Mendenhall: BYU mistakes correctable

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

By DOUG ALDEN AP Sports Writer

PROVO, Utah (AP) -- Always positive, Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall noted the Cougars season opener could have gone worse.

A few less penalties and stopping one key third down conversion and maybe BYU would be 1-0 instead of 0-1 following a 13-10 loss to Arizona on Saturday.

"I'd expected more, quite frankly, in our opener. I think they're correctable (mistakes) and I think they've been addressed," Mendenhall said Wednesday. "I'd hate that to overshadow what I thought was a solid defensive performance, but it's certainly something we have already talked about and I think have incorporated into practice."

The Cougars host Tulsa (1-0) on Saturday in the home opener and have plenty to work on in between the first two games.

The two biggest mistakes last week were costly -- a 54-yard run that set up a touchdown in the third quarter and a broken pass play that turned a loss into an 11-yard gain and set up the game-winning field goal.

Those were the glaring mistakes, which when added to 10 penalties, a botched field goal attempt and two fumbles gave Arizona the victory.

The Cougars also cost themselves a touchdown with an offensive pass interference penalty, then didn't get the call to go their way when Nathan Meikle was leveled while catching a punt.

Meikle called for a fair catch, but his signal was late and the officials ruled the Arizona player was pushed into Meikle, who stayed down on the field for several minutes.

Mendenhall remained composed Wednesday, repeating what he said after the game about the officials doing their best, but said he still didn't believe the Wildcat was pushed into Meikle.

"My recommendation to the official was that player be thrown out of the game," Mendenhall said. "It might be an instance where I need to learn to be more demonstrative or do something else to gain more attention."

BYU lost the final two games of last season by a touchdown, but Mendenhall seemed to take offense when asked about the close losses carrying over to this season.

Mendenhall noted that the Cougars finished second in the Mountain West Conference and went to a bowl game for the first time since 2001.

"We're going to be better than we were last year," he said. "We've already played better than we did last year in the opener. So I'm not sure what questions that leaves."