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LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Quarterback Brandon Doman scored on a 21-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left as 20th-ranked Brigham Young rallied for a 35-31 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams. Brigham Young (4-0, 1-0 MWC) took over on its own 8-yard line with 2:26 left and trailing 31-28. The Cougars faced a 4th-and-4 before Doman found Mike Rigell for a 42-yard completion that put them into UNLV territory. Doman then rolled left before cutting back right and dashing into the end zone untouched to keep Brigham Young unbeaten. "It was a good character builder, coming back and winning the game," Cougars first-year coach Gary Crowton said. "We haven't done that in a while and I believe they are a very good team. We are fortunate to win and I was happy they hung in there." Rebels coach John Robinson, a 24-year coaching veteran who won a national championship at Southern California and twice took the Los Angeles Rams to the NFC championship game, is 0-4 for the first time in his career. "I think our team will finish 7-4, we will play in a bowl game and (linebacker) James Sunia, who broke his ankle tonight, will be the captain," Robinson said. The Rebels (0-4, 0-1) drove to the Cougars' 30-yard-line after Doman's score, but Jason Thomas' fourth-down pass was incomplete with 12 seconds left. Doman was 23-for-37 for 281 yards and also rushed 14 times for 48 yards. "Brandon is what you want in a quarterback," BYU running back Luke Staley said. "He gets the job done for the team. We got the victory and that's all that matters." UNLV built a 21-10 lead when freshman Dominique Dorsey scored on an 8-yard run with 2:50 to go in the first quarter. A 3-yard TD run by Joe Haro had given the Rebels a 14-10 edge. Haro carried 21 times for 80 yards while Dorsey rushed for 77 yards on 14 carries. "I think Dominigue is establishing himself as a great player," Robinson said. "He is just so fast." But BYU rallied with 18 points in the second quarter, including a 54-yard touchdown pass from Doman to freshman Rod Wilkerson for a 28-21 halftime edge. A 10-yard TD run by Dorsey tied it and UNLV took its last lead on Dillon Pieffer's 22-yard field goal with 6:32 left in the game. Things did not begin well for BYU, which was playing for the first time in three weeks, as it fumbled the opening kickoff and UNLV's Derek Olsen ran it in from 22 yards out for a 7-0 lead. BYU fumbled six times, losing three, and Doman was intercepted once. "I think it (the fumbles) was based on a combination of things -- the three-week layoff and the fact that we had not taken any hits," Staley said. The Cougars won their sixth straight against UNLV and improved to 8-1 all-time in the series.
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