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Provo • The second half of the 2014 college football season arrives Saturday night for the BYU Cougars when they play host to Nevada at LaVell Edwards Stadium, but don't blame coach Bronco Mendenhall's team if it feels like it has been here before.
It is like the movie "Groundhog Day," and it has been this way all four seasons that the Cougars have been independent in football. Once again, two losses in the first half of the season and a series of lackluster opponents in the second half has sparked the annual midseason questions about motivation and desire.
What's left to play for?
The Cougars were 4-2 at this juncture in 2011, 2012 and 2013. And they are 4-2 now, having blown a two-touchdown lead last week in a 31-24 overtime loss at Central Florida. Barring a major collapse — which isn't totally out of the question, given the rash of injuries that have turned them into a shell of their former selves — the Cougars will once again play in a lower-level bowl game in the days before or after Christmas, as they have done all 10 years of Mendenhall's tenure.
For their part, BYU coaches and players seem taken aback by motivation questions. True competitors, they say, try as hard as they can to win every game they play.
Newcomer Jordan Leslie, the receiver from UTEP, was succinct when asked what's at stake.
"We want to go 10 and 2 and win the bowl game," said Leslie. "That's still a great season. I know a lot of people expected us to go undefeated, and are kinda seeing it as a letdown. But I mean, we are trying to [win] every game. Eleven-and-two is a great record at any other school, and should be a great record here."
In BYU's case, mental strength coach Craig Manning has been drilling his stay-in-the-moment mantra since preseason camp opened, even when the Cougars were 4-0 and eyeing bigger things down the road than a trip to the Miami Beach Bowl on Dec. 22.
There's been no throwing in the towel, "that I know of, or that I have seen," Mendenhall said Monday. "I would be really disappointed and angry if I saw it. So none of that has shown up."
The Cougars have also spent the week insisting that Nevada isn't that far away from being 6-0, having lost three games to Arizona, Boise State and Colorado State by seven, five and seven points. The Wolf Pack outplayed the Cougars most of the game last year in Reno, leading 7-0 at halftime before losing 28-23 when Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams took over down the stretch.
Hill is obviously out for the season with a fractured leg, while Williams is doubtful with a bad ankle. BYU's two best defenders, linebacker Alani Fua (ankle) and safety Craig Bills (concussion) probably won't play, either.
What's more, Nevada's Cody Fajardo is easily the best quarterback the BYU defense will have faced this season, linebackers coach Kelly Poppinga and defensive coordinator Nick Howell said, and the unit hasn't exactly been stellar against average QBs the past few weeks. BYU is 114th in the country again the pass, allowing 291.5 yards per game.
"So, with the current nature of our team, it could be a game very similar to Central Florida," Mendenhall said.
Sophomore safety Kai Nacua and freshman linebacker Fred Warner, who will fill in for Bills and Fua, said all the injuries, and the close lost last week, just made the Cougars hungrier for a win.
"I think the losses put more of an edge on us," Nacua said.
Twitter: @drewjay —
Nevada at BYU
O Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium
Kickoff • Saturday, 8:15 p.m. TV • ESPN2
Radio • 1160 AM/102.7 FM
Records • BYU 4-2, Nevada 3-3
Series history • BYU leads, 5-2-2
Last meeting • BYU 28, Nevada 23 (Nov. 30, 2013)
About the Wolf Pack • They are coming off a 31-24 home loss to Colorado State in which they scored 21 straight points before the comeback fell short with an interception in the end zone. … QB Cody Fajardo accounted for 385 yards of total offense against CSU and is second in program history with 11,430 yards, behind only Colin Kaepernick.
About the Cougars • Starters Jamaal Williams (ankle), Alani Fua (ankle), Craig Bills (concussion) and Adam Hine (ankle) are not likely to play, while safety Dallin Leavitt (ankle) will likely be a game-time decision. … They are 114th in the country in pass defense, allowing 291.5 yards per game through the air. … They are seventh in rushing defense, giving up just 92.2 ypg. on the ground.