BYU football: Cougars wary of being bitten by upset bug

LOGAN — During the bye week, BYU saw that bad things can happen to good, ranked teams.

When the No. 8 Cougars (4-0) visit Utah State (1-3) tonight, the task is to extend their 14-game winning streak and avoid becoming one of those upset victims.

A handful of teams ranked in the top 10 fell a week ago, and BYU benefited, jumping into the top 10 for the first time in seven years. The key now, the Cougars say, is staying there.

"That's the way college football is nowadays. You can't come out lackadaisical in any given week, no matter who you play," said quarterback Max Hall. "You've got to be ready to play.

"Utah State is going to want to play us tough. It's at their place. It's going to be a fun atmosphere and a fun game to play, but we've got to make sure that we're not lazy or not precise in our execution after a bye week."

The Cougars, who have outscored their last two opponents by a combined score of 103-0, are hoping there are no ill-effects from not playing last weekend.

"What's great about our football team is we've picked up where we left off," said wide receiver Austin Collie. "The bye week was a benefit to us. Some of our guys were a little bit banged up. Now that they're recovered and we've been able to get back on track."

Not only is BYU coming off of a bye, but its starters have played just a little more than two quarters in the last two games. The last time the Cougars' starters played a full game was nearly a month ago, when BYU squeaked out a 28-27 victory at Washington.

But coach Bronco Men-

denhall is confident about how his players will perform.

"I'm not concerned and I think we've managed the bye week well," he said. "I think the players are eager. That doesn't mean they might not be perfectly sharp to begin with. But what we sacrifice in being sharp, we'll gain in health, self-scout and all of the things that we did (during the bye week). The game will manifest itself as it needs to by the time it's over. It might not be perfect on either side, but, again, there's eight weeks to play still."

The Aggies are also coming off of a bye and they drilled Idaho, 42-17, in their last game. USU's offense is improving, Mendenhall said.