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Provo • The undefeated BYU Cougars, 4-0 for the first time since 2008, don't really need a bye this week.
They are rolling along quite nicely after consecutive, if not totally satisfying, eight-point wins at home and are riding a wave of national attention that has vaulted them to No. 20 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, No. 21 in the Amway Coaches Poll.
Quarterback Taysom Hill is starting to get talked about as a possible invitee to New York City for the Heisman Trophy presentation, although it seems like it is Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota's prize to lose.
And coach Bronco Mendenhall's team is relatively healthy, despite top receiver Jordan Leslie suffering an ankle sprain in the third quarter of the Cougars' 41-33 win over Virginia on Saturday and left tackle De'Ondre Wesley, linebacker Bronson Kaufusi and running back Algie Brown still nursing ankle issues that kept Kaufusi and Brown out and limited Wesley.
Clearly, momentum is on BYU's side in September, and the Cougars aren't eager to give that up. They don't play again until Oct. 3, the annual Friday-before-LDS General Conference-game against 2-2 Utah State.
Mendenhall said they will just have to make it work.
"Yeah, you just have to make it a positive no matter what," he said. "And I think with the current state of our team, we could make it a positive thing."
The Cougars will play five straight weeks after the bye, then have another bye the weekend of Nov. 8 before finishing the regular season against UNLV, Savannah State and California.
Mendenhall said the plan is to have normal Monday morning meetings, but skip the practices that night. They will practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and then take the weekend off if the coach is happy with the effort up to that point.
"Looking forward to a little rest, a little recovery, and some focus on things that can be improved, and then get back to it," he said.
Yes, the Cougars still have a lot to work on, Mendenhall, Hill and defenders such as Skye PoVey and Craig Bills acknowledged after they committed 12 penalties for 133 yards and struggled to shut down a Virginia offense that was ranked 98th in the country before putting 519 yards and 33 points on BYU.
It was the first time BYU has allowed more than 500 yards since giving up 512 to another ACC foe, Florida State, in 2009.
There were missed tackles, six pass-interference penalties, including several on third down that kept UVA drives alive, and 192 rushing yards against a defensive unit that was allowing just 56.3 per game, fifth-best in the country.
"We would have liked to, and we had a number of opportunities, to pull away," Mendenhall said. "We aren't there yet, being able to do that. But we are capable of winning games. I will smile as we work on it, at least for now. But there's some urgency to make sure we can pull away when we have a chance."
In other words, that kind of effort, coupled with Hill's sensational playmaking ability, is good enough to beat the likes of UConn, Texas, Houston and Virginia. The Cougars will have to get better to beat 3-1 Boise State, 1-2 Central Florida and 2-1 California on the road in October and November.
"For sure, we need that killer instinct," Hill said.
Twitter: @drewjay —
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O Friday, Oct. 3
Utah State atNo. 20 BYU, 8:15 p.m. MT
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