Flooded with questions about BYU's ineptness on defense the past few weeks, the senior pointed to the fact that the Cougars held Colorado State to a 42 percent conversion rate on third down, after TCU and UNLV combined to go 22-for-31 (71 percent) the previous two weeks.

"So that was a drastic improvement we were pretty happy with," he said.

The senior acknowledged, however, that the defense still allowed too many yards (401), gave up too many big plays - including several trick plays - and struggled to shut down a mediocre rushing attack (131 yards).

When it comes to this BYU defense lately, though, small signs of improvement are to be appreciated - especially now that another injury has threatened to make the unit even more fragile.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday that cornerback Scott Johnson suffered a double groin tear in the 45-42 win over CSU and will miss the remainder of the regular season (three games). Johnson, a junior, might be able to return for BYU's bowl game, depending on when that game is played.

Johnson's backup, sophomore Brandon Bradley, also left the game (with a shin contusion) but is expected back and will start at cornerback opposite junior Brandon Howard against San Diego State on Saturday (noon, the mtn.) at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

Mendenhall said safeties David Tafuna (shoulder) and Shiloah Te'o (concussion) are also expected back this week. Against CSU, third-string corner Steven Thomas, a safety until two weeks ago, played corner in the absence of Johnson and Bradley.

As a contingency plan, Mendenhall said backup safety Andrew Rich will now be "cross-trained" to play cornerback.

"There are possible other options we are considering, but that's the only one I feel comfortable talking about right now," Mendenhall said.

One of those options could involve moving backup quarterback Stephen Covey to safety, a position he played in high school.

Whatever happens, the Cougars' secondary is as inexperienced and vulnerable as it has been in years, although Nixon, Mendenhall and even quarterback Max Hall on Monday expressed confidence in the unit, and in the defense as a whole. Mendenhall said he won't panic of make wholesale changes, despite the fact that teams have scored easily on the Cougars the past three weeks.

"I think we stay with what he have, and I think when you look at [the way] the season has gone, each of the last three games has kind of taken on a different tone, and this group is a little late to adjust and recognize and is a step behind on some occasions," he said. "Again, last week it was the gadget plays [that hurt BYU], in my mind. The week before [against UNLV] it was the empty passing formations, and the week before it was a really mobile quarterback. So I think we are learning and addressing those things one at a time. I think that we will continue to grow and improve and continue to win games along the way."

Still, the Cougars said they would fare better against CSU's more conventional offense, and then they gave up more than 400 yards. They should be OK against woeful San Diego State this week, but games at Air Force and Utah don't bode well for a defense that was inexperienced even before it lost several starters to season-ending injuries.

The defense is "handling the core plays better," Mendenhall insisted. "But the adjustment part is still something they are struggling [with] midstream. . . . They are quite a bit slower than our previous groups at just assimilating that and then going out and executing it."

Nixon said one area the front seven can improve on to help the secondary is getting more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Cougars sent five or more defenders at the quarterback out of their traditional 3-4 package 12 times against the Rams, but never got to him.

The two sacks, both credited to defensive end Jan Jorgensen, came when the Cougars were rushing just three guys.

"It just comes down to will," Nixon said. "Really, it just comes down to you wanting to get it more than them."

drew@sltrib.com

Porous another round

BYU's defense in its last three games

Opponent First Downs Plays-Yards Third-down Points

TCU 29 70-410 11 of 16 32

UNLV 25 75-463 11 of 15 35

Colorado State 19 65-401 5 of 12 42