BYU football: Arizona's enthusiasm pleases Cougars

PROVO — It didn't take long to read how BYU players feel about returning to Las Vegas for a bowl game for the fourth straight year.

After losing at Utah in the season finale, the Cougars say they are anxious, excited and motivated to get the bitter taste out of their mouths and are pleased to play Arizona, a team actually thrilled to be in a bowl game.

"It's refreshing, to tell you the truth," said head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "It's nice to face a team that wants to be there. Just seeing their quarterback put on a Las Vegas Bowl hat and say how excited he is, is different than having the discussion of what bowl somebody should have been in. They want to be there. We are excited to be there."

In 2006, BYU's opponent Cal thought it should have been somewhere else. In 2007 Oregon showed little interest in the Las Vegas Bowl appearance and its coach Mike Bellotti dissed BYU and the MWC. Last

year, UCLA just fired its head coach.

The 10-2 Cougars face 7-5 Arizona Dec. 20 in the Las Vegas Bowl in Sam Boyd Stadium .

Mendenhall said his team intends to make the most of Las Vegas. His team can become the first Cougar team to win three consecutive bowl games and launch the program forward in 2009 with a win.

To elevate preparation for the Wildcats, Mendenhall used three segments of Thursday's practice, the first since the loss to Utah. He put his first offense against the first defense to "raise the level of competition" and get the squad back in game mode.

"It's something we haven't done in some time, but at the expense of Arizona prep, we thought it would help prepare our first team on both sides for the intensity and speed of what they'll see in a game."

Mendenhall said there are a lot of similarities between BYU and Arizona, in particular the offenses with Robert Anae and U of A coordinator from Texas Tech. "They are better now than a year ago. Defensively, they've always been strong and like us, have given up an average of 21 points a game."

"I think both teams are ready to rock," said junior receiver Austin Collie. "You could tell how excited their fans were to go to Las Vegas when they rushed the field after the ASU win. We're always excited to play and we love going to this bowl."

Collie declared Thursday's return to the field a success.