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Provo • Mired in a two-game losing streak and without their starting quarterback for the remainder of the season and a few other top players for possibly the next few games, the BYU Cougars might be tempted to throw their hands in the air and scream: Why us?
But they are not, coach Bronco Mendenhall insisted as the Cougars (4-2) got back to work Monday and started preparing for Saturday's home game against Nevada (3-3).
"None of that that I know of, or that I have seen [is going on]," Mendenhall said Monday. "I would be really disappointed and angry if I saw it. So far, none of that has shown up."
After returning from Orlando and the 31-24 overtime loss to Central Florida that pretty much insured BYU will be returning to the Sunshine State in December for the Miami Beach Bowl, and not a more lucrative New Year's Six Bowl, the Cougars met on Saturday, lifted weights and did some conditioning work. Mendenhall said players expressed a desire to improve and keep grinding.
"They are optimistic. They are resilient. They are tough and [eager] to play again, to get back to work," he said.
Freshman linebacker Fred Warner said the team is still unified, despite the losses and injuries that have turned a promising season into a difficult one.
"The effort right now is unbelievable on both sides of the ball," Warner said. "That's what the coaches keep telling us each week, is how much we are trying. It is just a matter of our execution level, I believe, right now, and being able to come together as a team with all the injuries that are happening."
Mendenhall said the injury list is long — 10 starters are either definitely out or questionable for Saturday's game — but declined to "make a big deal about it."
After losing quarterback Taysom Hill for the season against Utah State, the Cougars lost cornerback Jordan Johnson for the season against UCF. The senior from Springfield, Mass., had surgery on his broken arm on Saturday and his career is likely over, barring a successful medical hardship appeal to the NCAA if BYU and Johnson choose to go that route.
It's a heartbreaking end for Johnson, who missed all of last season with a knee injury suffered in preseason camp.
Senior safety Craig Bills, who is arguably as important to the defense as Hill was to the offense, is following concussion protocol and is questionable for Saturday. Mendenhall said Kaimana Nacua played admirably in Bills' place last Thursday.
Running back Jamaal Williams and the other starting safety, Dallin Leavitt, have ankle injuries but are listed as probable this week. Kick returner Adam Hine also has an ankle sprain, but a football spokesperson didn't have an exact report on his status.
Linebacker Alani Fua and offensive lineman Brayden Kearsley also have ankle issues that caused them to miss the UCF game, and are further behind Williams and Leavitt in terms of their progress toward playing against the Wolf Pack.
Even when they were on a four-game winning streak, ranked No. 18 in the country and the toast of talk shows across the land, the Cougars talked about staying in the moment and focusing on the task at hand. Mendenhall said that philosophy is now more important than ever as BYU tries to rescue a fading season.
"Not many people can master that, grownups as well as kids," he said. "So, we are all working on it."
Twitter: @drewjay —
Nevada at BYU
P Saturday, 8:15 p.m.
TV • ESPN2