BYU QB avenges prep loss

Brigham Young quarterback Max Hall gained a measure of revenge against UNLV quarterback Travis Dixon in the Cougars’ 24-14 win over the Rebels on Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The last time the two signal-callers met, Dixon led Hamilton High School to a 35-28 triple-overtime victory over Hall’s Mesa Mountain View squad in the 2003 Class 5A state title game in Arizona.

The Dixon-engineered win gave Hamilton its first state football title and ended Mountain View’s 27-game win streak.

Dixon, who was a junior at the time, threw 25 touchdowns, with four interceptions, and rushed for 12 scores that season. He returned to lead the Huskies to their second straight state title his senior year of 2004, when they went 13-1 for the second consecutive season.

• LIVING LARGE IN LAS VEGAS — BYU improved to 7-0 against UNLV in Las Vegas and 12-3 overall, including three straight wins, since the first meeting between the schools in 1978 in Yokohama, Japan. BYU also ran its record to 9-2 at Sam Boyd Stadium, where it has split two Western Athletic Championship games and the last two Las Vegas Bowls.

• GOING STREAKING — BYU set a Mountain West Conference mark for consecutive wins, 11, with its 24-14 triumph.

• ANOTHER SELLOUT — An announced sellout crowd of 38,026 attended Saturday’s game at Sam Boyd. It was the third sellout here this season and the largest crowd ever to see the Rebels play a conference opponent at home.

• FLAIR SITS, EXTENDS STREAK — UNLV coach Mike Sanford benched junior wide receiver Casey Flair in the first quarter for disciplinary reasons. Flair, who has incurred five personal fouls this season, had started the first 29 games of his career. Flair was held out at receiver in the first quarter but saw action as a holder on Sergio Aguayo’s 37-yard field goal in the opening quarter.

Flair entered the night sixth in the nation for consecutive games catching at least one pass and extended his streak to 30 games with an eight-yard catch in the second quarter.

• CLOSE COVER — The Rebels, 11-point underdogs, scored a touchdown with 1:11 left to play to trim their deficit to 24-12, then converted a 2-point conversion pass from Omar Clayton to Flair to cover the spread.