.

San Diego State countered with a pair of Lane Yoshida field goals to make it 27-6, but the 61-yard Hall-to-Collie connection on third-and-8 gave BYU a more comfortable margin.

"San Diego State brought an all-out blitz with no safety in the middle of the field, so I gave Austin a post and threw it up to him," Hall said.

Collie beat one-on-one coverage and cruised into the end zone on the play that put him over 100 yards receiving for the eighth straight game. He added a 9-yard touchdown catch on a fade route to give BYU a 41-6 lead with 10:07 to play.

In the 18-game home win streak, BYU has an average margin of victory of 27.8 points.

"The thing I like most is it (winning at home) was the first thing we targeted in order to return this program to what we were all hoping it would be," Mendenhall said. "We thought we could compete for a conference championship each year if we took care of the home field. It's gratifying to put a plan in place, have the players grasp it and have success."

The Cougars outgained San Diego State 421 yards to 280, and the Aztecs got 131 of those yards in the fourth quarter.

"We're generating momentum right now and playing well," Hall said. "We have two tough games left and we've got to keep fighting."

BYU (9-1 overall, 5-1 MWC) has a very difficult road in the final two games with trips to Air Force and Utah. The Aztecs (1-9, 0-6) closes the season at home against Utah on Nov. 15 and UNLV on Nov. 22.

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