BYU's Mendenhall 'encouraged' after season-opening setback

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall says despite a disappointing season-opening loss at Virginia, he is "encouraged" by the team's performance, while at the same time acknowledging the 19-16 defeat "was a hard loss... really hard."

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"I thought we played really hard," said Mendenhall on Monday after practice. "It didn't mean we necessarily played well."

"But I was encouraged; I thought we gained some momentum, didn't lose any. (There were) a lot of learnings from (the loss), but I think our team is optimistic, encouraged and feels like there was progress made. However, it also gave us a clearer idea of what areas we had to work on. The brutal facts are we need to get better up front, better at throwing and catching it."

Next up for BYU: the Texas Longhorns, who racked up a school-record 715 yards in a 56-7 home win over New Mexico State.

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Mendenhall identified placekicking and punting as two particular areas with which he was impressed in Charlottesville; he singled out defensive lineman Eathyn Manumaleuna and linebacker Uani Unga as standouts, while adding that both quarterback Taysom Hill and running back Jamaal Williams had "strong" games.

"Things to improve: throwing and catching the football in critical situations," Mendenhall said, saying he observed "too many drops that were drive-changers." The coach said he also wants "more physical play and more continuity in the offensive front."

Regarding the offensive line, Mendenhall said the line struggled "not only in protection, but especially early in the game, just giving us room to run." Mendenhall said as a result, personnel change could be coming.

"It will happen, and started happening today (in practice)," said Mendenhall. "I'm not going to say it's 'open season,' but really every spot is being challenged."

The coach identified tackle De'Ondre Wesley as a player likely to play more, while saying Michael Yeck could play at either tackle spot. Guard Manaaki Vaitai was also identified as a player who impressed Mendenhall on Saturday.

"Where we start for this upcoming five will be really interesting...most likely it will not be the same starting five that just finished our opener."

Offensive line coach Garett Tujague said of starting assignments that "we'll probably make that call on Thursday, for sure; I mean every job, every spot is open."

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Those who have followed my Twitter feed since Saturday night have seen the dozens of statistical tidbits that further elucidate some of the "brutal facts" to come out of the loss at Scott Stadium.

Most troubling is that one of the best defensive performances in the Bronco era came in a hard-to-swallow setback.

BYU allowed the Cavaliers only 3.0 yards per play, which ends up as the third-best figure of the Bronco era, but the only one to occur in a loss. Virginia's only touchdowns were scored after BYU giveaways on short fields of 16 and 13 yards.

Meantime, the offense that ran 93 plays scored only 16 points off of those plays, and the 3.9 yards per play number is among the very worst of the Bronco era.

About the 16 points on 93 plays, Mendenhall said there's "no question" that it bothers him, "especially when there were enough points on the board at the end of the game (leading Virginia 16-12) to win."

"(We) rushed it for 189 (actually 187) yards, but the number of attempts it took to do that..."

Mendenhall said "the points were tied to throwing it and catching it; not to rushing it, and man, five, six or seven more catches that I thought were catchable balls, and I think things start loosening up a little bit, and seams start opening."

The coach said "it was also unique managing a game at that tempo, and I have a lot to learn that way, still, in how fast--if we score or if we don't score--we're back on the field, etc."

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Mendenhall referenced offensive Robert Anae's "go fast, go hard" approach by observing that one half of the equation may have inhibited the other.

"I think we could have played harder up front, meaning more physical," said Mendenhall, "and I think we sacrificed--or they were trained to sacrifice--some of the physical play, and continuity and execution, for the speed."

"What we have to take a step in, is not only going fast, but actually playing physical in that offensive front, with that tempo--and that to me looked like the biggest adjustment."

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Of ten FBS teams to run 88 or more plays on the weekend, only three of those teams were victorious. Mendenhall says he has "no issue with the number of plays, especially if it relates to points, which the research has shown, that's what it will lead to. If for some reason, it doesn't, then that's a whole different story. I don't have any reason to think that it won't (lead to more points)."

"One game, and really playing well enough to have a real chance to win...I don't think I see it as negatively as maybe others do."

Relative to modifications to the new offense, Mendenhall said that "I think that's what will happen. Over time, there will be some adjustments made, with not only personnel, but the type of plays we run. The idea, though, behind it all, was to give us an advantage and put points on the board. And that would hopefully give us our best chance, no matter who we play--to have a great chance to win."

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BYU's quarterback play was below-average at Virginia, but Mendenhall deflected blame away from Hill, saying "I don't think the delivering the ball was as much an accuracy issue as the guys catching it."

Hill completed 13 of 40 passes, with a touchdown and the game-changing late interception on a pass that went through the hands of running back Jamaal William and into the hands of a Virginia defender.

"I thought he had a good game, a strong game," said Mendenhall of Hill, who also 42 rushing yards on 11 carries.

Mendenhall alluded to multiple third-and-long plays in which Taysom Hill ran for the necessary yardage, "where he's taking shots and reaching ahead to get first downs. It's hard to say 'don't do that,' (but) to be able to sustain that for 12 more games--not going to be able to do that. So, the rest of the execution around him has to improve so that doesn't happen, where he doesn't have that burden."

Hill said bounding back from the weekend performance "is tough; anytime you lose a game in that manner it's tough to come back."

"I've seen the film several times," said Hill on Monday. "After looking at it, there's a lot of positive things that we can build off. There (are) obviously a lot of things we need to improve and get better. It's early in the season; we can't sit and dwell on a game, a loss like this. Our attention, our focus is on Texas and getting better."

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Notes and quotes:

Mendenhall said x-rays and CAT scans of linebacker Uani 'Unga's chest area were negative, and that the injury forcing his exit at Virginia was likely soft-tissue related. There were fears he might have bruised or broken ribs or even a punctured lung, but test results came back clear.

"He can hardly do a push-up right now," Mendenhall said of 'Unga, "but he played, I would say, if not the best gamed, one of the best games an inside linebacker has played, that I've ever seen. He played really, really well. There was no regard for his body; he actually (got) hurt in the first quarter, and made it all the way to the second-to-last series, then just couldn't go anymore."

Asked if 'Unga could play on Saturday, Mendenhall said "that's a good question; we're hoping."

The coach said if 'Unga can't play against Texas, Austen Jorgensen, Spencer Hadley and Tyler Beck would be the three-man group to handle the two inside linebacker spots.

"If the question was aimed, 'do we blame the offense at all?'; no, they're out there trying hard and playing hard too. They did a lot of things well and struggled in some areas, but we weren't perfect either."

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Wide receiver Cody Hoffman missed the Virginia game with a hamstring strain; Mendenhall said there's "not much to say" about his playing probability.

"I'm hopeful for this upcoming week; especially with it being a night game, gives us a little bit more time."

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Running back Jamaal Williams was very positive with the media in looking back on the season-opening loss, saying the team has put the Virginia defeat aside.

"We got (the loss) out of our heads," said Williams. "We knew that we worked hard...we won the battle, but we didn't win the war. We had some (video) clips that Coach Mendenhall showed us; he showed us that we were working hard, and moving to a good step to improve the team, so even though we took the loss, we felt like we won."

"I'm real proud of my teammates today. We came out with some fire; angry for the Virginia game of course. (We're) just ready to show people that we can beat Texas."

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You can hear post-practice interviews with Mendenhall, Tujague, Hill, Williams and linebacker Spencer Hadley in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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Photo: Mark Philbrick, BYU Photo

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