Saturdays are for BYU football

PROVO — The way BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall sees it, college football is meant to be played on Saturdays.

That's one of the reasons why he's happy about his team's 2009 league schedule, which was released by the Mountain West Conference on Thursday.

This season, 11 of the Cougars' 12 games will be played on Saturdays, with the exception being a Friday night contest against Utah State. For the first time since 2005, BYU won't play on a Thursday night.

"Anytime we don't play on a Thursday, it's a positive," Mendenhall said. "It changes the players' schedule, it puts a real strain on their classwork and certainly puts a strain on the coaches and our preparation. Based on injuries you might have, it doesn't allow you to heal quite as much. (Saturday) really is the best day to play a football game and the probably the most accurate indicator of the better team on any given situation. The more any conference can play on Saturdays, the better it is."

Kickoff times and broadcast information have been announced for every game except the season-opener against Oklahoma on Sept. 5 in Arlington, Tex.

BYU opens conference play at home on Sept. 26 against Colorado State. Prior to that, the Cougars play three straight non-conference games against Oklahoma, Tulane and Florida State.

"I've never really overanalyzed any schedule, knowing that we'll play each opponent as they come," Mendenhall said. "However, I really like the idea that we'll have a great idea of who are team is, especially after the first three weeks and before we have a chance to go into conference play based on the quality of opponent and having early road games. I think it shapes up well for us to have a really clear identity and to develop our team. I'm looking forward to it."

Not only does BYU host CSU, but also TCU (Oct. 24), Air Force (Nov. 21) and Utah (Nov. 28). The Cougars travel to UNLV (Oct. 10), San Diego State (Oct. 17), Wyoming (Nov. 7) and New Mexico (Nov. 14).

BYU's bye week comes on Halloween, Oct. 31.

"I really don't have a preference in bye weeks because there are strengths no matter where (they fall)," Mendenhall said. "I don't think you can project it until you get into the season. Sometimes it's great to have it early to give you corrections. Sometimes it's great to have it late to heal. In the middle, maybe just to refocus. I won't know exactly how I like that part until we start playing the games and see what this team is capable of."