Riley Nelson passed for three touchdowns and Brigham Young posted its fourth straight victory by beating host Oregon State 38-28 on Saturday.

Nelson has excelled since replacing Jake Heaps as the starter and all three of his scoring tosses came in the second half as the Cougars (5-2) pulled away from the Beavers (1-5) with 24 second-half points.

BYU rolled up a season-best 282 rushing yards as part of a 499-yard attack and its defense forced four Oregon State turnovers.

Nelson threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Cody Hoffman to put the Cougars ahead for good, 21-14, less than four minutes into the second half.

Oregon State pulled within 24-21 on Sean Mannion’s 59-yard bomb to Brandin Cooks late in the third quarter but Nelson responded by throwing fourth-quarter scoring passes of 2 yards to JD Falslev and 8 yards to Kaneakua Friel.

Nelson passed for 217 yards and rushed for 87 more. Hoffman had nine receptions for 162 yards.

BYU jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Michael Alisa’s 10-yard scoring run in the opening quarter and JJ DiLuigi’s 3-yard scamper with 9:23 left in the half.

Oregon State got on the board when Mannion scored from 1 yard out with 3:51 left in the half and tied the game when Jordan Poyer intercepted Nelson’s pass and returned it 51 yards for a score with 1:18 left.

Jovan Stevenson scored Oregon State’s final touchdown on a 2-yard run with 23 seconds left.

Mannion passed for 306 yards but was intercepted twice.