This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It struck me last night in the bowels of the Rose Bowl when BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae made his way to the podium in the visitors media interview room that Anae almost always speaks to reporters after a BYU loss, but rarely after a BYU win.

Anae is generally pretty candid with his comments, and he was again on Saturday night after the 24-23 loss to UCLA, which he called "a really, really good team."

Anae opened by saying he thought that if BYU had gotten into field goal range on that last drive, it would have won the game.

"Because our kicker [Trevor Samson] has been really good, and the protection has been good on those," Anae said. "We did not make the critical play right at the end. And now we are on the other side of the coin, to lose a close one.

So resiliency [is needed] to bounce back and learn from this one — there was just hedges of hesitation — a little too much, and we are still breaking in guys on the offensive side. Getting rid of the hesitation is turning out to be something I wish we would have had a better handle on. The overall scheme of the thing, I am proud of the guys for getting down here and battling out."

Anae said he thought freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum played another solid game. Mangum had no choice but to throw the ball into coverage on that 4th-and-7 play, because UCLA's Jayon Brown was bearing down on him and would have made the sack.

Anae said he saw "growth and development" from Mangum.

"He is going to be a very, very, very good quarterback. Really, this is Game 2 [for Mangum]. With the way independence is, there's not much time to mope around. We have to put this one behind us and get on to Michigan. And another challenging environment and another really good team. So looking forward to the opportunity," Anae said.

Asked if he had trouble trusting a freshman quarterback in key situations, Anae shook his head.

"Like I said, for a freshman to come here at this deal, those guys were heavy favorites, and we took them right down to the wire. I think the upside is tremendous," he said. "The less hesitation we get as a group, the more machine-like we get. Our offense will grow this year. "

One of the biggest plays of the game was the 37-yard catch and run by Mitchell Juergens that was called back by a holding penalty on Ryker Mathews.

"Dang, a little snakebit," Anae said of the play. "Just when [Juergens] made a really good play we got a penalty for something. But I do like the effort, the overall effort. The more we get everybody together without the hesitation here or there, we will turn into an offensive machine. Right now, we are just starting that."

Juergens caught five passes for 42 yards.

One offensive surprise was the insertion of former University of Utah running back Harvey Langi, now a linebacker at BYU, into the offense on third-down situations. Langi picked up a pair of first downs, carrying the ball twice for 8 yards.

"Knowing that we were going to pound on Adam [Hine] the whole night, we felt that Harvey could give us something in the run game. Boy, I sure wish the blocking were a little better for him," Anae said. "But he did mash through and get some first downs."

Mendenhall said Langi will probably play some running back until Algie Brown (knee injury) returns. That may be as soon as this week vs. Michigan; Brown was said to be "questionable" for the UCLA game, but didn't play.

"I mean, [Langi] played hard on defense, too," Mendenhall said. "He plays really hard on special teams. There is only so much he can do. But right now we think short yardage he can really help us, which he did. I can't ask any more of him. He gave everything that he's got. He's a special football player and a really special young man."

Mendenhall said Mangum is "exceeding my expectations."

"He is amazing," Mendenhall said. "The game is not too big for him. Round games are not too big. Different stadiums, different teams — he is showing a lot of command for a true freshman. I'm very impressed. He's doing a nice job."

During his eight minutes with the media after the game, Mangum said several times that his confidence level is still high, despite the loss.

"Obviously, we are bummed that we lost. Thats a given," Mangum said. "But we can be confident knowing that we fought hard. We were that close. So there is no need to lose confidence, or keep your head down. We will just bounce back and go work on Michigan now. We will go home and we will get better from this. This doesn't hurt our confidence. If anything, it builds it."

Mangum said "it will be awesome" to play a storied program such as Michigan.

"We are going to Michigan now, to play in the Big House," he said. "It will be a cool opportunity. It will be a big challenge for us. It will be something that will push us. We like that. We like the challenge."

Juergens, who was Mangum's target on the pass that was intercepted by UCLA's Myles Jack, said the loss will strengthen the team's resolve.

"It is hard to put into words, just like it was hard to put into words with those victories," Juergens said. "We want to come out on top. I think this is what this team is really showing, is the desire to fight, the desire to win. So when we don't come out on top, it is like taking a stab to the heart. But with that, it gives us motivation. We know we have to fight for four quarters."

Juergens said the Cougars need to work on their red zone offense. Three times they had to settle for field goals by Trevor Samson.

"I think the one big thing is we had three field goals," Juergens said. "And Trevor played an amazing game. But if we can turn those field goals into touchdowns, this game isn't even close. So that is one thing we really need to work on, is in the blue zone driving and finishing those drives with touchdowns."