Cougar Tracks: Bronco on the "unique challenge" of Weber State week


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Five days before their in-state meeting with Weber State, the BYU Cougars were back on the practice field Monday, following a weekend off that in turn followed a nationally-televised win over Washington State.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall noted his players' unusual early-season routine when speaking with reporters following Monday's practice, saying that "how well they practice this week will kind of determine how mature they are."

"To have a nice win and a couple of days off, all at the same time, at the beginning of the year, I hope they take it right," said Mendenhall, "in terms of using it for recovery and using it to re-focus."

"I don't see any signs it would be the other way, but it's kind of a unique challenge early on."

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As for the challenge presented by the FCS Wildcats, Mendenhall praised Weber State quarterback Mike Hoke, who threw for 202 yards and ran for a team-high 34 more in a 37-10 loss at Fresno State last Saturday night.

"He's gritty and tough, and he's a good scrambler," said Mendenhall of Hoke. "They have quarterback runs in their system, and I like him."

"I think they're coached well, and I like a lot of the things that they do."

You can hear all of Mendenhall's post-practice comments and interviews with offensive coordinator Brandon Doman, TE Kaneakua Friel, RB David Foote and CB Jordan Johnson, in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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BYU is relatively healthy heading into Saturday's contest, with only DB Skye PoVey listed as out, with a foot injury. Trainer Jerf Hurst said PoVey is scheduled to see the team's foot specialist on Tuesday.

WR Cody Hoffman, who left the Washington State game in the first quarter with a quad contusion, practiced on Monday and is expected to play versus Weber State. The same goes for DB Craig Bills, who suffered an early "bell-ringer" on a special teams play last Thursday, but has recovered well and practiced Monday.

Offensive lineman Solomone Kafu (broken hand) and tight end Devin Mahina (broken hand) have both been out for a couple of weeks but the pair practiced today with rubberized casts on their injured extremities; Hurst says both could be cleared to play on Saturday.

WR Mitch Mathews did not play in the opener as he continues to recover from a fractured clavicle suffered in the off-season and aggravated in camp.

Mendenhall said kicker Justin Sorensen "probably kicked more today than he did in all of fall camp and practice up until today," and is pacing to play versus Weber State. Hurst said Sorensen "looked great" on Monday, working on both kickoffs and field goals. "He's just getting his timing down with a snapper and holder...just getting his rhythm back," said Hurst.

Linebacker Zac Stout (Achilles) did not play versus Washington State, but although Stout did not practice on Monday, Mendenhall calls him "likely" for Weber State.

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The last FCS team BYU faced was Big Sky Conference member Idaho State, last season, and the Cougars had little trouble with the visitors, winning 56-3. Asked about the temptation to look past the Wildcats to the following week's game at Utah, Mendenhall said "there are so many lessons" to be learned by watching teams who might take a lower-echelon foe lightly.

"Any given week," said Mendenhall of the ability of lesser teams to threaten more powerful opponents. "And again, our approach already isn't about who we're playing; we have so much we can improve on."

On the prospect of his guys overlooking Weber State, Mendenhall said "I sure hope there is no thought that way; there certainly isn't on my part."

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Despite the impressive and relatively easy win over a Pac-12 foe last week, Mendenhall readily ticked off a laundry list of items that will demand coaches' and players' attention this week.

"We can clean up some special teams a little bit, 'blue zone' scoring, with touchdowns instead of field goals, and we missed a field goal," Mendenhall said Monday.

"A couple of times defensively, our guys didn't stay on the receivers well enough as the quarterback had extra time scrambling around; gave up a couple of longer throws that way. So those are just some random things that came to mind."

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Speaking of random, having watched and enjoyed last Saturday's telecast of the Notre Dame-Navy game played in Dublin, Ireland, I asked Mendenhall if he would like to see the Cougars play an international game at some point.

"Not necessarily," said the coach. "Maybe if it were the last game of the year, or for a bowl game, but the thought of starting the year with a trip like that and still having to play your season...if there is a bye after it, maybe--something like that--but you'd have to look hard at what you had before that game and what you had after it."

As to potential appealing destinations, Mendenhall said "once you say 'New Zealand,' then you get my attention...other places, I'm not so sure."

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Mendenhall was asked about the five personal foul/unsportsmanlike conduct penalties his defense picked up in the win over Wazzu, and as he did after the game, Mendenhall downplayed their significance, adding that "I didn't see 'em; I mean, I looked, but I didn't see 'em. That doesn't mean they didn't happen, but I didn't see 'em."

"I don't really see it all as being completely negative," Mendenhall said of his defense's exuberant posture in the opener. "Again, I didn't see them on film. Doesn't mean they weren't there, but I looked."

"If they're over-aggressive to begin with, I'll take that as a good sign, and we'll just kind of ease them back as we go."

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Greg Wrubell

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