"Most of the guys on our team, the guys that are starters or front-line players, have been in those types of environments before," he said. "BYU is a tough place to play. It's loud and they have a great crowd that's right up on top of you," he said. "It's a great place to play. It's a scenic place to play with the mountains right in the background. It's a great grass field. They've got rabid fans."

As if that connection to BYU wasn't enough, it gets even better. Kragthorpe and BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall were graduate assistant coaches together in 1989 at Oregon State, where Dave Kragthorpe was the head coach. Mendenhall played for Dave Kragthorpe for two years at OSU. Steve Kragthorpe and Mendenhall also coached together for two years at Northern Arizona. Mendenhall regards Kragthorpe as one of his best friends in the coaching business.

"I consider him one of the best head coaches that I've seen at this point at a relatively earlier stage in his career," Mendenhall said of Kragthorpe.

What's more, Tulsa's offensive coordinator, Charlie Stubbs, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at BYU in 1983-84 before moving on to Oregon State from 1985-1990. After he was hired as head coach in 2004, Mendenhall considered Stubbs for the quarterbacks coaching job at BYU.

The Golden Hurricane arrives in Provo with a high-powered offense that averaged 33 points per game last season. Kragthorpe's teams are 20-4 when scoring more than 30 points.

"Nine wins and a conference championship team coming in, it gives us no reason to expect it to be easy and we expect it to go right down to the end again," Mendenhall said.

Tulsa's offensive line is touted as the most experienced in the nation with a combined 95 career starts. Junior quarterback Paul Smith threw for 2,847 yards and 20 touchdowns last year and led the C-USA in passing efficiency at 142.9.

"His greatest strength is his ability to create," Mendenhall said of Smith. "He is definitely not afraid to run the ball. You'll see a fake zone with an option back where the quarterback will read the end and keep the ball. They get him out of the pocket frequently on boot and he is very mobile. His ability to create is why they are so effective on third down. He can run it, dive, pitch it sideways, throw it underhand, he just finds a way to move the chains in a manner that does not divert from offense or the game plan they have. He is a productive player and I think the offense is driven by his play."

NOTES: Overshadowed by its prolific offense, Tulsa's defense is underrated. The Hurricane were No. 40 nationally in total defense and No. 43 in scoring defense last season. Tulsa was No. 3 in defensive interceptions, with 22. They were No. 3 nationally in turnovers gained with 36 ... This marks Tulsa's first visit to Provo since 1997, when the Golden Hurricane and the Cougars were members of the Western Athletic Conference. BYU won that contest, 49-39 ... This is the sixth meeting between BYU and Tulsa. BYU leads the all-time series, 5-0 ... Tulsa linebacker Nick Bunting and offensive tackle Jeff Perrett have the longest current active streak on the Tulsa team for starts with 36.

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com