PROVO -- After clinching a winning season and bowl eligibility with last week's win at Wyoming, head coach Bronco Mendenhall discussed this Saturday's rivalry game against Utah at the weekly media luncheon Wednesday at Legends Grille.
Opening Comments:
"Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be with you today coming off of another Mountain West Conference victory, our fifth in a row and another on the road. Our football team continues to improve regardless of circumstance, regardless of weather and regardless of adversity. We continue to move forward. I'm pleased with our team and their ability to stay the course as they have from the beginning of the season to this point. The practices have gone well this week, and we are excited to participate, and value the chance to participate, in a game against Utah this Saturday. We respect their football team and their coaching staff. We know they have a quality team. We expect a good contest. We expect their best game and we're doing everything we can to prepare diligently to play our best. So with that, what questions can I answer?"
Q: With Utah quarterback Brian Johnson getting injured last week and with BYU quarterbacks getting injured in the past, was there ever a plan from the beginning of the season to give some other guys some reps (at quarterback) just in case something happened to John Beck?
BM: "There was a plan in place and a very highly contested battle through the spring. However, the way the games were managed and the way they unfolded, I wasn't willing, nor did I think it was appropriate at that point, to create circumstances only for that purpose. We felt confident with the way practices are run and the way the meetings are constructed that our backup would have the best chance possible. If there would have been other opportunities, I certainly would have taken them. I think we did what we had to do. Now, in Utah's situations, I'm sure they're doing their best to get their backup quarterback ready for a very important game, and that's just part of college football."
Q: Is it difficult to prepare for Utah backup Brett Ratliff, a quarterback nobody knows much about? How do you study to prepare for him?
BM: "We study their offense. When you look at their offensive efficiency to this point, you'd have to speculate or predict how much is tied to the quarterback, and certainly it is a very important position. I think their offensive front is solid, I think their running back is exceptional, and I think they have excellent receivers as well. Their supporting cast has to be complemented also. The quarterback certainly is the one who takes the snap and has a hand in every play; however, our starting point in addressing the question is determining what they have already done. Then we'll modify on gameday based on what we see and maybe what influence they have changed based on this quarterback than the one who has been their starting player."
Q: This is the first year since 2001 with Brandon Doman that BYU has started the same quarterback every game. Could you speak to the philosophy, scheme and play-calling that have been committed to keeping John Beck healthy, and then to his consistency in running it?
BM: "I think there have been two things that contribute. Number one, it is very difficult to get to our quarterback because of how quickly the ball is thrown and how accurately it's delivered and the timing with which it's done; it's hard to sack our quarterback. The second thing is when you have a running game that has been developed as ours has, it makes it very difficult for opposing teams to design blitzes and call them at the right time to get after the quarterback when the running game has to be acknowledged. So I think those two parts are important, and then the emphasis for our quarterback not to be a scramble threat, to look to be out of bounds, to look to slide; that emphasis has been part of it from the beginning. Tying all that together, the overarching principle has been execution. The offense moving and manifesting itself every play at a high level leads to those plays that aren't miscues, that aren't minus-yardage plays, and so I think the execution is the reason he's healthy to this point."
Q: Are you proud of Beck in terms of his consistency?
BM: "No question. When you look at the history of BYU the past three years, certainly a lot of it has to be tied to the instability at that position, through injury, through youth, and through maturing players. Now you look at the opposite end of the spectrum with a single quarterback taking literally every snap, or almost every snap, and you've seen our football team grow and improve with consistency. I think John's play at that position has had a lot to do with that."
Q: With one game to play, the team has had 11 fumbles, six of them lost. The BYU records going back to 1961 are 13 fumbles and eight lost in a season, so you're on record pace at this point. What do you and Coach Anae do with the players both physically and mentally to emphasize the importance of ball security?
BM: "I think my job is to frame it correctly to the team. As I've said so many times, when I frame the correct principles of this football team, they respond. All I have to do is acknowledge and point out in the right setting with the right words what's important and how to win and what is going to accomplish our goals, and they respond accordingly. Then putting practice in place to support that after it's been framed correctly, it's my job to frame it after identifying the most key determining factors of winning or losing, and turnovers is one of those. It's been one of our core pillars since the very first meeting we had. Coach Anae, then, after every practice has ball-security drills, after every practice all the way to this point in the season, and it's showing up on game day. The right point was emphasized, it was framed correctly to the team, and it was practiced appropriately, so on Saturdays now the results are what they are. I would say that's the case in everything that we're doing right. And the things we're not doing right, most likely I didn't identify it quickly enough, didn't frame it accurately, and didn't practice it appropriately, and that's my responsibility."
Q: Did you identify personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as an area of emphasis in that the last four years the team averaged 18 per season? This year it's down to 10 through 10 games.
BM: "It's been emphasized, maybe not quite to the same extent as the turnovers. However, we know that miscues of any nature ruin a football team's chance to improve down the stretch. If you look at the teams that are falling off down the stretch and those that are gaining momentum, turnovers, penalties and miscues at critical times, in my opinion, is the difference. So both points you are addressing I think are right on the mark. The more accurately and the more effectively you address those principles and then eliminate them and improve down the stretch while you're gaining momentum, then it leads to five conference wins in a row. At the beginning of the season, I think turnovers and miscues had a lot to do with why we weren't having the same success, along with a new coach basically learning how to do his job."
Q: Are you worried about your team being too satisfied with having a winning record?
BM: "I'm not worried about that at all. If there is any indication of that they haven't been paying attention in meetings at all. This is just the beginning. As I've said before, it's viewed as the end of the season, but this is just the beginning of this football program returning to the level it once was. Certainly we can improve in every area, and our football team is being challenged in that regard. There is not an area that we can't improve on. I'm glad that they're confident, I'm glad that they are enjoying playing the game, but if they are satisfied, they are out of alignment with what they are hearing on a daily basis."
Q: You had a different cornerback rotation last week with Cole Miyahira getting some more reps. Can you talk about the development at that position, as well as Cole's development?
BM: "The development is based on need, attrition and inconsistency. We'll continue to put players in there who in practice have proven they deserve a chance to compete and hopefully perform at a higher level on gameday. Cole has proven he's a better tackler than his competition at this point, but there are also some weaknesses that need to be addressed in terms of trustworthiness, knowledge of assignment, etc. However, practice is the time to prove whether players deserve an opportunity or not, even going into the last game. It's not only fall camp; it's all the way through, and Cole has given himself a chance through hanging in there and remaining diligent and working to get a spot."
Q: Have you talked to New Mexico head coach Rocky Long since last Saturday?
BM: "I haven't. I haven't talked to Coach Long since our game."
Q: Being a defensive coach, what would you do to defend your offense? What do you anticipate that Utah would do?
BM: "Their scheme is different than what I consider myself an expert or knowledgeable in, but I have seen them play and my assessment is they are very confident in playing man coverage, very confident in playing man coverage from the line of scrimmage. I feel like, as I assess them, that their personnel matchups are in their favor. So I would assess that they would stay true to what they've been doing and not really acknowledge that this offense or our football team would require anything different than what they've already been doing. I think they probably feel like they are playing solid defense and playing well in enough in most cases to win, so my assessment is that they'll continue to do what they do."
Q: Earlier this year against TCU you had a backup quarterback come in and play extremely well against you. Does that help your guys prepare well and not take anything for granted here?
BM: "We didn't take that for granted, but having the quarterback from TCU and the quarterback from Air Force, who was the backup, come in and perform at a very high level has helped us. Sometimes maybe too much is made of the starter and the backup. In this case, it's an unknown and we won't know until Saturday exactly how he'll perform. But we're preparing like he's the starter, and we're preparing like their offense will continue to move just as it has. With that in mind, and with two games of experience already seeing a backup perform very well, it's been no stretch to prepare."
Q: This is going to be your first experience as a head coach in this rivalry. In your opinion, what is it that makes this rivalry one of the best in the country?
BM: "I think it's the level of interest in the state. I'm sure you could argue about Alabama-Auburn, I've been part of Oregon-Oregon State, I've seen UCLA-USC, and I'm sure there are similar games around the country. But as you look at the passion in which both fan bases support their programs in a state where there is a family emphasis and a sports-minded emphasis, and there is a tradition that dates back to so many great games, great players and great coaches. I'm just humbled and honored to be part of this rivalry in this position. I truly intend to prepare our team to play reflective of how we respect and honor this rivalry."
Q: Of Zac Collie, K.C. Bills and Quinn Gooch, will any be ready to play this Saturday?
BM: "I wouldn't expect any of them back at this point. We're hopeful they would all be back, but I would say 'doubtful' would be the highest category I could place them in."
Q: Without Collie, you lose a backup Z receiver. Do you plan to rotate Matt Allen between X and Z because has played both, or do you bring another receiver in?
BM: "It's still a work in progress and the plan is not completely set. That's an option, but it hasn't been defined quickly yet."
Q: Who is your third katback, and if you have a one, a fourth?
BM: "We don't have a fourth. I don't know who the third is as of today. We're continuing to work in practice to determine how best to manage that position, but we're thin."
Q: If a guy like Corby Hodgkiss has to go 80 plays, would you feel good about that?
BM: "I don't think any player in our secondary can play 80 plays at the level at which I'd expect them to."
Q: So you're going to find somebody here this week?
BM: "Right."
Q: Could you talk specifically about Quinton Ganther and the Utah offense? Were you able to take some things out of what New Mexico was able to do last week with their 3-3-5 defense against Utah?
BM: "Certainly. That's only the second game we've seen New Mexico play a conference opponent before we played them, UNLV being the first. It's very helpful just in terms of establishing a baseline of how things might be blocked. But more importantly, it helps know how their offensive staff and their offense might, as a fundamental starting point, attack that scheme. So we've seen that. At this point, we're not playing our defense anywhere near what New Mexico is playing theirs; there's been a lot different scheme and personnel shift. It's relevant, but maybe not at the level you would expect. I think (Ganther) is physical, I think he's hard to tackle, and I think he'll be relied on heavily this week."
Q: Former BYU receiver K.O. Kealaluhi said he once got so revved up before a BYU-Utah game that he almost passed out in the locker room. How do you keep your players even-tempered going into a game like this?
BM: "The first thing I ask them to do is not watch the news, not read the paper, and not listen to radio talk shows. Hopefully there is no offense taken by that part of it, but that's the first thing. I think the media attention regarding this game is simply to do just that, and I think that's the worst thing for our football team. We are gaining momentum and having success because of how focused we are on the things that are rally important to winning the game, not what we say and not responding to a comment or worrying what someone is saying about us, but simply going to work. That's been our approach."