BYU football notebook: Offense not holding up its end of the bargain

PROVO — In its 38-7 loss to TCU last Saturday, BYU — which went into the game averaging 306 passing yards per game — threw for only 188 yards — its worst single-game output since 2005.

Of course, that had a lot to do with the Horned Frogs' stellar defense, which was even better than advertised.

TCU was able to put pressure on quarterback Max Hall — to the tune of five sacks — and even when Hall did have time to scan the field, the secondary had BYU's receivers bottled up.

It didn't help that the Cougars' fastest receiver, McKay Jacobson, was still sidelined with a hamstring injury.

"I was very impressed with (TCU's) talent. It's amazing because a lot of those sacks as you watch Max, he was looking, looking, looking, then the pocket collapsed," coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "There were certainly others where he didn't have time. When they're playing zone coverage and playing it at that efficiency, where we can't find gaps, we can't separate from linebackers or safeties, I was impressed with their speed. So possibly we'll have to continue to look at scheme and personnel to combat that type of team speed."

Offensive coordinator Robert Anae was obviously frustrated by what he saw against TCU.

"The disturbing part is, our ability to throw the football consistently is not up to par," he said. "We've shown throughout the years that we've been able to throw the football. In this game, we had breakdowns in our ability to sustain drives, convert on third down and move the ball down the field."

Despite BYU's trouble passing the ball, Anae liked Hall's overall performance.

"I would like to commend our quarterback. I thought he played an extremely courageous game," Anae said. "He stood in there for the most part and delivered the ball with the protection he was given. I was very pleased with the way he managed that situation. It doesn't show on paper, all the stats of being successful, but I thought he grew from a year ago."

As for the offense in general, Anae said, "We did not hold up to our end of the bargain."

Anae was pleased with the way his team ran the ball against TCU, as Harvey Unga rushed for 123 yards. "But unless you can be very efficient throwing the football and moving the chains, that's probably why coach (LaVell) Edwards went from a rushing team to a passing team," Anae said. "You have to be able to stretch defenses and be effective doing it."

TOO MANY MISCUES: Mendenhall expressed surprise, and disappointment, when it came to his team's penalties against TCU (nine for 85 yards) and inability to stop the Frogs on third down.

"It's not necessarily penalties that bother me, it's when they happen. There were some (Saturday) on both sides of the football that hurt us," Mendenhall said. "Third-down plays that allowed TCU to maintain the football and possession. There were plays where we had field position and we're making strides moving the ball. Then we had setbacks that made it much more difficult. It did surprise me."

REMEMBER NOVEMBER: Under Mendenhall, BYU has posted a 13-2 record in the month of November (2-1 in 2005; 4-0 in 2006; 4-0 in 2007; 3-1 in 2008). Both losses have come against archrival Utah.

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com