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PROVO — There were two prominent feelings when BYU football players met together early Monday morning following the Cougars' 20-16 loss to Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium.
The Cougar head coach felt the same way, too.
"They're mad. Mad, frustrated — like me," coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday afternoon. "We're all about the same, mad and frustrated, and knowing one got away that we thought we had a great chance to win. I feel like there were plenty of opportunities to travel all that way and get a win, and we didn't. That's frustrating."
Mendenhall gave plenty of credit to the Tigers (5-5), who played inspired football a week after racial tensions rocked their Columbia, Missouri, campus and less than 24 hours after coach Gary Pinkel announced he would resign with health concerns following the season.
But that's not denying that the Cougars (7-3) felt like they could've had a different outcome after allowing just two offensive touchdowns to the two-time defending SEC East champion.
The Cougars gave up 20 points to a Missouri offense that averaged 14.5 points going into the game, and only had 290 yards of total offense, with 46 of them on the ground.
Mendenhall said part of the lack of production came with a coaching oversight. Senior running back Adam Hine was not, it turned out, completely healthy after returning to limited action the week prior against San Jose State. Algie Brown led BYU with 42 yards and a touchdown, but the ground game was tame to Missouri's Russell Hansbrough, who had a game-high 117 yards on 26 carries.
Mendenhall wasn't entirely sure why the run game has struggled for the past two weeks, but he did postulate a theory.
"We were shorthanded against San Jose, and we got our players back for Missouri, but Missouri is pretty good up front," he said. "That might've had an impact. But our execution and determination and finish and assignments in general weren't as sharp as what it was early, and we need it to be.
"One of the main priorities as we look forward to finishing the season is improving that area."
The run game was additionally hindered by a handful of offensive linemen working their way back into the rotation. Mendenhall expects each lineman to be healthy for the home finale Saturday against Fresno State, and he is "hopeful" inside receiver Terenn Houk will also return. Houk missed the game against Missouri with a concussion suffered a week prior against San Jose State.
Following the loss, defensive back Micah Hannemann also sustained a concussion and will go through every return-to-play protocol necessary for a head injury. Michael Davis also suffered a rib injury, and his status for this weekend is uncertain.
The Tigers converted on 13-of-20 third downs, but defensive lineman Graham Rowley was just as concerned with the play before each of those downs. Missouri routinely gashed the Cougars' front seven for 5-6 yards on second down, setting notable third-and-short situations to manage the run game.
"When we got them into third down, I think we've been so good at stopping the pass on third down that they game-planned," Rowley said. "Missouri did an incredible job of knowing exactly what we are going to do, who we were sending, and what our scheme was. They were ready for us. We just have to do better on the run on third down."
The Cougars' next challenge is picking up the morale and moving forward to the final home game of the season Saturday afternoon against Fresno State.
That didn't make Monday any easier, though.
"It was tough. It's always tough after a loss; it's more quiet than usual," wide receiver Mitch Mathews said. "But there was also a realization that they were SEC (division) champions the last two years for a reason. They went through a lot of struggles this year, but that's a great team."
In other words, BYU is moving on.
"There's nothing we can do about (the loss Monday morning)," Rowley said. "We learn from our mistakes, and that's what we did as we watched field. We're already making plans to correct those mistakes and move on to Fresno."
