Cougars not resting on week off

PROVO — The way BYU wide receiver Austin Collie sees it, the Cougars' victory at New Mexico last weekend had championship implications.

"It was huge. New Mexico is a great team. They're a team that's standing in our way of us getting the Mountain West Conference championship," said Collie, who caught four passes for 98 yards, including a 59-yard touchdown, despite playing on a sprained ankle. "Now, it's just another win for us and we're 2-0 going into this game (on Oct. 13) against UNLV. Now we're the team to beat."

At the same time, Collie, who is still nursing the injury, is glad his team has a bye on Saturday.

"I feel a lot better than I thought I would," he said. "But I'm still a little sore."

Coach Bronco Mendenhall was glad to have Collie in the lineup on Saturday.

"Austin showed a lot of heart and a lot of toughness," he said. "I appreciate his willingness to play."

For Mendenhall, one of the main objectives during the bye week is getting players healthy.

"We are relatively healthy right now, but we've got the normal bumps and bruises," he said after Monday's hourlong practice. Wide receiver/punt returner Bryce Mahuika was the only Cougar to suffer a new injury (a concussion) on Saturday.

Other goals for this week include position mastery, Mendenhall said. "Sometimes when you get to midseason, which we're almost to that point, when you focus on the opponent so much and the schemes, sometimes the attention to detail in doing your specific positions falls off a little bit. So we need to recapture some of our position mastery."

The Cougars are also focusing on self-scouting and execution.

"We've had a chance all day to work on our schemes offensively, defensively and special teams," Mendenhall said. "We're reassessing what's working and what's not working. We'll do that all week. We'll have a chance to shape our emphasis for the rest of the year."

BYU will practice through Thursday and then take the weekend off.

"Thursday will be like a typical Monday for an opponent," Mendenhall said. "That will be the first time our players will have a game plan to be exposed to. Hopefully we can put it all together for the following week having gained one extra day."

Linebacker Bryan Kehl loves the timing of this bye week.