PROVO, UTAH -- It's a bruising and bitter tradeoff for Kevin Feterik. Two straight weeks he has thrown for four touchdowns, and two straight weeks he has taken a beating.

Feterik threw for 414 yards and spread his passes to nine receivers as No. 24 Brigham Young beat California 38-28 Saturday night, spoiling a return to Provo by Bears coach Tom Holmoe.

Feterik was hot and cold, helping the Cougars (4-1) build a 21-0 lead with three TD passes through the second quarter. But he kept California (2-3) in the game with three interceptions, two that were returned for touchdowns.

Worse for Feterik, he was flattened on almost every play. The California pass rush poured through a soft offensive line, reminiscent of the pounding Feterik had in last week's victory at Utah State.

"I thought last week was bad. Tonight was a nightmare," Feterik said, sitting in the interview room with ice packs on both elbows and his left knee. "I got hit pretty much every play."

Holmoe said that was the plan.

"We did a good job on defense," he said. "We hit the quarterback a ton. We must have hit him 30 times, maybe more."

Holmoe was a standout cornerback at BYU from 1980-82 who, after a seven-year NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, returned to Provo as a graduate assistant from 1990-91 while pursuing a master's degree.

Although Holmoe spent several minutes chatting on the field with Cougars coach LaVell Edwards before the game, he didn't want to talk about his relationship with BYU afterward.

"The focus for me is on our team, not on me," Holmoe said.

Feterik was 25-of-41 for 414 yards and the Cougars outplayed Holmoe's young Bears, but BYU couldn't pull away until scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns.

It was 31-21 after Feterik rifled a pass to Jonathan Pittman, who eluded Cal's Drae Harris and raced 44 yards untouched for a touchdown. Freshman Luke Staley ran 7 yards for BYU's final score with 1:21 to play.

California freshman Kyle Boller, making his third start, added a 55-yard TD pass to LaShaun Ward with 2 seconds remaining.

The Bears had trimmed the margin to 24-21 with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter when Damian Marzett slipped through a line of BYU blockers, caught Feterik's screen pass and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown.

Cal's first points came in the second quarter when Deltha O'Neal caught Feterik's underthrown wobbler and returned it 19 yards for a score.

"I was trying to throw it away," Feterik said. "I probably set a record for most touchdowns by the other team."

Last week, Feterik threw for four TDs with one interception as the Cougars beat Utah State. This time, he had three TDs and looked almost flawless as the Cougars built a 21-0 lead.

At that point, Feterik was 9-of-10 for 191 yards while Boller was 1-of-10 for 5 yards.

But Cal's defenders kept coming at Feterik, sacking him five times in the first half and hitting him hard on the release at least twice as often.

"I was really impressed with Cal's defensive line," BYU center Jimmy Richards said. "They ran a lot of stunts, a lot of twists. I was a little disappointed that Kevin got hit so much, but truth is, we still scored 38 points."

After O'Neal's TD made it 21-7, the Cougars ran three plays and punted. O'Neal struck again, returning a punt 31 yards to BYU's 30. Five plays later, Joe Igber went off left tackle for an 11-yard TD, cutting the margin to 21-14.

"He's a special, special player," Holmoe said of O'Neal. "I wish we had three or four of him."

BYU seemed ready to score again just before halftime. Feterik drove the Cougars 62 yards to Cal's 18, but his soft pass into the end zone became O'Neal's second interception.