This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • BYU's trip to the Show Me State over the weekend showed a lot of things, and many weren't really positive for a football team hoping to make one more splash on the national scene to perhaps climb back into the national rankings.
Primarily, Saturday night's 20-16 loss to Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City showed that the Cougars aren't quite ready for prime time. Facing what was likely their last Power 5 opponent of the season, they fell to 7-3 overall and 1-3 against teams from major conferences.
"It stings," said quarterback Tanner Mangum. "It hurts, but we gotta bounce back."
BYU returns to LaVell Edwards Stadium this week, taking on Fresno State at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The beleaguered Bulldogs (3-7, 2-5 Mountain West Conference) got an emotional lift Saturday with a resounding 42-14 win at Hawaii as sophomore quarterback Zack Greenlee threw six touchdown passes, including four in the first half.
Making his first start since Oct. 3, Greenlee completed 20 of 35 passes for 285 yards.
Those are BYU quarterback-like numbers, except for the fact that BYU's offense hasn't shown up the past two games. The Cougars got just 329 yards against San Jose State and 290 against Missouri.
"This has been two weeks now that we've hit a lull," said offensive coordinator Robert Anae, who continued his pattern of speaking to the media after losses on Saturday night, but not after wins. "I believe it is simply a matter of being determined, and being self-assured and confident. We have had a couple guys that have been hurt. That's really no excuse. It comes down to executing and being decisive with the guys you have."
The Cougars played without big inside receiver Terenn Houk (concussion) and offensive guard Kyle Johnson (knee) was limited, but new tight end Remington Peck continued to emerge with three catches for 41 yards.
"Man, I don't know" why the offense is struggling, Peck said. "I mean, they are obviously a good defense. But it just seemed like we were hesitant. I don't know the reason for that. But it seemed like we turned it on a little bit in the second half. We just need to start faster."
The Cougars got into too many third-and-long situations, including one in their final possession when Mitch Mathews dropped a third-and-15 throw from Mangum while a Missouri defender was tugging on his face mask.
Peck, the former defensive end, said the loss took its toll in the locker room as the Cougars realized their longshot dream of making a New Year's Six bowl is out the window. Another loss almost certainly sends them to the Hawaii Bowl instead of the Las Vegas Bowl, although every Mountain West Conference team now has at least three losses after Boise State (7-3) was stunned 31-24 by New Mexico (6-4) on the blue turf Saturday night.
"Just an overall feeling of disappointment," Peck said. "It is tough when you feel like you lose a game to a team that you are better than. They played a better football game than us tonight."
After an interview with Las Vegas Bowl executive director John Saccenti, the Idaho Statesman reported last week that BYU's bowl destination — Hawaii or Las Vegas — will be decided by BYU, the two bowls in question, and ESPN, which owns both.
Reading between the lines, that probably means ESPN will make the call.
Yes, the door is still slightly open for a BYU-Utah matchup in the Las Vegas Bowl, after the Utes lost 37-30 to Arizona in double overtime to fall to 8-2. Las Vegas gets the Pac-12's sixth selection to pit against either BYU or an MWC team.
For now, though, the Cougars have to rediscover their offense, which was clicking before what amounted to three weeks off — the bye and the Wagner game.
"Yeah, I take all that on me, you know?" Mangum said. "A lot of things, I need to improve. A lot of things, I can work on. I will always just continue to do my best to get better. We can't dwell on this too long. Obviously it hurts. But we did some good things. We have to learn from those and take that and get back to work and get ready for next week."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Fresno St. at BYU
P Saturday, 1 p.m.
TV: BYUtv