BYU football: Cougars look to go perfect on the road

ALBUQUERQUE — Heading into its final road game of the season, BYU is on the brink of accomplishing something it hasn't done in 25 years.

The Cougars are 5-0 on the road this season. The last time BYU went undefeated on the road the entire season was when it won the 1984 national championship.

The last time the Cougars posted a 6-0 record on the road was 2001, but they finished 6-1 after a 72-45 loss at Hawaii.

This year, including the season-opening victory over Oklahoma in Arlington, Texas, BYU is outscoring its opponents on the road by an average of 43-13. Today, No. 22 BYU will look to finish the season 6-0 on the road when it visits winless New Mexico (noon, The mtn.).

"We're playing well on the road, which is kind of odd, because usually we lose games on the road and this year we've lost a couple at home," said quarterback Max Hall.

Why has his team been so successful away from home this season?

"On the road, the turf's not flying up," Hall half-joked, referring to the new, unstable turf at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

University Stadium in Albuquerque is the site of BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall's first road victory as a head coach, and it still goes down as one of the biggest road wins of his career.

In 2005, the Cougars were 1-3 when they visited New Mexico. Mendenhall, in his first season at the helm, and his team desperately needed a win, especially after coming off a 31-10 loss at San Diego State.

"I remember a two-minute drive, with Matt Allen making a catch in the end zone, and then us making a stop at midfield, and hugging my wife in the locker room," Mendenhall said this week. "It was emotional. That time for us wasn't easy. I remember it well."

The Cougars won, 27-24, and went on to post a 6-6 record, snapping a run of three straight losing seasons, and received their first invitation to the Las Vegas Bowl.

Four years later, BYU is rolling on the road.

"We have a good time on the road. The fans that travel are solid," said BYU linebacker Matt Bauman. "We usually travel well and they're excited to see us. It's just that it's just us out there. We have some fans, but not as many as at home. We rely on each other, and it's always fun to go into someone else's house and whip up on them."

Mendenhall said the approach with this year's team isn't much different from his previous teams.