BYU football: Great expectations, mediocre results

LAS VEGAS — Never, perhaps, has a 10-3 record felt so unsatisfying.

At least not at BYU, which suffered a 31-21 setback to Arizona Saturday in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Cougars finished the 2008 campaign with a 10-3 mark — certainly not what they had in mind way back in August amid the hype of an anticipated undefeated season and a BCS berth.

As it turned out, BYU, which rose to No. 9 in the national rankings by mid-October, fell way short of its lofty expectations. The Cougars entered the season as the two-time defending Mountain West Conference champions and favorites to win the league again, but they ended up third in the MWC standings.

On the heels of back-to-back 11-2 seasons, the 2008 campaign will be remembered as a major disappointment. Ten-and-three isn't good enough anymore.

"When you have the potential and don't reach it, it's disappointing. We took a step back from the last couple of years," said defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen. "We were a good football team. We weren't a great football team this year. I think that was easy to see. Great football teams not only have the potential to be great, but they are great because they make the plays when they need to be made. We didn't do that. It's our own fault. We have great goals, but you have to work hard and do what it takes to attain them. We got what we deserved."

"As you know, now it's the third straight year with 10 wins," said coach Bronco Mendenhall, "but it doesn't quite feel like it now."

BYU is hoping that disappointment and frustration will spur it to greater heights next season.

"We've just hit a wall as a team, being good, not great," said wide receiver Austin Collie. "We have a lot of work to kind of push us over the edge and become one of the great teams. We need to get in the weight room, get out on the field and find that edge and go over that edge. There's a point that we've hit that we need to take it to the next level as a team."

Collie added that BYU's shortcomings in 2008 will be "big-time motivation" going into next fall. "It was kind of a letdown. We didn't do exactly what we thought what we could have done. We have a lot of a lot of guys coming back, a lot of talent coming back. And we have the potential to achieve the goals we set for this year."

"We've just got to take it and use it as motivation. I'm going to come back starting Monday and keep working my butt off," Jorgensen said. "I'm not going to wait until that first day of school. I'm going to get ready to play and hopefully my teammates do the same thing. We can be a lot better next year. It's all up to us."