From Deseret News archives:

BYU football: Can team avoid another 1-2 start?

Published: Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008 12:41 a.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
PROVO — It was only a couple of years ago that the knock on BYU was its propensity for losing games at the end of the season. From 2001-05, the Cougars lost their final two games in each of those five years.

But 10-game winning streaks to end the 2006 and 2007 campaigns, respectively, halted that criticism.

Of late, it's BYU's slow-as-dialup starts that's been the problem.

Since coach Bronco Mendenhall took over in 2005, the Cougars have begun with 1-2 records in each of the last three seasons (including a 1-3 start in '05).

But with a victory Saturday at Washington, BYU would start with a 2-0 record for the first time under Mendenhall and keep its dreams of a perfect season alive.

"We've struggled a little bit early in the season the last couple of years. We're trying to remedy that," said defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen. "We've got to be focused when we make the trip out there.

"We can't let a big stadium or anything like that play in our minds. We just have to go out and take care of business. We want to go out and prove that we can beat these teams early in the season. It's kind of been a flaw that we've had the last couple of years. We want to prove to ourselves that we can get started right off the bat and beat those Pac-10 teams on the road early."

Story continues below
The discrepancy between the way the Cougars have started and finished is starkly manifested by the numbers. Under Mendenhall, BYU is 7-6 overall in the month of September — and 21-4 overall in the months of October, November and December.

Mendenhall addressed the slow-start issue at the beginning of fall camp when he had his players run up "Y" Mountain. Upon their arrival at the top of the trail, he told his players: "I appreciate your effort. I am most impressed by how you finished. It's representative of who you are. We've had strong finishes over the past three seasons, and that's not surprising because of who you are. Now the question is, what kind of start do you want to have? There's something about starting and finishing with the same effort."

When asked this week about bucking the trend of poor starts, Mendenhall said he and his staff have handled fall camp in "a smarter way."

"We have more healthy players and we'll play to our strengths as much as we can," he said. "I have a little better idea now of who this team is and against whom we're playing."

Recent comments

They did it. 2-0 to start the season. Go Cougars!

Can team avoid another 1-2 start | Sept. 9, 2008 at 2:24 p.m.

Here is a view on how to rate football teams:

1. Potential. Some...

A view on how to rate teams | Sept. 9, 2008 at 8:40 a.m.

John Stockton cheers for the Utes

Anonymous | Sept. 5, 2008 at 11:16 p.m.

Image

BYU's Max Hall passes as he is hit by UCLA's Reggie Carter as UCLA defeats BYU in football 27-17 at the Rose Bowl last season.

previousnext

Latest comments

This board has some of the silliest comments I have ever seen. Are you all...

hey miles everyones on to you,clueless

Sandy studying impact of stadium

A lot of good this will do... The soccer stadium has already been financed...

BYU football: Bronco weighs in on Hall

This is old, Des News! Stop running stories on it. Let's move on to bowl...

Yet again, we learn BCS is a big joke

The big twelve was formed in '94 from as the merger of itself and half the...

To "mark | 5:59 p.m." the NASA GISS data has been manipulated. That data is...

by the comments of all the slc folk, all the buisness deals are solid, and...

Dr.: Mitchell seeks signs from God

The good Dr. Golding wants to know "what Mitchel gains by being declared...

Police seek missing WVC woman

I Hope U Make It Home SAFE & Sound 2 Spend Christmas With Ur Family. Susuan...

Cougars in better mood about bowl

The Las Vegas bowl is the #9 rated bowl according to SI. That's pretty good.

Advertisements