SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is BCS bound once again.

Brian Johnson passed for 303 and four touchdowns and the eighth-ranked Utes completed a perfect regular season by beating No. 16 BYU 48-24 today, winning the heated state rivalry and taking the undisputed Mountain West Conference title away from the two-time defending champion Cougars (10-2, 6-2).

Utah (12-0, 8-0) forced five turnovers by BYU quarterback Max Hall, including a career-high four interceptions, and went unbeaten in the regular season for the third time in school history. The last Utah team to do it was the BCS Busters of 2004, which was 11-0 before winning the Fiesta Bowl.

The Fiesta is one of the possible bowl destinations for the Utes, who were already No. 7 in the BCS standings and now just have to wait for the announcement Dec. 7.

Utah fans couldn't wait to celebrate and charged the field with 29 seconds left. They were herded off so Johnson could take a knee and run out the clock, then the celebration could really begin. The Utes were swallowed by the sea of read-clad fans who were elated about so many things — the perfect season, the BCS and beating BYU, which hadn't happened for Utah since 2005.

The chant "B-C-S!" rang out through Rice-Eccles Stadium as Johnson received the Mountain West title trophy. Johnson was nearly perfect in his final home game, going 30-for-36 and not turning the ball over once.

Hall's game went just about in the complete opposite direction. Three of his four interceptions led to scores for Utah, as did Hall's fumble at the BYU 31 late in the third quarter.

Hall was 21-for-41 for 205 yards and Austin Collie finished with 10 catches for 104 yards, his 10th straight 100-yard receiving.

The Cougars rallied from down 17-3 to tie it, only to give Utah 10 quick points late in the first half and then self-destruct again after pulling within three points third quarter.