Anae respectful of Stoops football blood and culture

Robert Anae knows and salutes the football work of the Stoops Clan.

He's seen it over and over again when he coached in the Big 12 at Texas Tech and he witnessed it at BYU when the Cougars went up against Arizona.

Bob and Mike Stoops. Oklahoma and Arizona. Guys who like to hone an edge to their work; guys who stamp a certain mind-set on their players; men Anae respects on and off the field.

Anae is assured Arizona Mike has filled in Bob on how to prepare for the Cougars. Anae knows he'll get Oklahoma's best defensive effort and he'd better have the Cougars ready come Saturday in Jerry Jones' billion dollar playhouse.

His boss, Bronco Mendenhall, assured reporters Monday there will "be a transfer of knowledge" between Arizona and Oklahoma and the Stoops. "We will not be a mystery to them."

Oklahoma might be favored by 21 points, and although his boss said Oklahoma is the quickest and most talented team he's ever coached against, Anae isn't blinking. He and Mendenhall call this game a reward, an honor and a chance of a lifetime for Cougar players and they want them to put it all on the line and enjoy it.

"I have tremendous respect for not only their coaching ability but them personally," said Anae. "The Stoops are not only great coaches but really good guys. I have had the opportunity to rub shoulders from a distance with them from across the field.

"On the field, when I was at Texas Tech, I remember those defenses were fast, well coached, aggressive and very disciplined. And with Arizona, it was the same thing. Now, it's five years later and you see the same things at Oklahoma and Arizona. Those kinds of things are beyond scheme; they are culture. Everywhere they've gone they've been able to develop a culture that is phenomenal. It's a mind-set there."

On the Cougar side, Anae says BYU's players enter game week with solid months of preparation behind them.

"I think our kids have worked very hard for a great opportunity. To me, this game is a reward for all that work. They get to play in a great venue on a national stage that has the attention of college football. They get to play who I consider the No. 1 team in the country. It doesn't get any better than that, to play (a) somebody."

Anae is grateful his offense has an experienced, senior quarterback. While some of the elements of this 2009 offense are different than a year ago, having that one body in the form of Max Hall makes all the difference in the world in a game like this.