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PROVO -- BYU is currently sitting at one win and two losses on the season. Although the first win against Washington looked promising, the two blowout losses against Air Force and Florida State have fans wondering how this season will end.
With BYU now set to face a Nevada team that currently has one of the top-ranked offensives in all of college football, as well as a #4 TCU team and the always difficult University of Utah later down the road, the prospective future is looking a bit darker than normal for the Cougars.
That's why when Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall said that this upcoming game isn't a must win for him, some were a little bit surprised. A loss to Nevada would put this young BYU team at 1-3, which is a tough hole to come out of. But Coach Mendenhall trusts and knows his team. He understands the position that he's facing and is optimistic for the direction that the program is heading.
"At some point, they'll play 'BYU Football,' and once that happens, we won't go back," Mendenhall said about his young team during Wednesday's broadcast of "BYU Football with Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall" on KSL News Radio.
Mendenhall complimented the strong play of the defense against Florida State. He saw it as one of their better games of the year, even though lack of tackling on crucial plays contributed to the Cougar's defeat.
"There was a 13 or 14 play drive in the third quarter where we didn't tackle as well as we needed to," Mendenhall said. "I think fatigue was a part of it and fundamentals can still be worked on."
Although FSU was able to move the ball in the first half, the Cougars defense held them to a single field goal in the first 15 minutes, and a touchdown and field goal in the second quarter. The bulk of the Seminole's points came in the second half, specifically the third quarter where they were able to twice find the end zone. FSU also ran the ball for 131 on 27 carries in the second half when BYU's offense was struggling to maintain any drives and the defense was on the field for extended periods of time.
A lot of attention is being paid to the offense of the Cougars which was held to only 10 points against FSU and 14 points against Air Force. Now That, by default with Nelson's injury, Heaps will be the starting quarterback there is hope that the offense will find a much needed identity.
"There should be an increase in chemistry, execution, and sense of confidence in having a single player to look to," Mendenhall said about Heaps and his place in the offense.
Consequently, Mendenhall is looking to focus in on the small things on offense which need to be done to take the Cougars back to the top, such as better quarterback-receiver communication.
"Florida State's defensive backs on the corners did an especially good job of being physical with our receivers, inhibiting our releases, altering our routes and the timing of our routes," Mendenhall stated. "Part of the reason the quarterbacks were holding onto the ball longer than necessary was that our receivers were taking longer to get open."
Both Mackay Jacobsen and Luke Ashworth were uncharacteristically unproductive against FSU with humble results of one catch for six yards and two catches for six yards respectively. O'Neil Chambers caught the ball only twice for 27 yards, but he was suspended this week for two games.
All three are considered BYU's main receivers and will need to help Heaps progress and develop as the season goes on. Although Chambers will not return until BYU hosts San Diego State on October 9.
"This particular team against this part of the schedule is forcing us to really grow as fast as we can possibly handle--sometimes, faster than the players and sometimes faster than the coaches are capable of keeping up with," Mendenhall said. "However, when it is all said and done, the program will grow from it and we will benefit from it, and the lessons learned from this stretch will ultimately help our program move forward in the long term."
