BYU football: Cougars have nothing good (or bad) to say about Utah

The edict: Savor it for a day.

Then BYU will tackle the madness of Utah week.

Bronco Mendenhall did all he could to delay the Utah-BYU week hype originating from the Cougars on Saturday. Mendenhall wanted his squad to bask in the celebration of a solid 38-24 victory over Air Force in Falcon Stadium first. Unlike seasons past, when a Curtis Brown or Bryan Kehl has provided early fodder for rivalry week, Mendenhall saved his best block of the game when he came out of the locker room.

It was kind of funny. Reporters assigned specifically to fish for BYU-Utah quotes, from the Denver Post to ESPN and all the local folks in between, ran microphone-first into Mendenhall's road block and detour. He asked his players to delay such talk for a day.

They obliged.

"Sorry, wait until Monday — we'll enjoy this, then talk Utah," said senior linebacker David Nixon.

"We're just enjoying this win right now; no next week talk," chirped D-lineman Jan Jorgensen.

"There's enough for us to talk about right now with this win," said receiver Austin Collie.

"I knew he wouldn't answer any questions about Utah. He told me before the season began," said ESPN's Graham Watson.

"OK," said the guy from the Post.

Explained Mendenhall: "Our community doesn't treat next week's game like it's just like any other game. They try to stir up and capture content that is divisive early in the week. I'd just as soon enjoy this one and get to Utah next week."

Jorgensen said the Cougars cannot get enough of the win over the Falcons, work that elevated them to 10-1 overall, 6-1 in the MWC and five wins in a row over the Academy.

"It's always fun when you have helmets diving at your knees and shins; that's a blast," said Jorgensen.

The Cougars had 32 first downs to 21 for the Falcons. They gained 480 yards to 421 for the home team. Max Hall completed 28 of 37 passes for 354 yards and a pair of TDs to Austin Collie. His pass-efficiency rating was a respectable 168.48.

The Cougar defense, under scrutiny most of the season, gave up some big plays but generally bottled up the Falcons' option. After giving up an average of 28 points on the road this season, the 24 was just right, said Mendenhall.

"This team isn't as clean as the past two years," said Mendenhall.