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Following a tough loss to TCU last Friday, the BYU football team has entered it's first of two bye weeks this month, giving the Cougars a chance to get healthy and their coach an opportunity to evaluate punt game problems that appeared at Cowboys Stadium.
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"Today's practice was mostly younger player development," Mendenhall told media members at the indoor practice facility following Tuesday's practice. "We did have almost a half-hour of just individual work, position mastery for our older guys."
Practice for Wednesday will be similar to Tuesday's practice, featuring young player development and position mastery. The Cougars will begin game preparation for the Idaho Vandals starting on Thursday.
"We're going to start preparing for Idaho early so hopefully that will give us a leg up on them," said linebacker Brandon Ogletree.
You can hear the post-practice interviews with Mendenhall, Ogletree and quarterback Riley Nelson in the "Cougar Cuts" box, above left.
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Although the punt team didn't receive particular emphasis during Tuesday's practice, Mendenhall said a little more time was spent snapping and catching the ball. "It sounds simple and why we had troubles, I wish I could tell you, but we did, and it hurt us in the (TCU) game."
BYU attempted to punt the football four times against TCU:
the first attempt resulted in a botched snap and loss of 34 yards, followed by a TCU TD.
the second punt was partially blocked, with TCU scoring a TD off the resulting short field.
successful punt on the third attempt, albeit one that was returned 19 yards, setting up another TCU TD.
fumbled snap on the fourth attempt, resulting in a loss of 15 yards and an ensuing TCU TD.
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"When there hadn't been an issue prior to this game, it puts me in a pretty unique place," said Mendenhall. "When it happened not once or twice, but three or four times in the same game, obviously there's an issue and we have to get it ironed out in the bye week."
Mendenhall noted that he has a back-up deep snapper and back-up punter at the ready, and that both players, particularly punter Brian Smith, will be assessed during the bye week.
"We are going to look at other players," Coach Mendenhall said. "It's only fair."
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Mendenhall said team health will be a secondary focus for the Cougars during the bye week, while adding that "it's the healthiest our team has ever been this late into the season."
Academics are also emphasized during the off week, as the players "have a little bit more time."
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Quarterback Riley Nelson made some exceptional plays in the TCU game, but the play that is receiving the most attention is his high-five of an official following his two-point conversion late in the contest.
"It just happened, it was just like a funny reaction," said Riley Nelson. "The game should be fun. If people can laugh and have a good time, even if it's at my expense, great."
He also discussed the balance between making plays and being careful to avoid turnovers.
"Obviously I got to be smarter but that one pick in the end zone, I'm sorry but I made a play and my guy got two hands on it. He got hit early, it wasn't called and, whatever, it's football. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to be me, if I try to be someone else my play will be very poor and I'm not going to let that happen."
Coach Mendenhall also spoke about Riley Nelson and whether he needs to be more careful with the football.
"I'm kind of more promoting Riley to be aggressive. I think our team responds well and along the way we're going to have to be more careful with the ball in some circumstances; some of the plays he's making though is what his strength is, so there is a delicate balance. He has a few decisions that he can make at a higher level, but overall, the way he's played from the time he's started through that (TCU) game has given us a really good chance to win."
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One final practice note: Head Trainer Kevin Morris told reporters that linebacker Austen Jorgensen will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. Jorgensen re-aggravated an injury that occurred earlier in the season.
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