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BYU's defense in the second half against East Carolina hardly resembled anything coach Bronco Mendenhall had thrown on the field before, with suspensions and injuries riddling the ball club, especially in the secondary.

Mendenhall said Monday in his regular press briefing that the two defensive backs who were suspended — corners Jordan Preator and Michael Shelton — will be back against Cincinnati on Friday — and that fellow corner Micah Hannemann, who left the game and did not return with an undisclosed injury, should also be able to play.

"Yeah, they will be back, and finally, we think, we will get [linebacker] Harvey Langi back as well," Mendenhall said. "So [nose tackle] Travis Tuiloma came in and he got about 20 plays, and just was dominant when he was in there. We had kept him out quite a bit because of the amount of nickel we were playing. But Travis will play more going forward."

Mendenhall said offensive lineman Ului Lapuaho, who left the game in the second quarter is probable for Friday.

"I would put [Lapuaho] and Tanner [Mangum] in the same category," Mendenhall said.

Receiver Mitch Mathews said most of the team didn't find out about the suspensions until after the game. Apparently, they came about because the players were late arriving at the team hotel on Friday night before the game.

"It is one of those things where I didn't find out until after the game, what had actually happened, and that it was for not showing up at the hotel," Mathews said. "I still really don't know the details, but those guys are good players, and we need them to play. It is one of those things where they almost punished themselves by maybe being embarrassed and looking up to the older guys and it is kind of like, crap, I won't do that again because that was embarrassing.

I think it is just they know what they did, and it was not smart of them, but they are good players, we need them, and we will take them back any second. They apologized, so it is one of those things where you forgive them, and we need them to play."

Mendenhall said Tuiloma is the team's best defensive player and it was noticeable when the big 6-5, 310-pound junior was out of the game.

"It was completely different. When he is in the game, Travis and the center are two or three yards on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage, and the rest of the defense is back here somewhere, which can be good or bad. Sometimes that creates seams, but he is really good, and he will play a lot more in even nickel situations now. I think he is our best defensive player," Mendenhall said.

Told that the coach considers him the best defender, Tuiloma shrugged.

'It is an honor for me. I don't think I consider myself the best player, but what I do know is that I want to do the best I can to help my team out so we are put in the best position to win," he said.

More odd and ends from Mendenhall's press briefing on Monday:

Mendenhall on the team's identity halfway through the season: "Yeah, I think their chemistry is really strong. They think they can win any game, really, at any time. There has been one exception, that caught us all off guard, which was Michigan, which looks a little bit better now, based on how they are playing. But they love to play football; they like each other. They want to get better. They are willing to work to get better and so it is a fun team to coach."

Mendenhall said BYU got its first punt blocked and returned for a touchdown since a game against Air Force in 2005 happened because there were new guys on the protective "shield" in front of punter Jonny Linehan and they had not been taught their assignments properly.

"So I don't think we taught it super well," he said. "But it wasn't anything that was our players' fault. I just think we could have taught it better."

When I asked him if Cincy will have an advantage because it hasn't played since Oct. 1 and should be healthy and well-rested, Mendenhall said he wouldn't like a bye right now because of the momentum BYU has established.

"You could argue either way, based on the team. But they are fast, in watching them, not only the tempo-wise, but they look really good on film in terms of the receivers, skill, running backs, offensive line. And so they might argue the other way, but at this point we are growing and developing and getting better, and I wouldn't want to stop yet, at least for our team," he said.

Mendenhall said Cincy is, statistically, the best offensive team the Cougars have played, to date.

"You are talking about 600 yards a game, and 39 points, and so yeah, they are good. So I would say very similar to last week [vs. ECU]. If possible, they can even run higher tempo than that, and probably are a little bit deeper at the skill positions."

Mendenhall said he knows Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville fairly well because Tuberville is chairman of the board of the AFCA board, the board upon which Mendenhall sits.