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Happy Monday morning, everyone.

BYU's football opponent this week, 0-11 Savannah State, won't get anyone excited for Senior Day (Saturday, 1 p.m., LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYUtv), but it will be a busy stretch in Provo for the athletic department as the basketball team plays a pair of games midweek before the football game.

The cagers play host to Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday and Southern Virginia on Wednesday.

The women's soccer team wrapped up a great season in disappointing fashion Saturday with a 2-0 loss to Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. I talked to a parent of a BYU soccer player on Sunday who made the trip over to Boulder for the game played in freezing temperatures, and he said the conditions were so miserable that he was surprised the match was even played.

They were so bad he was concerned for the players' safety.

The women's volleyball team has won four straight matches, is ranked No. 13 in the country and has already clinched at least a share of the WCC title. The Cougars have three matches left before the NCAA Tournament, beginning Thursday at Portland.

The men's cross country team, ranked No. 15 in the country, received an at-large bid to the NCAA National Championships in Indiana on Saturday with a strong showing, a third-place finish, at the 2014 Mountain Regionals Friday in New Mexico. Four Cougars placed in the top 25.

While the football team (6-4) has struggled, it has been a highly successful fall altogether for BYU's athletic department. The Cougars are well on their way to winning another WCC Commissioner's Trophy and a top-50 finish in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup standings.

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall and selected players will meet the media Monday around noon at the football offices lobby for the weekly press briefing.

I hope to get an update on linebacker Fred Warner, who left the 42-23 win over UNLV in the first half with an injury.

As was noted in my look ahead story in Monday's newspaper, sophomore Colby Pearson suffered a fractured clavicle (collar bone) and is done for the season.

Pearson is the latest offensive weapon to be lost for the year, joining quarterback Taysom Hill, running back Jamaal Williams and fellow receiver Nick Kurtz on the sidelines.

The Cougars will be fine this week without those guys, but will seemingly need every advantage they can get on Nov. 29 at Cal, which quite likely will be playing for a bowl bid. The Cougars (6-4) can ensure a winning record with a win Saturday, although that is small consolation and clearly wasn't the goal when the season began.

"I am kinda numb to the injuries now and it doesn't do me any good to talk about them," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said Saturday. "The next guy comes in, and we just keep playing. I am really sad for those kids that have been hurt. I have to help our team win, and that is what I intend to do."

Mendenhall also said that walk-on running back Nate Carter deserves more carries. Carter had seven carries for 55 yards, with a long of 31, against the Rebels — all in the fourth quarter. Carter's 6.7 average per carry is best among BYU running backs, but he's had just 26 carries.

Receiver Jordan Leslie has the best average on the team, 11.3, after his 30-yard TD jaunt (after a lateral) against UNLV. He's had three carries.

Here's Mendenhall on the by-committee approach after Williams' injury:

"It is what we are going to have to have. And they are all a little bit different styles. So we have Adam [Hine], who is more Jamaal-ish than what Algie [Brown] is. Algie is kind of the next step between Adam and Paul [Lasike]. So they just kind of get bigger and more physical as we go. The closest one we probably have to Jamaal is Nate Carter, who came in at the very end. He is more of the quick and shifty [player] who can make someone miss. So his role might increase. It seems like every time we put him in, stuff starts to happen that is really good. So I am impressed, and he is kind of making me a believer."

Of course, Lasike had a fantastic game Saturday, rushing eight times for 70 yards and two touchdowns and catching a 26-yard touchdown pass.

"Our team voted Paul team captain, which is a pretty remarkable story just considering his lack of experience with the college game of football," Mendenhall said. "He wasn't voted by what he says. He hardly says anything. If I call him to say a prayer in front of the team, that is really the longest he will ever say anything. He doesn't seek attention, but the team respects him because he is tough and he is humble and he is hardworking, and there is no drama with him. There's none of the extra stuff. He just shows up every day to work. And he is now to the point where, the little pass play up the chute, we are designing things for him now. He is to that point where we are actually trying to feature and highlight different things that he can do, which is a long way from when he started playing for us."