Cougars lick wounds preparing for Falcons

PROVO — As BYU's defense licks its wounds after yielding a ton of points and yardage in a 55-47 loss at Tulsa, coach Bronco Mendenhall said he doesn't plan on making any personnel changes going into the Cougars' Mountain West Conference opener Saturday against Air Force.

"There were enough mistakes made collectively that not any one player in particular seemed to be standing out," Mendenhall said.

Linebacker David Nixon said the defense is regrouping this week, hoping for a better performance against the 3-0 Falcons.

"We were riding high for a little bit to holding UCLA to the points they scored and holding Arizona to seven points," Nixon said. "This loss humbled us a little bit. But we're still confident in each other. We still trust each other. We've all said we're sorry to each other and said we're not going to let it happen again. We mean that. We're not going to let it happen again."

Saturday's game is a chance for the defense to redeem itself, Nixon added.

"We're going to come out and go hard. We're going to throw some stuff at (Air Force) that might shake them up a little bit. We're excited. This is the first conference game. It's at home after two games away. We expect the crowd to be there and get into it. It's going to be a shootout."

BOMBS AWAY: Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith torched BYU's defense, completing passes of 75, 51, 43 and 37 yards. Even backup quarterback David Johnson came in and completed a 36-yarder. Three of those passing plays went for touchdowns.

"That was something that got me on my heels a little bit," Mendenhall said. "Over the last two seasons, very few balls have gone over our head, period. Then to see that many, that frequently, I think our entire defense and our entire team was taken aback. (Tulsa) did an outstanding job with the bye week that they had in creating things that were difficult to defend. We didn't defend them well. Not only did they design them well, they executed them well. Of the eight gadget plays they ran, seven of them were successful and that led to the majority of their points."

Said Nixon of the number of long passes: "It was kind of a surprise. In the first couple of games, we weren't beat over the top. At the same time, it wasn't just the fault of the DBs. It was us, as linebackers, and the defensive line who weren't putting enough pressure on the quarterback. It was the whole defensive unit. We don't blame it on the secondary. They were playing aggressive and they burned us a couple of times."