New Orleans » Although they consistently held that their biggest problem defensively in last season's losses to TCU and Utah was execution and not lack of speed, BYU coaches nevertheless have made their defense faster, if last week's 14-13 win over Oklahoma is any indication.

With the exception of adding junior college cornerback Brian Logan, they have done it with the same players, really.

"It wasn't something we intentionally did, it kind of worked out that way to get our best players on the field," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

The No. 9 Cougars will put their sleeker, faster defense on the field today in the Superdome against Conference USA's Tulane (1:30 p.m. MDT, ESPN2), but the real test will likely come next week when they play host to Florida State.

Asked if he saw a faster defense last week against the Sooners, Mendenhall said, "You know, hard to say yet. I know we looked fresh and fast and physical in our opener. Whether that is sustainable or not, I think it is too early to say. But we looked good in the first game."

In a way, intentionally or not, the Cougars are following TCU's blueprint, something Frogs coach Gary Patterson hinted at in Tuesday's Mountain West Conference coaches teleconference.

After watching running back-turned-defensive end Jerry Hughes dominate them with speed and quickness, the Cougars made some position switches themselves in the offseason. So far, the results have been positive.

Most notably, safety Jordan Pendleton has been moved to outside linebacker, cornerback Scott Johnson has been moved to safety, linebacker Vic So'oto is now a defensive end and backup safety Shiloah Te'o has been trained to play a little linebacker.

Pendleton's speed was especially noticeable last week as he broke up a pass near the goal line.

"It was a nice debut for Jordan," Mendenhall said. "Too early to compare where he might rank in relation to anyone else. And really it isn't fair to Jordan or the player he is being compared against.

"But we like the idea of a big safety playing that spot, who can run. Bryan Kehl could run, David Nixon could run, and Jordan can run. And they are all similar in size and that has been a great anchor for us. We can play with great leverage by who plays in that position."

The Cougs are also faster along the defensive line, due to a slimmed-down Russell Tialavea at nose tackle.

Coaches have made the changes and trained Te'o for nickel packages, in part, because so many teams they will face this season feature spread offenses.

Tulane, however, is not one of those teams.

The Green Wave run a traditional, pro-style offense -- with a lot of trick plays mixed in.

Tulane coach Bob Toledo "is always known for gadgetry," Mendenhall said. "There will be one, two, three, maybe more trick plays that will happen in the game."

Hard to tell after one game, but it appears that defensive coordinator Jaime Hill will call plays more aggressively now that he has taken over the play-calling duties from Mendenhall. Certainly, the Cougars blitzed more against Oklahoma than they did last season.

"I don't know that there was a noticeable difference [in Hill's play-calling]," said defensive end Jan Jorgensen. "I just thought Coach Hill called a great game. With the pressure that he brought, and the type of blitzes that he brought, he did an amazing job. To think that coach Mendenhall would have been much different, I can't say that. I don't know. But I thought coach Hill did a great job."

Whatever the case, he had more speed to work with.

drew@sltrib.com