Cougar Tracks: Mendenhall says "maybe a little overconfidence, defensively" contributed to Oregon State loss


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Heading into a meeting with No. 5 Notre Dame Saturday in South Bend, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall on Monday lamented his team's defensive effort in last week's 42-24 loss to now-No. 8 Oregon State.

Meeting with the media after a late afternoon session at the Indoor Practice Facility, Mendenhall cited a lackluster outing from a defense that entered the Oregon State game in the top five nationally in most major statistical categories.

The coach says he sensed "maybe a little overconfidence, defensively, from all the accolades--I think there was a little edge that was missing."

Mendenhall said after a video review of Saturday's home-field setback, he concluded that "it was all about our execution, our precision, our concentration." The Beavers scored 42 points and gained 450 yards of offense, becoming the first team to gain more than 300 yards against the BYU defense since Oregon State did so last season in Corvallis--13 games ago.

"The plays were defendable," said Mendenhall.

Of an Oregon State passing game led by a quarterback making his first FBS start (Cody Vaz was Monday named a Pac-12 Player of the Week for his 332-yard, 3 TD outing at BYU), Mendenhall said "they executed their (plays) at a higher level, but we were not sharp in the secondary. We dropped eight the majority of the time, so there was plenty of help--they just didn't do their job correctly."

"We weren't really blitzing (against Oregon State) very much," Mendenhall said. "We were actually coverage-oriented, and our coverage did not execute well."

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You can hear all of Mendenhall's media comments, as well as interviews with QB Riley Nelson, TE Kaneakua Friel, LB Spencer Hadley and DB Preston Hadley, in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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Mendenhall said his players "had a good practice" on Monday, adding that "I think they're determined...resilient."

It was after the Oregon State loss that Mendenhall told us on the KSL Radio postgame show that he wasn't sure the Beavers were a Top 10 team going into their meeting with BYU, but that he was very impressed by OSU coming out of that game.

Asked if he thought Notre Dame looked the part of a Top 5 squad, Mendenhall said "hard to say...again, I'm not great at judging that, but they're good, and any time a team wins every game that they've played, you've got to give them credit for that. So both of the last two teams (Oregon State and Notre Dame) deserve credit, and again, the execution of their plan, whether they're Top 5 or Top 10, if they keep doing that at a high level, they'll win a lot of games--both these teams."

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BYU's visit to Notre Dame is the Cougars' first trip to South Bend since a 49-23 loss in 2005--Mendenhall's first season as the Cougars' head coach. Of matching two of the better defenses in the country by the numbers, he said "I'm excited about it. I think Notre Dame is very good on defense; I'm anxious to have our defense perform as they did the first six weeks, not as they did last week, so that's my main focus right now."

The main focus of many national observers is on Fighting Irish linebacker Manti Te'o, an LDS player who chose Notre Dame over BYU, among other schools. Te'o leads the Irish in tackles and is the rare defensive player popping up in Heisman Trophy candidacy discussions.

Mendenhall said of today Monday that "we wanted Manti, thought he was an excellent player...heavy recruiting race, he had an official visit, saw everything that we had to offer, and really didn't want BYU."

"Certainly our evaluation as a player was right," said Mendenhall. "He's very good."

"He's a great player," said Nelson after practice, "and he's the heart and soul of that defense, so we always have to know where he is."

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Of facing Top 10 teams in consecutive weeks for the first time in BYU history, Mendenhall said the challenge "has been good; I've learned a lot about our team, I've learned a lot about our program, and I think the only way that we'll take the next step in our program is to play teams like this--and on the road is great, too, so I'm anxious to see how we handle it."

Mendenhall was asked for his recollections of the 2005 game at Notre Dame Stadium (a game in which ND QB Brady Quinn completed 32 of 41 passes for 467 yards and 6 TDs), and he said "I think Samardzija was the receiver and we couldn't cover him--I remember that. I don't remember much else about the game."

For the record, Samardzija had 10 catches for 152 yards and 2 TDs, but wideout Maurice Stovall had an even bigger game: 14 receptions for 207 yards and 4 TDs.

On the mystique of Notre Dame Stadium, Mendenhall said "once you've been there once...it's a really neat place, but man, so much focus is just on the game now. Once (our players) get there, they'll realize it's a nice place, it's an historic place, it's a place full of tradition, but...we've just gotta play."

Nelson says the experience shouldn't be too overwhelming for him. "I never grew up a Notre Dame fan or anything like that. It's going to be a big noisy stadium, and they're number 5 in the country."

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Mendenhall said Nelson came through the Oregon State game in good physical condition, and that "he's going to be taken off the injury report and the trainer's list...he's kind of self-reliant at this point."

"I think Riley is improving our team," said Mendenhall after practice. "I think there was a lot of that through about three-and-a-half quarters (against Oregon State). A few decisions were not wise, but there was a lot of stuff where he answered touchdown for touchdown for a long time, and I'm kind of focusing on that point, but we do need to take better care of the football."

The coach affirmed that Nelson will get the start Saturday in South Bend, and that the depth chart will remain the same as it was for the Oregon State contest.

The coach said BYU will stick to its traditional travel routine and leave for Indiana on Friday. A fireside is planned for Friday night at the Michigan City, Ind. Branch building.

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Photo: Courtesy Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo

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