Provo » Harvey Unga stood on the sidelines in the cold, his ankle in a protective boot, and watched BYU's football practice on Tuesday afternoon.
But after the practice, coach Bronco Mendenhall insisted that the junior who needs just 21 yards to pass Curtis Brown as the all-time leading rusher in BYU football history will play on Saturday against Air Force.
"Harvey will play Saturday," Mendenhall said succinctly. "We are resting him, as you can see. He is expected to play at a higher level than he did against New Mexico. So he made it a half in that game. I think he will make it through the whole game."
The coach said Unga was wearing the boot to make sure he doesn't use the ankle at all.
"And so we are maximizing the healing and there's no reason to have him use it if we know he is going to play, until Thursday."
Mendenhall said offensive tackles Nick Alletto (calf strain) and Matt Reynolds (back strain), who were held out all or parts of the New Mexico game, will also play.
Max's moment
Max Hall can get his 30th win, the most of any quarterback in school history, if the Cougars can beat Air Force on Saturday. Mendenhall said Monday that Hall deserves to be called one of the best QBs ever at BYU.
"I am not sure, when you look at number of wins, how you couldn't consider him one of the best to have played here. I hesitate saying that, because I wasn't here, I didn't coach, nor was I around the other ones. But to say Max wouldn't be a part of that group, I would be hard-pressed not to do that."
No conference title again
TCU's resounding 55-28 win over Utah in all probability means that the undefeated Horned Frogs will win the MWC title, but Mendenhall isn't giving up hope just yet.
"Too early to say, because anything can happen over the last two weeks," he said. "All we can really work on, and what I am [eager] to do, is help our team reach our potential. But I know what the expectations here are. And I would love to finish at the top of the league every year. I think we have a very good team. I think we will play well the next two weeks and in the postseason."
Briefly
BYU can improve to 9-2 for the fourth straight season for the first time ever with a win on Saturday. ... The Cougars have won their last nine games decided by eight points or fewer, the longest active streak in the FBS. ... Air Force's leading rusher, Jared Tew , graduated from Park City High School.
