BYU opponents remain 'faceless, nameless' under Mendenhall


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PROVO — Right on cue, as he's done the last several years, BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall rejected the notion of infusing any more emotion into BYU's preparation for the game against Utah State.

"Nameless and faceless" are the words the coach used when it comes to recognizing any and all of BYU's opponents. To him, it's all the same, from Wagner to Utah State and Utah.

"Any time that you focus your emotion only on the opponent or on whom you're playing you run the risk of the real highs and lows and not being very consistent," Mendenhall said. "One of the things we've done really well over a long time at BYU (has been) being very consistent year in and year out."

No argument there. Mendenhall has been the model of consistency during his 11 years as BYU's head coach, remaining a stoic, steady figure in the combustible world of college football. During the Mendenhall era, BYU has never had a losing season and always plays in a bowl game.

"I don't see anything really changing in terms of our approach this week," Mendenhall said.

The problem is, the Cougars do not consistently beat the two in-state rivals, both of whom clearly reach a fever pitch when playing BYU. The state's top program no longer is BYU, which has lost four consecutive games to Utah and twice in the last five years to Utah State. Two of those wins against the Aggies were by a total of six points.

Despite the demise of dominance, Mendenhall will stay the course. And for that, many BYU fans have grown frustrated.

"What I've learned at BYU is a lot of teams play really hard against us," Mendenhall said. "I don't know if we're targeted necessarily, but it usually is a big game or an emotional game for a lot of people. The best way I know how to handle it just really focus on us and improving our game and the things we can improve and work, and almost treat the opponents, no matter whom it is, kind of like nameless and faceless."

There you go.

For years, the Utes have gone berserk in getting emotionally hyped to play BYU. For them, it never was the proverbial just another game.

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Even after Utah left BYU behind to join the Pac-12, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham still referred to the game between the two teams as a rivalry. In the three wins over BYU as Pac-12 member the possibly emotionally spent Utes have lost the following week each time, including blowouts to Arizona State and Washington by a combined score of 68-21.

While emotion can't be a program's foundation, it can help in certain situations. Look no further than Missouri, which used the resignation of coach Gary Pinkel for health reasons, as an emotional lift to beat BYU last week.

In the four games before BYU, Missouri scored a total of 25 points. After scoring 20 points in the win over BYU, the Tigers followed it up by netting only eight points in a loss to Tennessee.

For his part, Utah State coach Matt Wells wasted no time in putting the BYU game into perspective. In his first interview of the week, he immediately pumped up the game, which is easier for him to do this season given that it will end the regular season.

"This is our big game; I promise you that," Wells said.

Utah State has an obvious motivational advantage, being able to play off the fact that most of its in-state players probably weren't deemed good enough to play for the higher-profile Cougars. In addition, Wells let his players know the Aggies haven't beaten BYU in consecutive seasons since 1973-74, which actually was the end of a four-game winning streak against the Cougars.

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