Estimated read time: 3-4 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
Not a lot of news being made at this morning's weekly Bronco Mendenhall Press Conference, ahead of Saturday's game in Albuquerque.
The coach called the Wyoming win "one of the cleanest games" the Cougars have played this season, "in all phases of the game." He called his team "fast, fresh and physical" against the Cowboys.
*******
Bronco said he can't relate to Mike Locksley's specific situation as head coach at New Mexico, but did empathize with what he thought Locksley and his family might be going through.
*******
Speculating about Locksley's challenges coaching an 0-9 team, Bronco reflected on his own days at New Mexico, and remembered that "it took a lot of extra energy just to remain positive and to keep going," as the Lobos attempted to build up a three-win program.
*******
Bronco pronounced the team more or less injury-free, but said that Harvey Unga (ankle sprain in Laramie) will have his practice time limited early in this week.
*******
Mendenhall said he'd "be very surprised" if BYU put in a lackluster effort against New Mexico after the big win over Wyoming.
*******
The coach said Max Hall plays his best when he's having fun, and at Wyoming he didn't want to come out of the game because he was "having so much fun." Bronco said it's his job to help Max remain in a "fun" frame of mind, despite the attendant pressures of being a quarterback at BYU.
*******
Mendenhall looked ahead at the TCU-Utah game, and said it "will be a great football game," and said the conference is deserving of national attention for games like BYU-TCU, TCU-Utah and BYU-Utah. He said it is "hard to answer" who he would be pulling for, considering the benefits for BYU and/or the conference, depending on the outcome. He said it will be an "interesting matchup," strategy-wise.
*******
Bronco said his teams "like" going on the road, saying camaraderie has been a factor in giving his team an "increased focus" away from home, adding that road trips provide "a nice break from campus life." He says road games also give his team a break from the "local perspective" on how the team might be doing.
*******
Asked about the difficulty in winning football games at New Mexico, Bronco talked about UNM's identity as a "basketball school," and noted the relative lack of FBS players in the state. He said while he was a coach at New Mexico, most of the in-state players were walk-ons, and that the school recruited only "three, maybe four" in-state high school players annually.
Bronco said even when UNM began to win more games every year under Rocky Long, the "stadium was never full." He thinks that "the appreciation for the job (Rocky) did might be at a higher level (now) than when he was there."
*******
Mendenhall said his current team is like his first 11-2 team under John Beck, in that "they like to work," and in that they are beginning to appreciate how hard it is to win football games, even as the wins accumulate.
*******
You can hear all of Bronco's podium remarks, and group interviews with J.J. DiLuigi, Brandon Bradley and R.J. Willing by clicking on their audin links in the "Cougar Cuts" box to the upper right.
*******
