BYU football: Cougars look to cure road woes

Still, Mendenhall is trying not to make too much of this game.

"If we don't play well, all won't be lost as it has been the past couple of years when we won 10 straight. I'll learn another valuable lesson and hopefully apply it," he said.

"I'm trying not to put too much emphasis other than very few things we've had issues with that have not been correctable and addressed and then we move forward. This is one of the few remaining areas that I think we have some work to do. Our program is more prepared and the team is more prepared. The outcome? We'll see after we play."

Washington struggled in every phase of the game against Oregon. The Huskies gained only 242 yards of total offense (they gained just 2.2 yards per carry). Quarterback Jake Locker rushed 16 times for 57 yards, and his offensive line struggled protecting him. He completed 12-of-28 passes for 103 yards.

"We didn't block well, we didn't throw well, we didn't catch as well as we'd like to," Willingham said. "But if you think back one year ago, our offense was very productive. It averaged about 30 points per game — we were second in the Pac-10 in rushing."

One of the keys for BYU is slowing down the quick, athletic Locker. "For us to win," Jorgensen said, "we have to be able to corral him."

Offensively, the Cougars know they need to protect Hall and avoid turnovers. BYU lost four fumbles in last week's 41-17 win over Northern Iowa.

BYU on the road

No. 15 BYU (1-0) at

Washington (0-1)

Husky Stadium

Today, 1 p.m.

TV: Fox Sports Net

Radio: 1160AM, 102.7FM

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E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com