BYU Sports

Monday, BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen called Air Force’s tactics “legal, but dirty” when discussing the Falcons’ penchant for taking out defenders at the knees.
In his Tuesday teleconference, BYU quarterback Max Hall also questioned some of this week’s opponent’s way of doing business.
“Yeah, sometimes Air Force can hit you low, and do a few things,” Hall said. “I thought they had kind of a cheap hit on Dennis [Pitta] last year. He hurt his knee. But you look forward to playing them. They always play tough and they will play you to the end, and I think we match up well against them. So I am excited for our defense. I think our defense traditionally performs well against Air Force, so like I said, just like Coach Mendenhall, we are excited to play the game on Saturday.”
Hall and Jorgensen aren’t alone.
After UNLV lost 45-17 to Air Force last Saturday, Rebels coach Mike Sanford -- who has since been fired -- also questioned the way AFA plays, calling it “dangerous and unsafe” and “not within the rules of football.”
Last year, the hit on Pitta -- actually a totally legal play as a defender went low to make a tackle on the 255-pound tight end -- caused a torn MCL and limited his effectiveness in the following week’s game against Utah.

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More from Hall today:
* On the fact that BYU probably won’t win the MWC championship for the second-straight year:
“Obviously that goal is going to be pretty tough to reach now -- almost unreachable. But you just keep playing. I still think we can have a successful season. Hopefully, just a two-loss season if we can keep winning and win out and go to a bowl game and win, that will be considered a pretty good season.”
* On memories of playing Air Force in past games:
“They are tough. They execute well. You could say, out of all the teams, us and Air Force are probably the most similar, as far as the type of guys we have, and we are execution-based, and so it always comes down to who plays harder, and who executes the best.”
* On whether this is AFA’s best defense in 10 years:
“Yeah, I think that is a fair statement. They are playing with kind of a different swagger and confidence than they have in year’s past, at least since I have been here. And they have a lot of seniors and some leadership on the defense, so I think it is going to be a tough challenge for us as an offense.”
* On the importance of running the ball better this week:
“It is very important. Obviously, we are a much better offense when we are running the ball well and we are playing physical up front. That was not the best game we’ve had up front, and obviously wasn’t our best game running the football. So I think if we can establish that, we can keep pounding them, and kind of do what we do and kind of methodically move the chains, and little by little take it out of them, that is when we are going to be successful.”
* On whether he is tired of answering questions about the QB win record:
“No, it is not a distraction at all. It is a big deal. I mean, it is going to be quite an accomplishment if I can get to that. If I can win this game, and be considered, whatever, to have the most wins as a quarterback.
I have put it in the back of my mind, though. It is not like I want to win the game for the record. I want to win it for our guys, and for the season. If we do win the game, after the game it is going to be something kind of special to think about.”

Air Force’s defense is better than it has been in the 10 years he’s coached against it, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said in today’s Mountain West Conference football coaches teleconference.
“I like their defense. I think they are playing very well. I think they are playing with confidence . I think they are playing consistently, and I think they are very well coached.
This particular year, I think their secondary has really nice athleticism, really kind of a keen sense for where the ball is going. And where it fits into their scheme. They can kind of bait one throw and take another one away.
And so, of the years I have been the head coach, and even as a defensive coordinator, I think this is Air Force’s best defense, and certainy, statistically, it proves that out,” Mendenhall said.

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Did last week’s poor performance in the 24-19 win over New Mexico serve as a wakeup call for the Cougars. Mendenhall said no such thing was needed.
“They didn’t need a wakeup call. They were playing very well. They practiced super well, and they played New Mexico well enough to win the game. But New Mexico played valiantly, and gave us everything they had. In terms of needing extra motivation, or to be woken up, I don’t sense that. We just played a much more difficult game than what we expected. Their spirits are high, they are optimistic, anxious to play again, and they won the game. That’s really, when it comes down to it, the bottom line result is hopefully you can get a victory, and then learn the lessons you need to along the way. So that’s what we have been focusing on.”

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Mendenhall was also asked about the team seemingly being more inconsistent this year than in his previous years, about UNLV’s firing of Mike Sanford, about teams taking away Dennis Pitta, and about TCU’s legitimacy. More on that later....

At least one Nevada newspaper is mentioning BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae as a candidate to replace Mike Sanford at UNLV. But the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s list is quite long, so take the mention for what it is worth.
Anae was UNLV’s offensive line coach in 1997 and 1998 before joining the staff at Texas Tech in 2000.
He has been at BYU since 2005, getting the offensive coordinator job when Bronco Mendenhall was hired as head coach.

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As a follow-up to the previous post on other coaches’ take on Mike Sanford’s firing at UNLV. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham was asked twice about it during the MWC coaches teleconference.
“No thoughts on that,” Whittingham said to the second questioner. “I believe he will land on his feet.”

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall and Utah coach Kyle Whittingham both held their news conferences Monday, and naturally both were asked for their reactions to the news that UNLV had fired former Ute offensive coordinator Mike Sanford.
Here’s the Tribune’s look at the firing in today’s newspaper.
Oddly, the response of the two coaches couldn’t have been more different.
While Whittingham said he had “no reaction” to the firing, Mendenhall talked at length about it, and basically had Sanford’s back.
Here’s what Bronco said:
“I am saddened by it. I really believe, and still believe they were making progress and doing it in a pretty, I would say, honorable and tried to do it the right way. A few games haven’t gone their way, in five years, certainly is what the time frame is.
“Three is probably what is realistic for most of us. If you don’t show significant results in three years, then you can probably expect for a change to be made. So I was hopeful that UNLV this year would have postseason play, and kind of have the breakout year I think we all expected.
“Coach Sanford is a very good person, and a very good coach, and someone who I think has done a good job. And I think, really, has set a foundation, or set a standard, or re-established a standard for whomever comes next. They will probably find it in a lot better shape than when he took it over.”
Part of the question included a reference to coaches who were hired in 2005, a group that includes Mendenhall, Sanford and Whittingham.
“Regarding the class [of coaches hired in 2005] in general, I know besides Kyle and myself and Mike Sanford in our league, [there was] Charlie Weis at Notre Dame,” Mendenhall said. “Based on just perception, there have been ups and downs there. But they have a very similar situation as to expectations.
The expectations at that institution are very high on the field and off, and possibly going to a bowl game, or a certain number of wins, even though it might be a winning record, isn’t enough.
So I think his situation is probably the most similar to what we have here, in terms of what the standard is. And I haven’t followed their program really enough to know how their program is doing.”


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My football story in today’s newspaper is about how the Cougars couldn’t run the ball against New Mexico, and why. For that story, go here.

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BYU’s basketball team takes on Idaho State in the Marriott Center tonight (7:30 p.m., No TV) and the Cougars had some media availability after Monday’s practice. Here’s my look at the game, which BYU guard Jimmer Fredette referred to as a rivalry.
Here’s more from Fredette:
“They are a very, very tough team. They come out and they fight all the way to the end. It was an intense game up there last year, they had a great fan base. It was a fun game. It was good time to go up there and play.
They are a good team. They can get to the middle of the floor. They are very quick, athletic guys, so they are going to be a tough challenge for us. I know they are going to come in here and want to get a win.”

Basketball coach Dave Rose ended practice around 4:40 p.m. this afternoon, but at 5 p.m. a lot of Cougars were still on the floor, working on shooting and other things. Not sure what it means, but it is obvious this group seems to like each other.
Someone even pulled out a football, and players such as Jonathan Tavernari took turns acting like Max Hall and McKay Jacobson. Team manager Andrew May has a pretty good arm.
Rose said after the workout that his team is healthy -- “right now, things are good,” he said, when asked -- and eager to face Idaho State on Tuesday night at the Marriott Center.
“This [Idaho State] team, we are actually pretty familiar with. We have played them three or four years in a row now. Their personnel -- I think they have five or six seniors -- have played in this series two or three times. So hopefully we will know a little bit more about them when we get started tomorrow.”
Last year, the game got rather intense in Pocatello and ISU coach Joe O’Brien yelled at at least one BYU assistant coach.
But Rose said there are no ill feelings, and that he expects a “competitive, hardfought game.”
Guard Jimmer Fredette, who was named MWC Player of the Week after his 25-point outing against Bradley, said the last few days have been spent on defending ball screens, rebounding and shot selection.
“Mostly we have been working on defensive stuff. We went over a little bit how we want to guard their stuff......basically just going over the game plan and stuff we want to do in this game,” he said. “We have really worked hard at the defensive end to get better at ball screens and things of that nature.”