Cougars saying right things about UCLA

PROVO — Kelly Poppinga says BYU wants another shot at UCLA because the Cougars didn't do it right the first time — a do-over is just fine by him.

In fact, since Steve Young led the Cougars over the Bruins nearly three decades ago, BYU has a lot of catching up to do against this Pac-10 team.

The 17th-ranked Cougars (10-2, 8-0) and Bruins (6-6, 5-4) play again Dec. 22 in the 16th Pioneer Vision Las Vegas Bowl in Sam Boyd Stadium.

"As a team we're excited to return to Las Vegas and play UCLA again. It's a chance to beat a team that defeated us early in the season when we had some young guys on offense, turned the ball over and didn't play the type of football we are now capable of," said the senior captain.

"We have a totally different team than the one that played them in September," said Poppinga.

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall told reporters on Monday he welcomes a rematch with the Bruins. Regardless of records or circumstances or any BCS controversy, Mendenhall said he sees the BYU-UCLA game as one more step to help his program make progress toward where it needs to be on the national scene.

"UCLA has proven very capable of beating us," said Mendenhall. "Our focus, as I've tried to explain all season long, is on us. Not where, not who and not why."

Mendenhall said it is his job to "make sure these young men have the best chance to reach all their goals," and the Las Vegas Bowl matchup with the Bruins is just another step along the way.

The Cougars certainly have much to prove after losing to the Bruins in Pasadena, then Tulsa on the road. BYU is 1-7 against UCLA, and the last time the two teams met in a bowl was 1986 in the Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, when the Bruins thrashed the Cougars 31-10.

Mendenhall said his plan for the bowl is to keep his team playing consistent. "It's consistency that got us to win the conference the past two years and that will be what we try and concentrate in our bowl preparation in weeks to come."

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe agreed with Mendenhall's approach. "We aren't wearing smiley faces around here, but we are positive about what the direction the football program is going under Bronco, and we'll take the lead from him in his approach to playing UCLA. He's got it right."

Holmoe is more than familiar with the Bruins and what they are capable of, despite losing their lead in the Pac-10 the past few weeks.