Bronco Mendenhall changed BYU culture in a week

Game ball to Bronco Mendenhall.

Decked out in a simple gray T-shirt and blue-collar game face, the fifth-year BYU coach ignited a fire in a punchless Cougar football team this week — and on Saturday, without making a single play, he willed the Cougars to an inspiring 24-21 win over San Diego State in LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Mendenhall spent the past seven days turning BYU's football team inside out, from toenails to cardio valves. He even tickled its soul after a rare midseason firing of his defensive coordinator and vowed to look into the eyes of players and see what they were made of.

It worked.

Boy, did it work.

While the most-times stoic Mendenhall praised his team, in particular his running backs for taking over the game, he shied away from taking any credit himself.

Well, balderdash.

The biggest difference in BYU beating SDSU Saturday and losses to Air Force, Nevada and Utah State was a week of Mendenhall without his mask. He broke out an emotional cattle prod this week and it worked with BYU's football program.

From the onset of BYU's victory over the Aztecs, the Cougars came out swinging and they never quit until Bryan Kariya bulled his way 7 yards on a third-and-6 to seal the victory.

BYU stopped an Aztec offense with an NFL quarterback and receiver in Ryan Lindley and Vincent Brown on the first set of downs while methodically plowing down the field for a JJ Di Luigi touchdown to cap BYU's longest drive of the year (19 plays, 78 yards) on the first possession.

After the first quarter, BYU had run off 24 plays to 8 for SDSU. They then rode a fired-up offensive line and gashed the Aztecs all game long on the ground in one of those bloodied-nose trench affairs that the winning linemen dream of and give losing linemen nightmares.

The Aztec defense, coached by the talented former New Mexico head coach Rocky Long, had allowed just under 100 yards a game through September.

Di Luigi gained 134 and the Cougars had 271.

A defense that ranked dead last in the NCAA at defending the run (259 ypg) allowed just 53.

And time of possession? Get out of here. BYU held the edge a whopping 45 to 15 minutes.

That is just insane.