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Ok, time to wrap up BYU's last two media availability sessions, which probably set a record for least time between interview opportunities in school history. I should have taken a sleeping bag and spent the night at the football offices lobby. Monday, coach Bronco Mendenhall spoke to reporters for about nine minutes — the only time Mendenhall will talk to the local media at large all week — and most of the discussion was on news earlier Monday that Texas would be without starting quarterback David Ash. More on that here. The most interesting part of that conversation was Mendenhall's belief that the loss of center Dom Espinosa is a bigger blow to Texas' offense than the loss of Ash. The coach also had an interesting reply when he was asked if the Texas game is magnified this season due to BYU's "light" schedule. "Anyone that says [schedule] is light just hasn't coached Division I and got ready to play. So I think it is a fun question to ask to see what my response is, but I don't see it being light. I think it is tough." Mendenhall also answered a few personnel questions: * The only BYU player who suffered a major injury against UConn was freshman Toloa'i Ho Ching, who was a linebacker in fall camp but has been moved to running back. Mendenhall said Ho Ching suffered "a pretty severe concussion." * Junior offensive lineman Ryker Mathews has one more game to sit out due to an issue involving "academics," Mendenhall said. Mathews has been working with the scout team. * Offensive lineman Michael Yeck, who started every game last year, is still nursing a broken toe and will probably rejoin the team next week before the Houston game. * Defensive lineman Kesni Tausinga is back practicing and will likely make the trip to Texas. * Mendenhall didn't know the status of Solomone Kafu, an offensive lineman who hurt his ankle in the last fall camp scrimmage. He didn't make the trip to UConn. BYU's kicking game was subpar against UConn, and Mendenhall acknowledged it Monday. "A little bit behind where our offense and defense is," he said. "So, we have kickoff work to do, in terms of how deep and where we place it, and we have some coverage work to do — more on kickoff than on punt, I would say. But there were some nice things we did punt-wise, and Scott Arellano had a really nice hold on that first PAT. I mean, it just barely got over the line. The snap wasn't perfect, but we have some work to do." Mendenhall said that kicker Andrew Mikkelsen, a walk-on who played for Oregon State before a church mission, should be back this week after being out with a sore back. Mikkelsen was the best kickoff man in fall camp. "And we should also get Corey Edwards back, who is off his mission. So he was injured for fall camp, but I think he is healthy now, so one of those two may be kicking off. I will travel whoever can kick it a long ways," Mendenhall said. Mendenhall said DBs Jordan Preator, Skye PoVey and Michael Davis really stepped up in the absence of Jordan Johnson and Robertson Daniel, who were suspended in the opener. "I would say really Preator and Michael Davis, the two corners, they both did really, really well. Man, I am so confident now in what our depth looks like out there, and the competition it provides. So we get Jordan Johnson and Rob Daniel back. That is day-by-day and it will be the entire season, in terms of behavior and what they have to do to live up to the contracts they have with me. But assuming that everything happens well, we have two more corners to a strong secondary performance. Skye can now play safety, so the two-deep there looks really strong, and then we add Marques Johnson back at nose tackle, which I really like. We get Jamaal back at running back, and we have Devon Blackmon at receiver. Again, it is all day to day. And so as of today, that all could happen, which would be great." The Cougars were penalized 15 times for 150 yards against the Huskies. Mendenhall isn't too concerned — yet. "I liked the way the [offensive line] played. I am sure the story lines have been the number of penalties. But man, it was really hard to get to Taysom, and there were no false starts. They actually played, in a lot of ways, cleaner. And they were just nasty and a lot more aggressive than they have been. So that was where the penalties were coming from," he said. "….Do I care about them? Yeah, it is harder to move the ball. But the nature of the penalties, if they are concentration penalties, that bothers me more than aggression penalties. And I don't like personal fouls after the play. But based on all the penalties I saw during the game, there were some that actually made me smile." Tuesday, it was defensive coordinator Nick Howell's turn to talk. Wednesday, we will hear from offensive coordinator Robert Anae. Howell said Texas' quarterback change will not affect his preparation in any way, shape or form. "Same guy as the other guy. He can run and he can pass. So, he's pretty good. … Yeah, he will be harder to tackle, and what does the other guy weigh, 210 pounds? I am guessing it is harder to take down 250 than 210, but they are pretty much going to be the same, I think," he said. Howell said BYU has plenty of film on Tyrone Swoopes, who will replace Ash."Yup. We have every clip of every game he has played in college, and spring game. We got it all. We have seen everything. We have seen his high school tape, too." A few personnel notes from Howell: * Inside linebacker Harvey Langi made the trip to UConn, but didn't play because his bruised knee is still a bit sore. Howell said Langi will play this week. "He's ready." * Howell said nose tackle Marques Johnson, suspended for the UConn game, will also play. * I asked Howell why Jherremya Leuta-Douyere started at buck linebacker over Manoa Pikula, the starter coming out of spring camp. "I think it just comes down to competition, and coach [Paul] Tidwell felt that Jherrremya was more ready. So I think that was basically it." No word yet on which ILB will start Saturday. * Howell said Robertson Daniel and Davis will be the starting corners against Texas, while Jordan Preator and Jordan Johnson "will probably rotate … in a little bit." * Howell said cornerback Trenton Trammell, who was running with the ones a lot in camp, is not currently in the two-deep and is playing on the scout team right now. "Just helping out over there." * Howell echoed Mendenhall's statements about not being too concerned with the penalties against UConn. "Ignore it, and just move on," he said. "If it becomes an issue, then we will take care of it. I might say something, but they got to be on the cliff ready to jump over. You can't hold them back. You gotta let them get after it, personally. People might disagree with that, but that's defense, so we just tell them and they are big boys, they will figure it out." But what about the fishing routine that earned Alani Fua a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty? "Apparently it is gone, but he's a fisher of men, is what they say," Howell said. "We will leave it at that. But Alani played good. That's as physical as I've seen Alani play. It is funny because the stat sheet will say someone did this and this and this. But when you turn the film on, sometimes that tells the different story. Alani's stat line wasn't great, but I thought Alani played really good, personally."