Cougars make their points.

Byline: Chris Hansen The Register-Guard

LAS VEGAS - Brigham Young had a point to prove Thursday night. Different points to different people, in fact.

To those who thought the No. 19 Cougars' top-20 scoring defense couldn't stop Oregon's top-10 scoring offense, see the Ducks one insignificant fourth-quarter touchdown.

To those who thought BYU would succumb to a program from a more heralded conference, see Mountain West 1, Pac-10 0.

And to Ducks coach Mike Bellotti, who reportedly told reporters on Wednesday that BYU couldn't be a mid-level Pac-10 team - which fifth-place Oregon was this season - see the Cougars' 38-8 victory over the Ducks in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I'm just happy that we won," said BYU quarterback John Beck, who threw for a bowl-record 375 yards and two TDs. "I think I speak for the team when I say we've never worried what others say about our team either after a win or a loss. We're only worried about ourselves and what's going on within our team."

The win was the first bowl victory for the Cougars since defeating Kansas State 19-15 in the 1996 Cotton Bowl. It was also the largest margin of victory in any of BYU's previous six bowl wins.

"This senior class wanted this so much," said Beck, a senior who helped lead his team to an 11-2 overall record and MWC championship. "To go out on top right now just feels great. ... You dream about being a conference champ, you dream about being a bowl champ, and our dream has been fulfilled."

As for Bellotti's comments, when he was asked in the postgame press conference if his opinion of BYU had changed since Wednesday, he answered, "Right now, we didn't play like a mid-level Pac-10 team either, to be honest with you, and no my opinion has not changed."

When told about Bellotti's initial comments, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall responded: "I didn't hear him say that. ... I take your word for it that he did, but it has no bearing on (how) I view coach Bellotti or the respect I have for him and their program. As far as I'm concerned it didn't change how we prepared, how we were motivated and it didn't impact the game at all."

But when told of Bellotti's refusal to change his opinion, Mendenhall added: "I think we played very well and I'm not concerned really what others say about our program."

That's not entirely true. Mendenhall admitted he was bothered by the all the hype the Oregon offense was getting and thought his defense should've received more recognition.

"I heard a lot all week about the No. 8-ranked offense," Mendenhall said. "But what I didn't hear much of was that our defense has been difficult to score on all year. I didn't hear much about them giving up just 15 points a game, and I didn't really hear anyone giving them a chance to do the same this game."

Some of his players heard the same and were ready to respond.

"They didn't respect us near as much as they should have," BYU linebacker David Nixon said. "They didn't respect how we've done so well this year, and we had something to come out here and prove. We're a higher-ranked team than them, we're a better team than them, and we came out here and proved it tonight and really put it to them."