BYU football: Cougars gear up for short week

BYU faces TCU Thursday; position in poll unchanged

PROVO — BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall gave his team all of six seconds — one second for each win this season — to celebrate its 21-3 victory over New Mexico.

Then it was straight to work in preparation for Thursday night's showdown at TCU.

Cougar coaches left LaVell Edwards Stadium Saturday night for the football offices to put together a game plan while the players received DVDs of the Horned Frogs' games from this season.

BYU — which remained No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 8 in the USA Today coaches' poll — will practice today, Tuesday and Wednesday before departing for Fort Worth, Texas, Wednesday afternoon.

"I think we play well on Thursday nights. We've got to start preparing," Cougar quarterback Max Hall said after his team beat the Lobos. "I'm going to watch film on (TCU) all weekend. We're going to put our script in on Monday morning. We're going to have a Tuesday practice on Monday. We're going to get after it. It's going to be fun. TCU is a good team, and it's going to be a big-time game. Anytime you get ready to play a game like that, it's exciting."

The Horned Frogs (6-1, 3-0) are not ranked in the AP top 25, but they broke into the coaches' poll at No. 24 after defeating Colorado State, 13-7, in Fort Collins. Their lone defeat this season came at the hands of Oklahoma. The Sooners spent two weeks ranked No. 1 before last Saturday's loss to Texas.

Since Mendenhall took over the reins of the program in 2005, BYU is 3-0 in Thursday night games — including two wins over TCU. "I think our model has been effective for Thursday night games," Mendenhall said.

"I think we have an advantage as a football team with the coaching staff that we have and the preparation they put into games like this with a short (turnaround)," said wide receiver Austin Collie. "They work their butts off. They're great coaches. So they're going to have us prepared. They're going to know exactly what TCU is going to do offensively and defensively. It's going to make it easier for us."

Cougar defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen said preparing for a game on a short week is taxing, adding that he doesn't like Thursday contests.

"It's intense. You've got to find a balance and be ready to play a very good opponent," he said. "You also have to give your body a chance to heal. It's tough finding that balance. It's intense mentally. The biggest part is getting out and doing our work really hard on the practice field. It's a very tough mentally getting ready for a Thursday night game."

BYU linebacker David Nixon, a senior from College Station, Texas, is looking forward to returning to his home state.

"This is big for me. I've had the game circled on my calendar ever since I was down there last time (in 2006)," Nixon said. "I'm excited. I'll have lots of family there. We expect the same result as last two years — a win. It's not going to be easy. It's going to be tough. But I think we'll be ready on a short week."

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