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Provo • This time, the BYU Cougars made sure they had a little fun and got in some rest during their bye week.
Having practiced hard the last time they had a break, back in late September, the Cougars promptly went out and lost four straight games. So this time, the emphasis was on loosening up a little, getting players healthy, and preparing mentally for the stretch run.
They even had a dance-off before Friday's light practice.
"Coaches stressed [having fun] a lot," said linebacker Teu Kautai. "They stressed to loosen up and have fun. I think that's what we forgot the past four weeks [before the win], was to have fun. As a defense, and as a team as a whole, we came together and had a lot of fun this past game."
The Cougars (5-4) will begin preparing for Saturday's 5 p.m. MST home game against former Mountain West Conference foe UNLV (2-8) on Monday. The Rebels were smoked 48-21 by Air Force in Las Vegas on Saturday.
UNLV lost quarterback Blake Decker, the former BYU walk-on who transferred to Scottsdale (Ariz.) Community College after a church mission, to an injury late in the third quarter. Decker had completed 18 of 32 passes for 263 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game, and his status for this week's game was not immediately known.
Air Force rolled up 542 yards before coach Troy Calhoun called off the dogs in the fourth quarter, while UNLV had 339. Receiver Devante Davis (wrist injury) returned to the lineup for UNLV and caught six passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.
The Cougars will be looking to become bowl eligible for the 10th straight time in coach Bronco Mendenhall's 10-year tenure, and believe they hung on to the momentum they garnered with the 27-7 win over Middle Tennessee on Nov. 1.
"Well, the team's work habits have been really consistent throughout, and so I think what going all the way back to Tennessee and playing a good football game did was it rejuvenated their momentum to do what they have been doing," Mendenhall said. "Because they have been consistent, in terms of effort in practice."
Running back Adam Hine, who will be asked to share the load now that star back Jamaal Williams (ACL surgery) is out for the season and Algie Brown is questionable with a lingering ankle injury, said the bye came at a good time, this time.
"It is a well-needed week for rest," Hine said last Monday. "We are going to rest up, get a lot of guys healthy, and we are excited to take on [UNLV] in a couple of weeks."
After the ugly 55-30 loss to Boise State dropped BYU's record to 4-4, Hine took it upon himself to address the team after coaches had left a meeting.
"It was just something that needed to be said," he said. "We really needed to get going. We had been lazy in a lot of the things we had been doing. I think they needed to hear it, not just from the coaches, but from one of their teammates."
Did it help?
"There have been a lot of attitude changes," Hine continued. "More guys have been watching film. And bottom line is we need games to be won. We don't need to lose close games. We need to play BYU football. We need to do our best, and that's something we haven't been doing lately, because we have been too lax in what we have been doing."
After hosting UNLV on Saturday, the Cougars remain home for Senior Day against FCS Savannah State on Nov. 22. The regular-season finale is Nov. 29 at California.
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UNLV at BYU
O Saturday, 5 p.m.
TV • ESPNU