This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
As BYU and Utah State prepare to battle on Friday night at LaVell Edwards Stadium, most of the attention is on the Aggies' quarterback situation, after starter Chuckie Keeton went down in the Aggies' win over Wake Forest. Keeton seemingly injured the same knee that was surgically repaired after he injured it in last year's loss to BYU in Logan, and did not play in the second half against the Demon Deacons. Then he sat out the entire game at Arkansas State, which USU lost 21-14 in overtime. USU coach Matt Wells said Monday that Keeton remains day-to-day for the BYU game (refuting a comment by BYU DE Remington Peck that he's heard that Keeton will apply for a medical redshirt and sit out the rest of the season). BYU has some guys who are still questionable as well, coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday morning in his weekly press briefing. "We got a couple still questionable. For the most part I feel pretty good [about them], but Wednesday will be a great day for us to be more definitive," he said. Unfortunately, there's no media availability after Tuesday morning's session with assistants and players. Asked specifically about Bronson Kaufusi (ankle), Algie Brown (ankle), Jordan Leslie (ankle) and Nick Kurtz (broken foot), Mendenhall said: "Bronson and Algie both look significantly better than they had before. I didn't notice it as much with Nick and Jordan, but the other two [Brown, Kaufusi] looked significantly better." Mendenhall said Kurtz, who was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot in August, practiced in full pads Monday morning "and doing what everyone else has been doing." I've never heard a coach yet say a bye week came at a bad time for his team, but, sure enough, someone asked Mendenhall about that on Monday. "Yeah, based on today's practice, I like it a lot," he said. "Sometimes after a bye week the first practice back, especially when we are fully padded early in the morning, there is a chance that that could have been sluggish, but we weren't. Mendenhall said the Cougars "were a lot more physical, and we were a lot more demanding on them last week than we probably had been on them before. This team seems to want that and we can handle it because we have more depth. So we practiced harder than we normally do." Most of the questions for Mendenhall on Monday were about what happened during the bye week, what kind of challenges Utah State presents, and whether or not he knows Jim McMahon, whose No. 9 jersey will be retired Friday. A few quotes and notes from the briefing: * Mendenhall said he only watched one quarter of college football over the weekend part of USC's 35-10 win over his alma mater, Oregon State. He said his wife, Holly, watched a lot more. "That was enough for me," he said. * Mendenhall said the bye week was "a nice break from the frequency of questions," which I interpreted to mean a break from the media. "But it is also really fun, sometimes with a bye week, [that] rankings can go up and down and all that. It is really interesting that you can move up without playing a game. Now that we are back it will just be the status quo again, which is a good problem to have. It [media attention] just takes its toll on our featured players." * Look for BYU to simplify its schemes this week as a result of some self-scouting coaches did last week. "There is quite a bit that turned up [from the self-scout], maybe not so much I would tell you about other than less is more. Even though we have been relatively simple, probably looking to be simpler still. And I think we can be more efficient with that." * Utah State is No. 4 in the country against the run, allowing just 78.3 yards per game. BYU is No. 26 in rushing offense, picking up 230.3 ypg on the ground. Something's gotta give, no? "Oh, I think Utah State has done a nice job defensively the past two or three years. I think offensively they are still powerful. Matt [Wells] has done a really nice job. We already know it is going to be a difficult game and a volatile game. Utah State is super aggressive defensively, they play hard. So it will be a good test for us," Mendenhall said. * Mendenhall was asked about USU not winning in Provo since 1978 and whether that seemed strange to him. "I think it is. In just the games we have played, there was one where there was a pass we caught right at the end, and others have been really close. So yeah, it surprises me." More comments from Mendenhall: On whether the DBs have improved after Virginia game: "Our practice format has allowed it. We have seen a ton of practices thrown, and done a bunch of work against our offense in blitzing and protecting. So our offense has been able to protect and we can go after the quarterback, and just see the ball thrown downfield, which is great. Certainly, the focus has been there, not only by the staff, but by the players. So I am pretty comfortable with the work that has been done. Whether that shows yet, as much as we want, I am not sure. But we have loved the chance to address it." On the defense allowing so many points last two games, and whether he is less concerned because the offense is explosive: "I am less concerned from an overall game management standpoint. Now when I put on my offensive hat which I am mostly in that role right now I love the amount of points we are scoring. Defensively, there has been some light shown on a few areas even through experience or sometimes through execution that need to be rectified for us to be, regardless of who we are playing or where we are playing, to make sure we are good." On Taysom Hill's radio interviews and how he's perceived nationally: "I think it is growing week by week and certainly the number of games we have had on national TV has helped, and certainly our record has helped. And I think as that continues, that will just grow. It is probably something that we have had to manage at a higher level than maybe any other time in our program, just because of the start we have had and the way Taysom has played." On whether Taysom and Jamaal Williams can penetrate USU's rush defense and a concern: "Yeah, certainly. Utah State does a really nice job. They are pretty elaborate, and they love to pressure, and they love to do it exotically in different ways. So it is more difficult to be consistent. It will be more hit and miss, I think."