BYU football: Cougs' goal: Play on road like they do at home

PROVO — Over the past three seasons, BYU's football team has posted a 32-7 record. And coach Bronco Mendenhall is well aware that all seven losses have something in common.

They all took place away from LaVell Edwards Stadium.

The Cougars are a perfect 18-0 at home since 2006. But on the road, they are 14-7.

Finding ways to get his team to play on the road like it does at home is something Mendenhall is focusing on during the offseason.

"There are three to five plays in any given game at the critical moments (that) determine the outcome. Those outcomes determine conference championships," Mendenhall said.

"The settings in which they happen is something I think I can acknowledge at a higher level. We haven't lost a home game in three years, which has never been done here. That means our losses — seven over the past three years — have all come on the road.

"There's a chaotic element to playing on the road and a given team, based on its dynamic or preparation, which is what I'm responsible for, I think I need to continue to learn to prepare our team for chaotic circumstances on the road," Mendenhall continued.

"To claim dominance, not only in the league, but out of the league as well, that comes through handling the more extreme circumstances. I need to continue to find ways to train our team for those circumstances and get them to be so mentally tough and so execution-sound that the setting itself does not influence the outcome."

BYU's losses have come against Arizona, Boston College, UCLA, Tulsa, TCU, Utah and Arizona again at the Las Vegas Bowl in December.

ANOTHER FAB FRESHMAN: Cougar left tackle Matt Reynolds was named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America Team.

Reynolds was also named to the Freshman All-America teams by Rivals.com, CollegeFootballNews.com and The Sporting News.

This marks the sixth consecutive season that a BYU player has received Freshman All-America honors, along with tight end Daniel Coats (2003), wide receiver Austin Collie (2004), offensive lineman Dallas Reynolds (2005), defensive lineman Jan Jorgensen (2006) and running back Harvey Unga (2007).