Font ResizeProvo » With backup quarterback Riley Nelson facing his former team on Friday night, much was made this past week of Nelson's transfer to BYU after his LDS Church mission and an NCAA rule change it may or may not have inspired.
On Aug. 1, legislation went into effect that basically prohibits missionaries from being contacted by colleges while they are on their missions.
There have been reports that Utah State and the Western Athletic Conference pushed for the rule after Nelson announced he was transferring, perhaps believing that BYU contacted Nelson (which was legal at the time) and persuaded him to transfer.
The Cougars have lost missionaries to other schools as well, including quarterback Ben Olson to UCLA.
BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said earlier this week that he was in favor of the rule change.
"What the rule says is if a young man is on his mission, he is not contactable by any institution -- which actually helps us more than any other program," he said in his weekly radio show. "... We have the most missionaries of any Division I football program -- probably [up to 10 times] more than any other program in the country."
Mendenhall reiterated that BYU "won't tamper with, we won't contact a missionary while he is out there. We haven't, nor will we, and it also [keeps] our kids when they go out there from being bothered and interfered with
Briefly
The member of the 1984 national championship team who carried the BYU flag onto the field Friday was Mark Bellini , a receiver on that team. Linebacker Coleby Clawson was the current player chosen to carry the flag onto the field. ... The Cougars lost the coin toss for the first time this season, and USU deferred to the second half. ... The Cougars' first touchdown drive took 18 plays and 8 minutes, 7 seconds.
