BYU football: Cougars looking to improve spotty bowl record

Provo » For all his wonderful accomplishments over the course of his Hall of Fame coaching career, BYU's LaVell Edwards compiled one record he doesn't like.

Edwards was 7-14-1 in bowl games, and lost his last two -- to Tulane and Marshall.

Seemingly on his way to an Edwards-like coaching career at BYU, Bronco Mendenhall is 2-2 in postseason games heading into Tuesday's Las Vegas Bowl against 8-4 Oregon State at Sam Boyd Stadium (6 p.m., ESPN).

Which way will Mendenhall go at a school that is 9-17-1 overall in bowl contests?

Standing inside BYU's massive Indoor Practice Facility, which opened in 2003 -- two years after he quarterbacked the Cougars in a 28-10

loss in the Liberty Bowl to Louisville -- quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman said the answer was all around him.

"We didn't have this place back in the day," Doman said. "Not to say that bad weather and no indoor practice facility were the only reason for those losses, but those factors sure didn't help."

Prior to BYU's loss in the 2001 Liberty Bowl under Gary Crowton in the only bowl appearance in Crowton's four-year tenure, Doman says most of the bowl practices were held inside the Smith Fieldhouse, but receivers had to run short routes, kickers and punters couldn't do their thing and the playing surface -- like outdoor carpet -- was rock hard.

"We are able to have more efficient practices, accomplish a heck of a

lot more in here than we would out in the snow," Doman said. "Hopefully, the investment that went into this place, as we play late in the year and in bowl games, will pay off. I think it already has."

Conversely, Oregon State's bowl history is stellar. The Beavers are 10-4 overall and have won their last five bowls, the second-longest bowl winning streak in the nation, behind Utah's eight.

Mendenhall didn't participate in a bowl when he was a player, graduate assistant or full-time coach at Oregon State, but he said preparation and motivation are the keys to winning them, as he somewhat learned last year when the Cougars were flat and uninspired in a 31-21 loss to Arizona.

"Hard to say what the reasons are [for BYU's poor bowl record] because I wasn't here," Mendenhall said. "But just in the bowl games that I have seen, you are usually playing against very good teams.

"I know in the earlier days BYU had a hard time preparing because of the lack of facilities to get ready. And I think the combination of both those things had something to do with it, but all I can speak to is the last four years. I have learned a lot about [having a] preparation model, and we are looking forward to improving our record, if possible."

The coach said a team's healthiness is also a factor, noting that the Cougars are "the healthiest we have been, maybe, going into any of these games. I think we have managed the season as well as we could."

Defensive end Jan Jorgensen, who has started in 51 straight games, including the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Las Vegas Bowls, said the Cougars are truly motivated this year.

"I think there's a little bit different feeling this year compared to year's past. Just because we know that we are getting a very good, quality Pac-10 opponent," he said. "And they were a game away from the Rose Bowl. So I think there is a different feeling amongst the team."

Added senior defensive back Scott Johnson: "There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and we can see what we are trying to get, and that's the thing you need in a bowl game."

drew@sltrib.com