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SEATTLE (AP) -- BYU has been the master of its domain for the last two seasons, dominating the Mountain West Conference and protecting its home field.
Now the Cougars need to get more comfortable outside their comfort zone.
No. 15 BYU heads into Saturday's game against Washington having not won a nonconference road game in six years. That just won't do for a team hoping to break into the BCS.
"This is our third different football team in this scenario going against good opponents on the road," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I think I've learned as a head coach and our team has matured. I think we're on track and our play will show that."
Winning away from Provo, against teams from both BCS and non-BCS conferences, hasn't necessarily been an easy task for the Cougars. Certainly, BYU has developed into a more competitive team against all competition since Mendenhall's ascension to head coach in 2005, and in bowl games the Cougars are 2-1 playing at the neutral sites.
Still, it was nearly seven years ago that BYU (1-0) managed to go on the road for a non-conference game against a BCS conference team and win -- a 41-38 victory over Mississippi State on Dec. 1, 2001.
BYU has come up short in every out-of-conference test on the road -- both BCS and non-BCS conference teams -- since beating Utah State midway through the 2002 season. The list includes a pair of losses at Notre Dame, and defeats at Georgia Tech, USC, Stanford, Boston College, Arizona, UCLA, and non-BCS schools Boise State, Nevada and Tulsa.
Saturday's game against a young Washington squad might be the Cougars best opportunity to finally snap that streak -- and it's their first of consecutive games against the Pac-10, with UCLA coming to Utah next week.
"We've had some struggles with our non-conference road games in the past but we're really concentrating on it this year to put that behind us," quarterback Max Hall said. "New team, new year. It's an important game for us if we want to reach our goals and try and be close to the BCS at the end of the season."
Hall was the triggerman a year ago when BYU last had a chance to get rid of the road woes. Playing at Tulsa, from Conference USA, Hall threw for a MWC-record 537 yards and four touchdowns, and that wasn't enough in the Cougars' 55-47 loss.
That was also BYU's last defeat of any sorts, having won 11 straight entering Saturday's game, the longest win streak in the nation.
"We know we have to be perfect, or almost perfect to get (BCS consideration) so every game counts," Hall said.
If there is one thing going for reeling Washington (0-1, 0-1 Pac-10) it would be history. A year ago Boise State came into Husky Stadium with the nation's longest win streak and walked out with a 24-10 loss. That victory made Washington 2-0 and lifted hope that maybe Tyrone Willingham was on the verge of turning around the Huskies.
Since then, they are just 2-10, punctuated by last Saturday's uninspired 44-10 loss to Oregon, the Huskies biggest out-of-state rival. The embarrassing rout only amplified the growing complaints of fans who believe Willingham should be pushed aside sooner than later.
"I'm aware of it and I'm as disappointed as they are, as I think our entire football team is," Willingham said of the fan reaction. "We felt we could go down there and win the football game, even with as good of a football team as we played. We're disappointed."
Washington's defense was blitzed for 30 second-half point against the Ducks, but should benefit from facing a more traditional system than Oregon's fast-break spread offense. Hall noted it was difficult to fully grasp areas to potentially exploit because the Huskies defense was facing such a unique challenge against Oregon.
But stopping Hall and the Cougars isn't simple. In a sloppy opener against Northern Iowa, the Cougars had four fumbles and still handily ran away for a 41-17 win.
If Washington wants to match BYU's offensive potency, then quarterback Jake Locker must get more protection than a week ago. The Huskies don't expect BYU to be quite as aggressive defensively, giving the multitalented quarterback a chance to use some of his young freshmen and sophomores at skill positions to get the offense going.
"We've got to forget about that last one and focus on the next one. We all know we didn't play as well as we could have and left a lot out there," Locker said. "We'll work as hard as we can to get it fixed and come out and play the best game that we can Saturday."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
