SALT LAKE CITY — BYU’s chance at a Bowl Championship Series appearance and Utah’s hopes of a third BCS berth are all but over just three weeks into the season.

The hype that had building around BYU since an upset of Oklahoma in the season opener fizzled Saturday when the Cougars were routed at home by Florida State 54-28.
The Cougars (2-1) were trying to show the season opener wasn’t a fluke, but it was the Seminoles (2-1) who stole the show, ending the Cougars’ 18-game home winning streak.
“I’ve tried not to acknowledge what was at stake, but it’s hard not to with all the attention,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
BYU tumbled from No. 7 to No. 19 in The Associated Press poll, and Utah (2-1) dropped out of the Top 25 altogether with a 31-24 loss at Oregon on Saturday, ending the longest winning streak in the nation at 16.
Utah never recovered after falling behind 21-7 and lost for the first time since the 2007 regular season finale against BYU.
“It’s been almost two calendar years since we’ve been in this situation,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Twenty-two months or whatever the time frame is. You know we all wish this could’ve gone on for infinity, but that wasn’t the case.”
Quarterback Terrance Cain was making just his third start and struggled, completing 20 of 41 for 178 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. The second was at the Oregon 5-yard line late in the fourth quarter to end Utah’s comeback threat.
Cain’s day wasn’t quite as bad as BYU’s Max Hall, who threw three interceptions and had one returned for a touchdown Saturday.
Florida State forced five turnovers and took advantage of almost every one, most notably when freshman Greg Reid stepped in front of tight end Andrew George, grabbed Hall’s pass and ran untouched for a 63-yard touchdown early in the third quarter.
Reid’s play gave Florida State a 37-14 lead barely two minutes into the second half.
George and Hall complained Reid had tugged on George’s jersey before making the play, but there was no call.
“It was frustrating to come out in the second half and to have a turnover made it that much more difficult,” Hall said. “Sometimes that happens.”
Florida State, which had struggled to run the ball in the first two games of the season, piled up 313 yards on the ground. Ty Jones ran for 108 yards and a touchdown, and quarterback Christian Ponder added 77 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Ponder also threw for 195 yards and two scores, completing 21 of 26 passes.
“They were able to run the ball from the beginning of the night to the end of the night, and that was the difference in the game,” Mendenhall said. “Their running game prevented us from getting the offense the ball.”
Both BYU and Utah can still hope to win the Mountain West, where the only unbeaten and ranked team left is No. 15 TCU (2-0).
“I know this team. I know these guys. We’re going to push through this,” said BYU running back, who ran for 97 yards and a touchdown. “We’ve got a long road ahead of us.”