Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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Bronco Mendenhall talked about "moving up while standing still" when he addressed the assembled media at Legends Grille this morning.
QB Max Hall also spoke from the podium, and you can hear the audio from those sessions and interviews with Dennis Pitta and Jan Jorgensen by clicking the links in the "Cougar Cuts" box to the lower right.
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Remember the "phantom sack" from the Northern Iowa game (during which Max Hall fumbled, and UNI recovered for a touchdown)? You'll recall that an error by the statistician failed to record the play as a sack for UNI and a sack allowed by BYU. After consultation with UNI, the MWC and the NCAA, BYU has pursued the change that will officially record the play as a sack. It was to have appeared in this week's updated BYU stats, but did not, due to a glitch in the system. Once that glitch is resolved, BYU will have "officially" have allowed one (and only one) sack on the season.
Turns out, Northern Iowa noticed the error immediately after the game, and consulted with BYU about making the change. UNI then notified the NCAA that the change would be made--it just took a little longer than anticipated.
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I've been doing a little more thinking about my blog entry of earlier today, and you never know, it could be that in the end, a road win over an 11-0 Utah team is just what the 11-0 Cougars would need to "put them over the top," should it come to BYU needing such a boost to their schedule strength at that time of the season. An 11-0 and ranked Utah team would have a ton of its own schedule "juice," and BYU would benefit greatly by beating such a team. It goes both ways, of course, and a Utah win over BYU would catapult the Utes (if undefeated) into the BCS stratosphere.
At some point, more people are going to start taking notice of the Utes and not only their potential "spoiler role," but their own merits as a BCS-buster. That point could come as soon as Thursday night, with a win over Oregon State.
I know that talking about 11-0 BYU is foolhardy when the team is only 4-0, but the speculation is nothing if not stimulating.
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I responded to a comment in this morning's entry, and the comment was a valid one: the MWC's relatively strong showing in non-league games (particularly versus BCS-league teams) may help teams like BYU when it comes to their strength of schedule--moreso than BYU's non-conference wins may end up boosting the Cougars' SOS.
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