BYU football notebook: Cougars hoping to repeat history

FORT WORTH — BYU wide receiver McKay Jacobson was a true freshman back in 2006 when the Cougars earned one of their biggest victories under coach Bronco Mendenhall.

It happened here at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

Facing a TCU team then ranked No. 15 in the nation and riding a 13-game winning streak, BYU upset the Horned Frogs four years ago, 31-17. That win propelled the Cougars to an outright Mountain West Conference championship.

"I just remember going down there and there was a lot of emotion," Jacobson said. "I think we kind of played the way we played last Saturday (in a 24-21 win over San Diego State). We had a lot more emotion. Guys were fully invested into the game and not holding anything back and just getting after it. We were able to execute and do well. It's one thing to play hard, but another thing to execute."

Jacobson isn't the only one who remembers that game.

"The last time BYU came to town with the kind of a chip on their shoulder they have right now was back in 2006, and the (same) kind of intensity, when they beat us here," said TCU coach Gary Patterson. "I believe that we're going to get their best ball game. I think they're trying to claw themselves out of a hole. I think that makes them a very dangerous football team.

"TCU understands that because we played BYU in those times and we understand what they can bring."

BACK IN THE SADDLE: Last week, the first week Mendenhall returned to his role as defensive coordinator, was "probably the most fun I have had in six years," he said. "It was very invigorating. I just loved being with the players again.

"Sometimes as a head coach, you get removed. It was by choice, and I have no one to blame but myself. But I just love being with the players and having more impact on their lives and how they performed on Saturday than what I had prior."

During the week leading up to last Saturday's win over SDSU, Mendenhall said his involvement with the team was "95 percent different" than in previous weeks.

"I spent every minute but a half hour, per day, in the defensive room coaching the defense and designing the schemes and strategies and building the culture. I spent a half hour a day in the head coach's office, which is the exact opposite percentages of what it had been prior to that. So from running practice, to running meetings, to designing schemes and strategies, and planning, I basically took on the role of an assistant coach, as well as a head coach, last week."

'DANGEROUS' KERLEY: TCU'S Jeremy Kerley ranks No. 10 in the nation in punt returns, averaging 15.2 yards per return. He averages 26.9 yards per kickoff return.

"It's one of those things where he is dangerous on any given return," Mendenhall said. "TCU's good on special teams. They're fast in their coverage units and they're skilled at their returners. It will be a great test for us."

HOMECOMING: Jacobson and linebacker Brandon Ogletree are two of the Texas natives on BYU's roster who are returning to their home state today. Jacobson hails from Southlake, while Ogletree, who had a key interception in the first half last week against SDSU, is from McKinney.

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com