Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall
Opening Comments:
We are very excited to be in the post season with a chance to grow our program, to continue to climb in terms of national respect and prominence. Our focus will be on playing the very best football game that we can play.
In your mind is there a sense of frustration in having the two seasons you have had and the best the MWC can offer you is a 5th-place Pac 10 team?
I think it would be easy to be frustrated by that scenario, but what I have acknowledged is the way that I have coached this team and the way that we performed gave us two losses this year and the year before. Under the current system, unless we're undefeated, the chances of being in a different game are not likely. I take personal responsibility and I have asked our team to do the same.
We're not looking to ignore or view this game as one that we are settling for. We have a tremendous chance to improve our team and I view it as a real blessing and an opportunity to do that. Our conference championships have paved the way to return to national prominence, but playing well in the post season will solidify that. There is a lot to play for.
We'll play whomever we play in whatever game we're allowed to play in, in order to grow our program. Right now that is the phase that we are in. If we were undefeated, which was within our control, I would feel differently but we're not.
I'm pleased we've won the conference two years in a row and we have done some very impressive things. On the national level, under the current circumstances and criteria, unless you are undefeated those games aren't available to us. So, we'll continue to work as a program to perform week-in and week-out to perform at that standard. Right now we have another chance to grow and get better and it's a great opportunity for us.
Can you describe your team's progress from the first time you played UCLA to where it is now?
We have made tremendous progress, more so offensively than defensively. There was an uncertainty, a newness and a lack of consistency earlier in the season, offensively. I think a lot of those things have been addressed. We're not perfect yet. If you look at the identity we have, the confidence we have and the execution we're performing with, it is what I've seen in term of the biggest difference.
People have speculated that UCLA's head coached will be let go this week. How do you deal with preparing for a team when you don't know who the head coach will be?
Other than acknowledging the opponent's schemes, the focus is always on us. It's not on where we are playing, who we are playing and what coaches we're facing. Our focus is on our program getting better. Our quest for personal greatness is what we are after. No matter what happens at UCLA, it won't change how we prepare for them.
What makes the scenario of playing a team twice in one season and then early next season difficult?
I think it's familiarity within such a short window of time. Both teams will do their best every time we play, but there is something to be said about playing an opponent once a year and learning a lesson and then letting it sink in and play them a year later. That's the way I prefer to have it.
In this case, how many times do you have a chance to redeem or show improvement to the exact same team in a given season, to possibly prove you have made improvements. As far as I am concerned this is a positive thing for our team, as long as we control it and use it in that context. I don't intend to give acknowledgment to any negatives other than improvement.
With being conference champs, is there more pressure on you to beat UCLA?
There is no way any one can put more pressure on me, or our team, than we do each and every week we play. I believe that we have won two conference championships in a row because of our consistency and I guard that maybe more than I guard anything. I ask more from this team and this coaching staff than anyone could ever ask of them and circumstances don't affect that.
You mentioned scheduling down in an effort to improve your chances of earning a BCS bowl invitation.
My first obligation is to give these young men their best chance to reach their goals, and one of the goals that we had was a national championship. Under the current system, undefeated is the only way that you could get a chance at that. I don't think that I would be a very good coach if I didn't acknowledge the rules that we are to play by at least until 2010 to reach these goals. How long it will take, I'm not certain, but I do intend to use that philosophy within these rules to move this program forward. I think it would be unwise to not do that.
Do you like that process?
I'd rather have a playoff. I was one of only 10 coaches who raised their hand for that in the head coaches meeting as a proponent of the playoff. Now, not every coach was there, but I looked around and I was discouraged. Now it appears that many who did not make it in wish there was a playoff. There is no way to have a true national champion, under the current system without playing each other. I'm a big proponent for that because right now we are on the exclusionary side.
Captain and Senior Linebacker Kelly Poppinga:
Opening Comments
First of all, as a team we are excited to go back to the Las Vegas Bowl. We are excited to be able to play another game together as a team and to get back out on the field together. It's a great opportunity to go back to Las Vegas, to play a team that already beat us and we want to keep the program progressing. We have a chance to win another game and to give this team another chance to move up in the rankings as they head into next season.
What excites you the most?
The thing that excites the team most is another opportunity to go back to a place where we feel comfortable and where we have had some success. It is going to give us another chance to gain some national recognition. Right now we're 17th in the BCS rankings and winning this game gives us a chance to enter next season ranked and a better chance to get into a BCS game.
The LA times said last time you played UCLA you beat them up and out played them, which showed statistically, yet you lost. Is that a motivating factor?
We knew when we were coming out of that game that we played a pretty good game. The offense was young at that time and considering the way they have progressed, we are a totally different team than we were at the beginning of September. We're just excited about the way the team has progressed.
What gave you the most trouble at the Rose Bowl?
We played really well that day as a defense we just gave up a couple of fade patterns. Other than that, we played the run very well and we managed to keep them under 240 total yards. As a defense, we handled their offense pretty well. What it comes back down to is turnovers. We gave up too many turnovers and as a defense, we didn't get any. It gave them a chance to score. What it comes down to isn't how many yards you get, it's how many points you score.
Last year Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said BYU wouldn't be able to compete as a mid-level Pac 10 team. Where do you think BYU would rank in the Pac 10?
I think you would have to go back and look at how we have performed against them in the past few years. We would have gone 3-0 against them if we hadn't lost to UCLA this year, but we did. Last year we beat Oregon and they were a pretty good team this season. I think that if you were to look at the top team of their conference and the top teams of our conference, we would be pretty evenly matched.
When you look at UCLA at home how much of an advantage is it to get them away from the Rose Bowl?
The thing about this team is that we will play anybody, anytime, anyplace. We don't care where we play them -- we have to show up and play our best. We're going to show up and play our game. Getting them away from the Rose Bowl is an advantage for us and we play very well in Las Vegas, so I think that is another advantage for us. It is great for us to have so many of our fans there to cheer for us. I know they are going to support us and they will be crazy and loud and make a very fun atmosphere.
Athletic Director Tom Holmoe
Opening Comments:
First of all, I would like to thank this years team. They have given us a lot of thrills, played excited ball and brought another championship back. I'm grateful to coach Mendenhall, his staff and the players because it is not easy. When you look back to the middle of the summer, people were saying this was the team that wasn't going to be able to do it and they did.
There is still a big game ahead of us. As I have talked to the coaches, players, former players and a number of fans who have gotten their tickets -- they're fired up and they're ready to go. That is the way I feel about it. This team has accomplished a lot and there is still a game left to play this year. There still are a lot of issue that we have to work out, but right now, we have a darn good team, a darn good staff and a student body and fans that are behind their team.
Would you characterize the discussions the school had with the Bowl relative to your opponent?
These are two conferences that have contracted to play in the Las Vegas Bowl. The MWC does it a bit differently than the Pac 10. We're contracted to give the Las Vegas Bowl the first selection. The Pac 10 doesn't necessary have selections, they do it by slotting. BCS goes to the Rose Bowl, second-place team goes to the Holiday Bowl, etc. So when it comes down to the Las Vegas Bowl, there is a specific team that is going, there is no selection process. It comes down to a contracted game.
Was there a chance whether Las Vegas would let BYU go to the Poinsettia Bowl and have Utah go the Las Vegas?
Las Vegas wants BYU. They get first choice, so it would take something extraordinary to allow BYU to go. It would not have been a very good business decision for them to do that. They are thrilled BYU is coming to that game. They wanted BYU and they got us.
Would you prefer to play a team that isn't dealing with the turmoil of possibly firing their coach?
We can't control the factors outside. It is always interesting to play a new team, but a rematch is unique because before, someone lost and someone won. It doesn't happen as much in college football, but it happens, it won't be the first and it won't be the last.
Do you expect this game to sell out?
Yes, this will be a sell out. The game is sold out in the respect that Las Vegas has sold out all their tickets, we will sell out our tickets and UCLA will do their best to sell their tickets, and we'll take any they can't sell. We each have 12,000 tickets.
Do you characterize this year as to whether it will be more difficult for fans to get tickets than last year?
I think it will be more difficult at this point. I think the sell out in Las Vegas was with BYU fans hoping BYU would be there.
What do you anticipate the UCLA fan reactions to be to the bowl game and the chance of losing their head coach?
Our team will go into that game with their mind focused on their own team. They do not deal with the issue of the other teams; they are completely focused on themselves and what they can do.
How does it make you feel when on a national level top-25 BYU doesn't receive much attention?
We currently have a situation with television that involves ESPN, The Mtn, Comcast and a lot of other people. It hasn't been good for BYU and it's our responsibility to make it right and get the most out of the situation. We're currently working on that and it's not easy. This is not a situation that has an easy solution. We are doing everything that we can to make things right for our university and our fans throughout the country. We are aware of the frustrations and the importance of this issue.