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Provo • Head coach Bronco Mendenhall won't be the architect of BYU's defense Saturday afternoon at Middle Tennessee.

Instead, Mendenhall will return to his role as an adviser to defensive coordinator Nick Howell when the Cougars try to snap a four-game losing streak against the Blue Raiders.

In a failed attempt to infuse energy into the Cougars' struggling defense, Mendenhall took over the play calling during last week's 55-30 loss to Boise State.

The Broncos scored 41 points in the first half and piled up 637 yards of total offense — the second straight game BYU allowed over 600 yards to a Mountain West Conference opponent.

At his media availability session Monday, Mendenhall was asked if he would continue calling BYU's defensive signals.

He shook his head.

"No," Mendenhall said. "What I plan to do is support all our coaches the best I can. ... One of the next steps for our program to really grow and develop is to increase the capacity of coaches on my staff."

Why did he get more involved with the defense in the first place?

"It's pretty simple," Mendenhall said. "With the type of offense Boise State ran — with our current personnel and the current state of our team — there had to absolutely be another resource in the room. ... I thought I could help immediately in that spot — trying to get the team ready."

Against Middle Tennessee, BYU will try to avoid its first five-game losing streak since 1970, when Mendenhall was four years old.

Attempting to deflect blame from the players and relieve some of the mounting pressure on them, the BYU coach said, "... The way we've performed so far, regardless of circumstances, is my responsibility.

"We would love to have [program] ownership from the players, but I don't want them to shoulder that to the point where they think it's their fault. That's my job. I want to help them and encourage them so they feel comfortable and anxious to play the next game."

In the era of texting and emailing, however, shielding players from others' unhappiness is more difficult.

"Some of the things they've shared with me — I'm not a social media person — are pretty cruel," Mendenhall said. "My advice to them is to not participate, but that's this generation's way of communicating. So the best thing I can do is to make sure our football offices, our practices and our culture is a place they want to be — a sanctuary for something they love."

According to Mendenhall, BYU's players and coaches remain on the same page. There has been no finger-pointing after losses to Utah State (35-20), Central Florida (31-24 in overtime), Nevada (42-35) and Boise State.

"We're all competitors, he said. "But I don't sense any splintering, wavering or segmenting. I sense resolve and how fast can we play again."

Senior receiver Jordan Leslie agrees.

"There's none of that in the locker room," he said. "... Of course we're disappointed. But we're coming in [this week] with a strong mind-set. We need to prove something." —

BYU at Middle Tennessee

O Saturday, 1:30 p.m. TV • CBS Sports Network