The BYU Cougars ran rough-shod against the Aggies of Utah State today winning by the score of 91-3.

The Cougars dotted down 15 times led by prop David Williams, fullback Will Taylor, centers Chris Wernli and Lelann Latu and freshman flanker Jon Layne who each scored a pair of tries.

The BYU scoring started in the 3rd minute as wing Richard Jones sprinted his way from 20 meters out for the game's opening try. The Jones try was set up by a deft interchange of passes between fellow wing Jordan Lowry, Taylor and Wernli from inside the Cougars' half of the field.

BYU backs coach Justen Nadauld said his players seemed to link together well not only to set up the opening try, but throughout the game.

"We had a freshman flyhalf and some relatively new guys out there today," Nadauld said, "But they kept working hard and did well to move the ball into space and keep things moving forward."

The Cougars continued their first half scoring campaign with six more tries before the break. Jones was solid converting the BYU tries going 5 for 7 in the opening half.

The Aggies lone score of the game came in the 38th minute as the USU scrum half scored a 30 meter drop goal from the left angle.

At the half BYU would take a comfortable 45-3 lead in the Cougars' 2013 home opener at South Field.

"It was good to get out on South Field," said game-day captain Scott Gowdy, "The guys fed off the energy of the crowd and were working hard around the field and I thought we did a pretty good job making sure we took advantage of the opportunities that came to us."

Gowdy and his team mates continued their hard work in the second half scoring eight more tries to round out the final score of 91-3.

BYU now turns its attention to the 2012 Super League Champions New York Athletic Club who come to Provo next Saturday, March 9th in the aptly named Champions Challenge, pitting collegiate national champions against the men's division counterpart.

"Today was a good day," said BYU head coach David Smyth, "We gave a lot of our younger guys a run and they played well. But next week will be a big challenge for us. NYAC's probably the top rugby team in the USA and our guys are going to have a big opportunity ahead of them. We're looking forward to it."

BYU and NYAC kick off at 1pm on Saturday March 9th in the Champions Challenge on South Field.

The Champions Challenge will be broadcast live on KSL.com and DesNews.com with other scoring and media updates available on both Twitter andFacebook.

Video from today's match will be available online for on-demand viewing on BYURugby.com, KSL.com and DewsNews.com.

MATCH INFORMATION
BYU 1st XV vs. USU

Terrence Motley
Scott Gowdy (c)
David Williams
Collin Bush
Kyle Smith
Kaiona Dutro
Kody Thompson
Andy St. Pierre
Inoke Funaki
Sterling Paulson
Jordan Lowry
Lelann Latu
Chris Wernli
Richard Jones
Will Taylor

SCORING

BYU 91
TRIES: Jones 3'; Latu 8', 42'; Williams 16', 23'; Williams 25', 48'; St. Pierre 29'; Wernli 33', 54'; Thompson 44'; Carver 61'; Bair 63'; Layne 70', 73'
CONVERSIONS: Jones 5/7; Funaki 3/8
PENALTIES: N/A

USU 3
TRIES: N/A
CONVERSIONS: N/A
PENALTIES: N/A
DROP GOALs: USU 38'