PROVO — BYU sent off its seniors in their final home game with a 52-10 win over Fresno State Saturday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

After a slow start that saw the first quarter end 3-3, Francis Bernard plunged into the end zone for his first of two rushing touchdowns and ignited BYU to a spell of 49 unanswered points.

Tanner Mangum completed 24-of-37 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown, and Algernon Brown had 97 yards and a score on 11 carries.

The biggest surprise came on the first play of the fourth quarter when defensive lineman-turned-tight end Remington Peck tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to fellow senior Terenn Houk to go up 45-3.

With the win, BYU (8-3) finished undefeated at home for the first time since 2008 and the fourth time under head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

Here are a few thoughts on the final game for another senior class at home.

Bronson Kaufusi shines on Senior Day

The former Timpview High standout was all over the field in his final game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Kaufusi, a BYU defensive captain for 2015, had four tackles — three of them for a loss — in the first half and added a blocked field goal about a minute before halftime.

Kaufusi finished with a team-high five tackles, including four tackles for loss with three sacks, a pass breakup and a blocked kick.

The one-time BYU basketball center drilled Fresno State quarterback Zack Greenlee for a loss of 12 yards just six minutes into the game and also hit running back Marteze Waller for a loss after the Bulldogs had a long drive at the end of the half to set up his blocked field goal.

Kaufusi led a stellar day by the senior-laden BYU defense, forcing 11 tackles for loss and four sacks on Greenlee. Sae Tautu, Fred Warner, Graham Rowley and Michael Shelton were also among those who took down Bulldogs in the backfield.

"I think they were playing more consistently than they have all year," BYU coach and defensive play-caller Bronco Mendenhall said of the defense. "A bunch of our backups played which is always great, and their job is to come in and show us what they can do. They've earned the chance to go out there and play. I think the group played fine for the entire day."

BYU's defense has 35 sacks on the regular season with one game left to play, but that is already the most team sacks since 1999.

Where's Tanner Mangum?

After a slow offensive start that produced just 80 yards passing and 22 yards on the ground in the opening quarter, Mangum warmed up and finished with 336 yards on 24-of-37 completions to go along with his touchdown.

He wasn't done at halftime, but perhaps he thought he was. After Fresno State used a timeout on defense with two seconds left in the half, BYU coaches had to use a timeout to bring Mangum back onto the field. The true freshman from Eagle, Idaho, had gone into the locker room early as the fight song rang through the PA system and the cheerleaders made their way onto the field.

Mangum and the offense started slowly with just 102 yards in the first quarter, but once they warmed up, they came alive quickly.

"I can't put my finger on it yet as to why we're starting a little bit slow," Mendenhall said. "Once there was a little buffer, they loosened up and played a little better. After the takeaways, we gained a little bit of identity and confidence."

Terenn Houk back in the stadium

Houk, who missed BYU's game last week against Missouri with a concussion, was back on the field, in uniform before the game and catching passes during it. The senior from Enumclaw, Washington, caught Mangum's second pass of the afternoon for 5 yards and finished with a team-high five catches for 44 yards and a score from the converted tight end.

"I'm just grateful that this senior class played well enough and led well enough to make us undefeated at home," Mendenhall said. "That's really important at any really, really good program. I'm pleased with their accomplishment. It's a great memory for them.

"Overall, a good performance that I'm pleased with and we worked really hard."

Manoa Pikula off the field

The senior middle linebacker was suspended for the Cougars' final regular-season home game, though Mendenhall did not release any specifics of Pikula's violation. Regardless, Pikula did not get a senior sendoff during the Cougars' annual pregame ceremony.

Pikula, a 6-foot-1 linebacker from Bingham High, has 50 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss this season with two quarterback hurries. He has 139 total tackles and 12 tackles for loss in his four-year career with the Cougars.

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