2008 BYU Cougars Preview

Among the traditions Bronco Mendenhall has established as BYU’s coach is his annual framing of the upcoming season. This time, it happened at halftime of a basketball game, when the Cougars were being honored for their Las Vegas Bowl victory. Mendenhall framed 2008 by asking fans to join his team in a “quest for perfection.”

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Cougars

As much as he values consistency, Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall would like to break the pattern of his first three seasons, each of which opened with a 1–2 record. The Cougars have rebounded with a 10-game winning streak each of the past two seasons, too late to get them into Bowl Championship Series contention. The 2008 schedule provides good tests in the second and third games, with a trip to Washington and a home date with UCLA. If BYU is 3–0 after those games, an unbeaten season or at least BCS qualification becomes a real possibility. It all hinges on an experienced, productive offense making some expected improvement and a defense patching some big holes, especially in the secondary — and playing adequately right from the start. Defensive leadership is an issue, after the Cougars lost emotional stalwarts Bryan Kehl and Kelly Poppinga from last season’s linebacking corps. Offensively, the Cougars need to reduce the sacks, fumbles and penalties that hurt them in losses to UCLA and Tulsa last September and almost cost them a win over UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl rematch. The Cougars also have to visit Mountain West contenders TCU and Utah, so another perfect conference season will require a higher level of performance.

The Cougars have completed perfect seasons in the Mountain West Conference each of the past two years, only to have two September defeats haunt them as they have fallen just short of Bowl Championship Series consideration. Mendenhall’s “quest” involves day-to-day improvement, not just targeting the end result. Still, there’s no doubt that Cougar fans expect something close to a perfect season in 2008, with all of last season’s unexpected offensive stars returning and a schedule that’s just challenging enough for BYU to have a realistic BCS opportunity.

Mendenhall believes issues about defensive personnel will be resolved the same way that questions about replacing offensive players were answered in 2007. If that’s the case, BYU should win another MWC title and, this time, find itself in the BCS mix.

The Cougars enter 2008 with winning streaks of 10 (overall), 12 (home) and 16 (conference) games.

Quarterbacks

Nobody was sure what to expect from Max Hall last season, considering that the Arizona State transfer had never played in a college game. While he absorbed some blindside hits resulting in costly fumbles in losses to UCLA and Tulsa, Hall was brilliant during the Mountain West season. Overall, he threw for 3,848 yards and 26 touchdowns as BYU ranked first in the conference and 14th in the country in passing. Hall also became a strong leader as a sophomore and showed his toughness by sufficiently recovering from a shoulder injury suffered the previous week to make the biggest play of BYU’s season, a 49-yard completion to Austin Collie on a 4th-and-18 play during the winning drive against Utah. Hall will have to be durable again, because BYU’s other quarterbacks have virtually no experience.

Running backs

Only insiders knew much about Harvey Unga going into last season, but he quickly made himself famous. As a redshirt freshman, Unga rushed for 1,227 yards with a mixture of speed and power that made him one of the league’s top backs. The Cougars will have plenty of depth and flexibility in the backfield this year, with Fui Vakapuna or Joe Semanoff either joining Unga in some alignments or filling in for him. There’s also redshirt freshman J.J. Di Luigi, who was injured last season. He can provide some burst as a change-up back.

Receivers

Mendenhall wants to build BYU’s level of personnel to the point where players who return from two-year LDS Church missions have more time to acclimate themselves before being expected to contribute significantly. Yet the Cougar offense relied heavily on Collie and tight end Dennis Pitta last season as they came back from missions. And they delivered. Collie caught 56 passes despite dealing with an ankle injury early in the season, and Pitta led the team with 59 receptions. They’re both very dependable, and Collie is a deep threat with a knack for taking the ball away from defenders in coverage. The Cougars use varied alignments, with three or more receivers and two or more tight ends. Michael Reed will be featured again at receiver after catching 41 passes, and Andrew George will complement Pitta at tight end. Returned missionary Luke Ashworth should also provide help at receiver.

Offensive linemen

BYU had trouble protecting Hall at times, but the line still ranked second in the conference in fewest sacks allowed (20) and blocked well for the backs. The Cougars return four of the five starters, although right guard Travis Bright missed spring drills after breaking his leg in the Las Vegas Bowl. Bright still worked hard in the offseason, bench-pressing a team-record 540 pounds. Left guard Ray Feinga and tackles David Oswald and Dallas Reynolds are solid players. That leaves center, where Tom Sorensen, a starter at Vanderbilt as a true freshman in 2003, will take over. Reynolds’ brother Matt, a redshirt freshman, is a versatile reserve. He was a 2005 Parade All-American and the Utah Gatorade Player of the Year before heading out on a two-year mission.

Defensive linemen

Mendenhall believes BYU’s program took a big step forward last season by proving that several offensive stars could be replaced from within. “I think the same thing happens now defensively,” he says. “If last year is a gauge, and I think it is, then it’s program stability now, rather than being tied completely to personnel.” Just the same, he will welcome back the star of the defensive line. Jan Jorgensen was remarkably productive at end, with his 77 tackles, including 20 for a loss. Ian Dulan and Brett Denney will be adequate at the other end spot, so the line’s big question is at nose tackle, where Russell Tialavea is trying to recover from a knee injury. Tialavea’s 2007 replacement was Eathyn Manumaleuna, who played solidly all season and blocked a short field goal attempt on the last play of the year, preserving a Las Vegas Bowl win over UCLA. He’s now serving an LDS Church mission.

Linebackers

Bryan Kehl and Kelly Poppinga were the heart of BYU’s defense last season, when the Cougars ranked 10th in the country in yards allowed at 307.9 per game. That was impressive, considering that Mendenhall made the move to a more conservative 3-4 scheme from the 3-3-5 alignment he originally brought to BYU as a defensive coordinator. The new scheme is designed to give up yardage, in exchange for preventing big scoring plays. In the absence of Kehl and Poppinga, BYU will need even more production than usual from senior David Nixon, who’s moving from weak-side linebacker to the strong side, replacing Kehl. A native Texan, Nixon has made game-changing sacks against TCU each of the past two years. Poppinga will be tough to replace inside, where Matt Bauman and Shawn Doman will take on bigger roles. The linebacking depth was hurt considerably when Terrance Hooks injured his knee in spring drills. He is likely lost for the season. Former tight end Vic So’oto is among the possibilities to take over on the weak-side, Nixon’s old position.

Defensive backs

Secondary coach Jaime Hill earned a promotion to defensive coordinator, having done terrific work the past two seasons. At one point, he had four former walk-ons starting in the defensive backfield. He’s starting over again in the secondary, possibly with more raw talent than before. Much has been expected from Brandon Howard since he arrived on campus, and now he’s healthy and ready to start at cornerback. To continue last year’s pattern, former walk-on Scott Johnson emerged at the other corner in spring drills. At safety, Kellen Fowler started as an injury replacement at the end of last season, and David Tafuna hopes to return after missing 2007 with a foot injury. The secondary will have to come together quickly for BYU to succeed against Washington and UCLA.

Specialists

Mitch Payne kicked three field goals in a victory over Utah, but he has very limited range. That’s why freshman Justin Sorensen, who kicked a 62-yard field goal and consistently knocked his kickoffs deep into the end zone (from the 40-yard line) in high school, is expected to be in the lineup immediately. Punter C.J. Santiago was inconsistent early in the season but improved as the year progressed and ended up just shy of a 40-yard average. Collie is an outstanding kickoff returner, having averaged 25.8 yards to rank second in the conference. He will also return punts.  

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