Rivalry not vicious, but very competitive, Bronco says
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall called the Utah-BYU rivalry "one of the greatest rivalries in college football" today on his Mountain West Conference football coaches teleconference.
"Anyone that has been a part of it" know that, he said, commenting that he has spoken several times with Florida's Urban Meyer, the former Ute coach, and received the same feedback from Meyer.
Asked by a Denver Post columnist to describe the rivalry, Mendenhall said he doesn't have adequate words for it, but when the writer suggested the word "vicious," Mendenhall said that wasn't correct and called it "competitive."
He acknowledged that religion "does play into it" but that he couldn't put a percentage on it.
Asked whether the Cougars have a pyschological edge because they have defeated Utah in two close games the past two years, Mendenhall said no and that "each year is a different year."
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Mendenhall took a lot of questions about Rocky Long's resignation at New Mexico and said "What Coach Long has accomplished in 11 years at New Mexico will not be replicated or duplicated."
Asked whether UNM can ever win a MWC title, Mendenhall (who coached under long at UNM) said it could, but "I think they just lost their best chance, too."
The BYU coach said that for New Mexico to win on a consistent basis, the community "has to make football an emphasis" and said that he has noticed that in "championship cities" that community support is a must.
He concluded, "Coach Long has shaped my coaching philosophy more than any other coach I have worked with or worked for.....I rely more on what coach Long has taught me when it comes to football than anyone else."
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It is not secret that when Utah has the ball Saturday, the Utes are going to go early and often to their five-receiver sets and try to exploit a BYU secondary that is perceived as a weakness.
Mendenhall acknowledged that is something Utah will do because other teams such as UNLV were successful with it.
He also said that he expects Utah's secondary to play pressure, man-to-man coverage on BYU's receivers. He said figuring out how to play against that type of defense was something BYU coaches worked on in the offseason, because that was also something they knew they would see from UCLA.
"It should be very entertaining" to see how it all works out, he said.
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Every MWC coach was asked today about the BYU-Utah game except for Long, who did not participate in the conference call.
No coach flat-out predicted a winner, although it is obvious that it would be better for the conference if the Utes won, because they would go to a lucrative BCS game and every school in the conference would get a piece of that pie.
Also, Utah going to the BCS would free up that fourth bowl spot, and CSU and UNLV can both get to six wins and become bowl eligible with a win Saturday. It appears that the New Mexico Bowl will have to chose between the two.
Obviously, BYU can still make a BCS bowl if it wins and Boise State loses, but the odds of that happening aren't great. The Cougars are now a 6-point underdog at Utah, and Boise is a six-point favorite at Nevada.
UNLV coach Mike Sanford did say some things that might motivate BYU's Max Hall. He called Utah's Brian Johnson "the class quarterback of the conference."
"Anyone that has been a part of it" know that, he said, commenting that he has spoken several times with Florida's Urban Meyer, the former Ute coach, and received the same feedback from Meyer.
Asked by a Denver Post columnist to describe the rivalry, Mendenhall said he doesn't have adequate words for it, but when the writer suggested the word "vicious," Mendenhall said that wasn't correct and called it "competitive."
He acknowledged that religion "does play into it" but that he couldn't put a percentage on it.
Asked whether the Cougars have a pyschological edge because they have defeated Utah in two close games the past two years, Mendenhall said no and that "each year is a different year."
----------------------
Mendenhall took a lot of questions about Rocky Long's resignation at New Mexico and said "What Coach Long has accomplished in 11 years at New Mexico will not be replicated or duplicated."
Asked whether UNM can ever win a MWC title, Mendenhall (who coached under long at UNM) said it could, but "I think they just lost their best chance, too."
The BYU coach said that for New Mexico to win on a consistent basis, the community "has to make football an emphasis" and said that he has noticed that in "championship cities" that community support is a must.
He concluded, "Coach Long has shaped my coaching philosophy more than any other coach I have worked with or worked for.....I rely more on what coach Long has taught me when it comes to football than anyone else."
-----------------
It is not secret that when Utah has the ball Saturday, the Utes are going to go early and often to their five-receiver sets and try to exploit a BYU secondary that is perceived as a weakness.
Mendenhall acknowledged that is something Utah will do because other teams such as UNLV were successful with it.
He also said that he expects Utah's secondary to play pressure, man-to-man coverage on BYU's receivers. He said figuring out how to play against that type of defense was something BYU coaches worked on in the offseason, because that was also something they knew they would see from UCLA.
"It should be very entertaining" to see how it all works out, he said.
------------------
Every MWC coach was asked today about the BYU-Utah game except for Long, who did not participate in the conference call.
No coach flat-out predicted a winner, although it is obvious that it would be better for the conference if the Utes won, because they would go to a lucrative BCS game and every school in the conference would get a piece of that pie.
Also, Utah going to the BCS would free up that fourth bowl spot, and CSU and UNLV can both get to six wins and become bowl eligible with a win Saturday. It appears that the New Mexico Bowl will have to chose between the two.
Obviously, BYU can still make a BCS bowl if it wins and Boise State loses, but the odds of that happening aren't great. The Cougars are now a 6-point underdog at Utah, and Boise is a six-point favorite at Nevada.
UNLV coach Mike Sanford did say some things that might motivate BYU's Max Hall. He called Utah's Brian Johnson "the class quarterback of the conference."
12:15 PM
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5 Comments:
If Sanford said that, that has to be the most retarded thing I've ever heard a coach say. Utah is a good team, but Brian Johnson isn't even in the same atmosphere as Max Hall.
After watching Sanford on the sideline during this years BYU-UNLV Game, I'm confident he's a jack a##
The timeline suggests to me that Johnson was probably one of Sanford's recruits when he was at Utah. That may explain the lunatic comment.
This post has been removed by the author.
My boss is a HUGE Ute fan, which makes for a fun week. But even he has mentioned multiple times of how jealous he is of Max Hall...
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