BYU Sports

Here are BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall's comments to the media following Saturday night's 38-7 loss to TCU.

Opening statement:

“As  starting point, I credit TCU. They were very well prepared, executing on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. I thought special teams were about even.
But they won two of the three phases [offense and defense] and they won them decisively through execution and through making all the cricital play. I believed we had prepared very well, and thought we would play a very good football game.
“And I thought it would come down to the end and we would have a chance there, and that’s not how it turned out.
“But I give their staff credit, their players credit, and we will continue to figure out ways to improve our program, from there through the rest of the season.”

What did they do to put so much pressure on Max Hall?

“Not much [unexpected]. They just have exceptional talent with their down four. We actually had a lot of things in place based on what we thought were the lessons learned last year. We had schemes. Certainly we were using running backs to chip on [Jerry] Hughes. We used a lot of draw plays, as you saw, trying to slow them down, and screens, different things.
“They did a really nice job through a couple concentration plays against our defense to get the early lead, which I think was a critical thing.
“That made it difficult  for us to catch up, and I think we were in more passing sitiuations than we would have like to been, or more predictable, even though we had what I thought were very effective counter measures in place,  to slow down their rush. They still had great success against us.”

Did you see anything leading up to the game that would have foretold this blowout?

“No, I thought it was one of our best weeks of practice. I was as confident, if not more, going into this game since I have been the coach at BYU. They spent a lot of extra time. They worked very hard, and I believe they were prepared as any team I have coached.
I give TCU credit. They were better than even what we prepared for. We thought they were an excellent football team coming into it, and they exceeded even that performance.
But I am responsible, certainly, for the preparation of our football team. And when you lose decisively, ulitmately, it is the head coach’s responsibility.
Again, I believe they were prepared, I thought they were prepared, and really was confident. Unfortunately, I was wrong.”

Surprised your team did not play cleaner?

“I was, [especially] at critical times. It is not necessarily penalties that bother me, it is when they happen, and there were some today on both sides of the football that hurt us -- third down plays where it allowed TCU to maintain possession, and then plays where we have field position, and I think are making some strides moving the football, and then have setbacks where it made it much more difficult. And that did surprise me as well.”

What needs to happen in your program to close the gap between you and TCU?

“It is an interesting question, and I think it is a good question, because I really had believed from a year ago, and what I thought was, that that was a one-time thing. And what this proves is that it was not a one-time thing. Currently, that football team, and I am talking about TCU, is executing and playing football at a higher level. And their coaches are preparing their football team at a higher level.
“My first responsibility is to get myself and our own staff better. And then, I was very impressed with their talent. It is amazing because, a lot of those sacks, if you watch Max drop back, he was looking, looking, looking, looking, and then the pocket collapsed.
“There were certainly others where he didn’t have time. But when they are playing zone coverage, and playing it with that efficiency, where we can’t find gaps, where we can’t separate from linebackers or safeties.
“I was impressed with their speed. And so possibly we will have to continue to look at scheme, and personnel, and use of personnel to try to combat that type of speed. So I was impressed that way.
“And so I thought offensively, even though they weren’t gashing us with running plays, I still thought they were winning the line of scrimmage battle on us. And then I thought there was enough concentration plays, or big chunks through the air, that really, I thought that was the difference. And again there was some speed issues involved in that, and some concentration.
“So, I don’t know if that answers your question or not. I am pointing out where I think work needs to be done. “

Is that kind of talent available to you?

“I don’t think that our program model will ever be identical to what TCU’s is, but what I have always prided our program on, is that our execution and our collective would be stronger by the end of the day than our opponent’s. And so what happened the last two years with TCU is, they have very good talent, and their execution as a collective beat ours. So that to me is what you can see when the gap widens, is when our execution isn’t flawless as a football team -- when we are not precise as a football team, because we built it that way, with the talent base that we have, which I love, and if we don’t execute the way we need to, then it becomes difficult for us to play from behind and catch up.
“So I am leaning a lot toward execution. And I think with the type of young men we have in our program, it is work ethic and conscientious kids, but now when [we face] a talented team that out-executes us, which has happened two years in a row, that’s where I think we need to close the gap.”

How disappointing is it to lose these big games the past few years?

“It is disappointing, especially as a head coach when I felt prepared, and then as I watched us play, it didn’t play out the way that I believed we would play. I don’t believe it is any issues with desire, or really how I saw them prepare during the week. Yet, I think it is also necessary, and what I will continue to do is schedule in our early season, difficult football teams. Because this is our next step, is to play against talented football teams, that have excellent athletes, and to force our execution to hold at a higher level, and that is something that I will continue to work on.”

Does it take away at all from beating the lesser MWC teams that you do consistently?

“I am not sure. I think it is difficult to win any football game. And there is a lot of work that goes into that, period. And especially to win consistently. What is happening now is the expectations, and as our program has reached here, there is now another step that we need to take. So it is almost viewed as commonplace that you beat the rest of those, and now there are one or two games a year that determine whether it is a successful season or not. So I think it is a tribute to our program that we have risen to that point. Now it is, ‘we better get to work and handle that next step.’ And this will be a very valuable, but hard lesson to go through.”

How do you increase execution with only 20 hours a week to practice?

“It is a great question. I have gone with the model over the past couple of years, where we haven’t practiced as long as some other teams, based on health and trying to keep our team fresh and maximize the freshness of our team, throughout the context of the year, and so I will look hard at everything -- not only how I am coaching the team, but our organizational model, etc.
“Because what is happening is I think it has helped us be very consistent for four years, but now again the expectations, and where we are trying to get it is a lot clearer and cleaner  I think to everybody.
“And so now possibly changes have to be put in place for us to achieve that next step.”

Should the expectations be lowered?

“I hesitate to do that. I believe in these kids, and our ultimate goal is a national championship. Tonight showed that we still are a ways away. And I really believe that given the right coaching, and given the right schemes and strategy and organization, that we can still exceed where we currently are, and that goes deep within me. So I am going to hold on to that as long as I am in this position.”

How much did the bad start effect your game plan?

“The 14-nothing [deficit] wasn’t an issue. 21-nothing started to make me a little bit uneasy. Just in terms of trying to be able to be patient and methodical and start to catch up. But I know their defense is very good in terms of managing points, once 21 becomes the margin against that football team.
“That is what they are hopeful for, and their ends become wider, they rush more up field, and then what happens is if you keep your running backs in for protection, that is one of our strengths, to get through the zones clear and to have running backs come underneath.
“Again, their coverage was exceptional, and I really believe if I were to say what I thought was the critical difference of the game -- their coverage being able to hold down in and down out, and then still being able to come up and tackle -- I thought their secondary was exceptional. And that to me, I would hate to say it was THE difference in the game, but it was very impressed with that of all the things I saw tonight.”

How frustrating was that for you from the sidelines?

“I was very frustrating -- it is interesting because the role that I have now, not as a play caller, I found myself just trying to encourage and inspire, and want our players to try as hard as they  can to the end. I do think the effort was there, and yet I was frustrated that we didn’t play cleanly from beginning to end, and against a team like that, and I think they will prove to be a good team throughout the year and at the end, I don’t think that is the issue, but I think the issue now is measuring where we currently are, where I would like us to be, and that reality was something that I was watching happen out there, and I was frustrated and disappointed with that, mostly looking at myself rather than our team.”