PROVO, UTAH -- They don't call freshman running back Luke Staley "Superman" for nothing.

Staley ran for a touchdown and caught eight passes for 69 yards and a score as No. 15 Brigham Young extended its winning streak to five games by holding off Air Force, 27-20, in a Mountain West Conference matchup, giving coach LaVell Edwards his 250th victory.

Staley caught a 14-yard pass from Kevin Feterik early in the second quarter and ran it in from seven yards out for his 12th touchdown of the season with 2:37 left in the half to give BYU a 17-7 lead.

Staley had 26 carries for 69 yards and has 428 yards rushing and 319 yards receiving on the season with four multi-touchdown games.

BYU (7-1, 4-0 Mountain West) took a 27-10 lead early in the fourth quarter as Feterik connected with Margin Hooks on a 57-yard scoring strike.

But Air Force capitalized on a fumble by Jaron Dabney to set up a seven-yard touchdown by Scotty McKay with 3:30 left. The Falcons recovered an onside kick and cut the deficit to 27-20 on a 32-yard field goal by Jackson Whiting with 2:37 left.

Air Force forced a punt on BYU's next possession, but a roughing penalty allowed the Cougars to retain possession and knock some time off the clock. BYU had to punt again but Air Force got back the ball with 11 seconds left and ran out of time.

"I wouldn't have even known about it (250th win)," said Edwards, who is in his 28th season with BYU. "It is obviously nice. It was a big victory for us."

Feterlik completed 24-of-33 passes for 336 yards as Brigham Young remained in sole possession of first place in the Mountain West, one game ahead of Utah, which lost Thursday night to Colorado State.

The Cougars also avenged a 20-13 loss to Air Force in last year's Western Athletic Conference championship game.

Air Force (4-3), which came in with the nation's second-ranked rushing attack, totaled 212 yards on the ground in falling to 3-17 all-time against BYU. The Falcons played a ranked team for the first time this season.

"I have to think we are out of the conference race at this point," said Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry, whose team fell to 1-3 in the Mountain West. "You can strike that off our list of goals this year. I think this is a bowl-caliber team and we hope to finish 8-3 and go to a bowl game."

BYU took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 36-yard field goal by Owen Pochman and extended its lead to 10-0 on Staley's touchdown catch. The Cougars cut the lead to three just over two minutes later when backup quarterback Mike Thiessen scored on a 37-yard run.

Whiting booted a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 17-10 but the Cougars went back up by 10 late in the quarter as Pochman kicked a 26-yard field goal, setting a school record with his 10th straight without a miss.

But Hooks' balance led to his touchdown catch in the final period as free safety Tony Metters and a teammate collided as they attempted to tackle Hooks.

"I slowed down because I knew I was going to get hit," said Hooks, who had five catches for 103 yards. "Then they hit me from the side and that actually kept me up. Then I just high-stepped it into the end zone, just hoping not to be caught from behind."

Metters suffered a neck injury in the collision and was taken to a hospital for further examination.