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Albuquerque, N.M. • Senior safety Andrew Rich likes the way he's leaving the BYU football program, with so many good, young players returning.

He also made sure the story of Saturday's New Mexico Bowl would not be exclusively about BYU's freshman offensive stars.

After a 52-24 defeat of Texas-El Paso, Rich joked about how the seniors would exaggerate the tales of their final game in the years to come. In his case, not much enhanced detail will be necessary, after he intercepted two passes and made five solo tackles, including his first sack of the season and another tackle for loss.

To illustrate his stories from that day in Albuquerque, Rich will be able to show off an award as the game's Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

On the bus ride to University Stadium, Rich said, "All of us seniors got pretty emotional, knowing it was going to be the last time we'd go to battle together."

In his last game, Rich made an impact from start to finish. His 13-yard sack of UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe came on the Miners' opening possession, establishing BYU's aggressive approach. The Cougars finished with nine tackles for loss, accounting for 69 yards, including four sacks for 58 yards. That's how UTEP ended up with minus-12 rushing yards.

Rich's big hit on receiver Marlon McClure kept UTEP from scoring a touchdown just before halftime and his two interceptions came in the second half as the Cougars stayed in control. All five of Rich's interceptions this season came in the past four games. "I maybe was praying a little harder or something," he said wryly. "It's like the ball was falling the right way for me. I'll take it."

Rich stepped out of bounds to protect an injured leg after the first interception, but rambled 32 yards the next time, knowing it was his last opportunity to run with the ball as a BYU player.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was not kidding when he criticized himself for overlooking Rich out of Bonneville High School and not awarding him a scholarship when he initially transferred from Snow College to BYU.

Mendenhall, who as the defensive coordinator at New Mexico and BYU coached safeties and future NFL stars Brian Urlacher and Aaron Francisco, elevated Rich to their stature.

"There's no one tougher, no one that is more committed," Mendenhall said. "He's just an amazing leader and he cares so much."

Besides roaming the secondary with an aggressive aura, Rich is credited as a driving force of BYU's salvaged season, not allowing younger players to give up after BYU stood 2-5.

His reward was a strong finish, for the team and himself. —

Rich gets richer

BYU safety Andrew Rich's statistics for his final four games:

Opponent Tackles TFL* Int.

Colorado State 9 0.5 1

New Mexico 7 1 2

Utah 10 0.5 0

Texas-El Paso 5 2 2

Total 31 5 5

*Tackles for loss