Utah, TCU and BYU are seemingly connected at the hip when the Mountain West Conference football hierarchy is discussed.
But when it comes to motivating their teams for big games against each other, TCU's Gary Patterson and Utah's Kyle Whittingham have different ideas than BYU's Bronco Mendenhall regarding what works and what doesn't.
The issue is in the spotlight this week as No. 10 TCU prepares to take on No. 16 BYU on Saturday at LaVell Edwards Stadium because Patterson acknowledged in the MWC coaches teleconference Tuesday that for the past two seasons he has placed a BYU helmet on tackling dummies on his practice field and on equipment in his weight room.
The coach also acknowledged that he scours newspaper articles and other reports from the opposing camp for bulletin-board material to help fire up his team.
"We always know that BYU, you know, a lot of people said that I put the helmet on the blocking dummy," Patterson said. "You know, we do that for about every opponent. But last year was BYU. And to be honest with you, this year was, too, because for the simple reason we knew we were going to have to play them before we got to Utah."
The 6-0 Horned Frogs host No. 19 Utah (5-1) on Nov. 14. Of course, TCU blasted BYU 32-7 last year in Fort Worth, and on Sunday, Patterson told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that "last year before we played it was kind of a circus listening to BYU talk."
That came as news to those who cover BYU, who couldn't recall anything even remotely inflammatory coming out of a Mendenhall-coached Cougar's mouth last year. On Tuesday, Patterson clarified his "circus" comment, telling the Star-Telegram it "had nothing to do with BYU. It was about the BCS last year. They were going into last year's game with all the talk surrounding them, like we are right now."
Whittingham, of course, has famously used perceived slights from the opposition to motivate his team, such as the time he used then-Wyoming coach Joe Glenn 's guarantee to a student group to stir the Utes into a frenzy before a 50-0 win.
As for Mendenhall, he said Monday that his general philosophy is that bulletin-board fodder "has no bearing" on motivating a team and that it hasn't ever been his approach as a coach.
"If I see them [on the bulletin board in the locker room], I will pull them down," he said. "... I hope our motivation comes from just trying to do the best we can, regardless of what others are saying or thinking about us."
Third-down demons
Three MWC teams are among the top 10 in the nation in third-down conversion defense. Utah has held opponents to 22 of 82 third-down conversions and ranks fourth in the country (23.8 percent). TCU is fifth (27 percent) and Air Force is sixth (28 percent).
The only other conference with three teams in the top 10 in that category is the SEC.
Briefly
UNLV's Ryan Wolfe has 259 career receptions and is three catches away from tying the league record of 262 set by San Diego State's J.R. Tolver in 2002. Wolfe is the nation's third-leading active career receptions leader, while BYU's Dennis Pitta is ninth, but first among tight ends. ... Having been shut out 10-0 by Air Force last week, Wyoming now has the unwanted distinction of having been the last shutout for four MWC teams. The last shutouts for Utah, BYU and New Mexico were also against the Cowboys. ... Wyoming's Brian Hendricks matched a MWC single-game record with 23 tackles in a 10-0 loss at Air Force. It is the most tackles by a sophomore in a single game in league history.
