Font ResizeProvo » Whether BYU receiver McKay Jacobson will be cleared to play against TCU on Saturday will likely be determined on Thursday, Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall said Tuesday. Jacobson pulled a hamstring while warming up prior to the Oct. 3 Utah State game and missed that game and the UNLV and San Diego State games.
"McKay is still possible, is what I would say," Mendenhall said. "Possible to doubtful."
The coach said it probably won't be a game-time decision, however.
"It might not even take that long. We will probably know by Thursday," he said. "McKay is basically pushing it a little bit more each day, in termis of his drill work. He would like to play, but possible would be the most I would say."
In other injury news, Mendenhall said Manase Tonga (torn PCL in his right knee) and Russell Tialavea (sprained knee) practiced on Tuesday and will play.
Receiver O'Neill Chambers did not practice Tuesday, and Mendenhall said the sophomore is sick with the flu. He's the latest to catch the bug.
"About 10 guys have had the flu, or are just getting over it," Mendenhall said. "So there is a flu bug going around on our team. Most of those guys are getting back now. It hit us hard right before the San Diego State game."
Happy he's back
Count BYU running back Harvey Unga among those happy
"It will be nice," Unga said while crediting the jobs Bryan Kariya and J.J. DiLuigi did in his absence. "You can tell a difference in the offense. There's a lot of trust there."
Of course, Tonga did not play against TCU last year because he was academically ineligible. Unga said not being able to run the ball effectively last year hurt the Cougars.
"They took away the run game a little bit, and that kind of made us go away from that a little bit. ... They came out and played a good game, and we didn't play as well as we should have. That was the bottom line; they outplayed us," he said.
Unga became the ninth Cougar to record more than 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in his career on Saturday with a 10-yard reception in the third quarter and now has 1,006 receiving yards and 2,466 rushing yards.
Other Cougars in the 2 x 1,000 club: Curtis Brown , Jamal Willis , Lakei Heimuli , Luke Staley , Hema Heimuli , Todd Christensen , Scott Phillips and Fred Whittingham .
Briefly
BYU quarterback Max Hall has 27 career victories and is now just two away from tying Ty Detmer , whom BYU sports information now says had 29 victories. ... ESPN's GameDay crew will set up in the parking lot west of LaVell Edwards Stadium for Saturday morning's show, a BYU official said.
Saturday, 5:30 p.m. TV » Versus
