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Provo • BYU played in the Fight Hunger Bowl two days after Christmas last year, spending the holiday in San Francisco before losing 31-16 to Washington.

That wasn't the most convenient time of the year for a bowl game, but given his druthers, coach Bronco Mendenhall would take that over this year's date: Dec. 22.

The reason?

Final exams.

Most schools around the country have them this week, and they make preparing for bowl games extra difficult.

"Yeah, not ideal," Mendenhall said. "We have gone through this I think almost every year."

It was really rough when the Cougars went to the pre-Christmas Las Vegas Bowl five straight years, as the Utes are learning. BYU leaves for Miami on Wednesday, meaning that the players have just two days to take their final exams unless professors helped them out and allowed them to take some last week.

"Especially with the type of academic school BYU is - hard, and that puts a lot of load on our guys," Mendenhall said. "We are managing it the best we can, but really there is no great alternative there."

Now hiring

After longtime strength and conditioning coach Jay Omer announced his retirement last month, Mendenhall said he hoped to have a replacement hired as quickly as possible. But that won't happen before the bowl game.

Now, he's hoping to hire one before the offseason workout program begins in early January.

"We will have a great list of candidates, and I am really excited about the possibilities," Mendenhall said. "Timing, though, isn't as fast as I was hoping."

Koroma honored

Freshman center Tejan Koroma was named to the 247Sports Freshman All-America team on Friday. Koroma joins 27 other players who received the honor, and is one of only three players from outside a Power 5 conference on the team. The others are Utah State cornerback Jalen Davis and Florida Atlantic offensive lineman Reginald Bain.

Koroma graded out as BYU's top offensive lineman in the regular season, and was the only true freshman in the Football Bowl Subdivision to start every game at center in the country. He played more plays than any player on BYU's offensive line.

Briefly

Cornerback Jordan Johnson, who broke his arm in the Central Florida game, might not be finished at BYU just yet. The school might petition the NCAA to give the senior another year of eligibility, Mendenhall acknowledged. "Not sure [if it will work]," he said. "Too many variables compliance-wise, academic-wise, and all that to even speculate." … Mendenhall has been impressed with Memphis after reading up on the Tigers and studying film. "If you do the research and look at what they have been able to accomplish in three years now, versus their history, there are some really good things going on there," he said.

Twitter: @drewjay -

Miami Beach Bowl

O BYU vs. Memphis Dec. 22, noon TV • ESPN