BYU Sports

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said that the Air Force game “is always one of our favorite games of the year” at his Monday morning news conference that just ended, but defensive end Jan Jorgensen begged to differ.
Air Force’s tactics, especially its blocking tactics, are “legal, but dirty,” Jorgensen said, noting that facing the cut blocks and guarding against guys diving at his legs all game does not make playing the Falcons fun at all for a defensive player.
Mendenhall said he has the utmost respect and admiration for Air Force because of what it and its players represent, and that is why he enjoys competing against the Falcons each year.
However, the coach began his presser by calling the win over New Mexico “difficult” and he said he was proud of his team for playing well enough at the end of the game to pull it out.
Other tidbits from the news conference:
* Mendenhall said Air Force’s defense is thriving this year because both of its corners are playing extremely well and that the defense collectively is “very innovative in what they do.”
* Noting that BYU faced a lot of third-and-long situations against New Mexico, Bronco said it was because the Lobos’ were able to shut down BYU’s running game “and forced us to be one-dimensional.”
* Regarding BYU’s nicked up offensive line: Mendenhall said he left freshman Fono Vakalahi home because he of poor academic performance.
He said he expected Nick Alletto would be able to play more than he did, but believes the right tackle will be able to play this week.
* Mendenhall gave a long explanation why O’Neill Chambers was flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Lobos when it appeared an official walked up to the receiver and said something to him.
Noting that there are two sides to every story, Mendenhall said the official explained to him that Chambers cursed at him. Chambers’ side of it was that he said something to New Mexico’s bench after they were riding him for picking up an offensive pass interference penalty a few moments earlier.
* Bronco said removing Harvey Unga from the game in the third quarter was a “wise decision” and that leaving him in may have caused Unga to worsen his ankle injury. He said Unga will be probable against Air Force.
* Lamenting Terrance Hooks’ latest knee injury, Mendenhall was close to getting emotional and said the senior linebacker will probably have surgery Tuesday if the swelling goes down enough.
He said that Shane Hunter and Brandon Ogletree will take Hooks’ place in one combination or another.
* Asked if BYU has lost its home-field advantage after dropping games to FSU and TCU at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Mendenhall said no and chalked those losses up to having too many turnovers against FSU and TCU’s talent.
“On that night, a better team beat us,” he said of TCU.
* Regarding UNLV’s firing of Mike Sanford on Sunday, Mendenhall said, “I am saddened by it.” He said he believed UNLV was “making progress” in an “honorable” way, calling Sanford “a good person and a good coach.”
* The coach said that Mitch Payne was used on kickoffs, rather than Riley Stephenson, because Payne might be a better kicker when it is windy and that coach Lamb and coach Tidwell made the decision based on performance earlier in the week at practice.
* Asked if he saw any of the Utah-TCU game, Mendenhall said “Holly [his wife] made sure we watched it.” He called TCU “a good football team” and “my opinion one of the best teams in the country.”