BYU hosts UNLV in blackout game

PROVO, Utah – BYU football seeks bowl eligibility Saturday against UNLV on ESPNU.

Kickoff is slated for 5:02 p.m. MST on ESPNU. Live radio broadcast will be provided by the Cougar IMG Sports Network with Greg Wrubell, available on byucougars.com, KSL 102.7 FM/1160 AM and the BYU Cougars app. Coverage starts at 3 p.m.

BYUtv will broadcast the Countdown to Kickoff starting at 4 p.m. MST. Its postgame show begins right after the end of the game. 

Saturday's game is a blackout game. Fans are encouraged to wear black to the game. The team will wear its alternate black jerseys.

UNLV (2-8, 1-5 MW) at BYU (5-4)
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at 5:02 p.m. MST
LaVell Edwards Stadium
Provo, Utah

BYU Game Notes

UNLV Game Notes

Notes

Last meeting. BYU last played UNLV as a conference opponent in the Cougars’ final year in the Mountain West. BYU defeated the Rebels 55-7 at home Nov. 6, 2010.

BYU vs. MW. BYU has 275 wins against Mountain West opponents. Its last victory against a team from its former conference was the 2013 win against Nevada. Its last matchup with a MW opponent was the Oct. 24 loss to Boise State.

10 seasons. Bronco Mendenhall is now in his 10th season as head coach of the Cougars. Mendenhall has an 87-38 record, and BYU ranks 12th in total wins nationally during his tenure.

Beating the best. Since 2003, BYU has 17 wins against Power 5 schools, which ranks second among non-Power 5 schools behind fellow independent Navy. BYU has the longest season streak, with nine straight seasons with a Power 5 win.

No. 1. BYU punter Scott Arellano recorded the longest punt in BYU history and in the NCAA this season with an 81-yarder vs. Middle Tennessee. He broke former NFL punter Lee Johnson’s BYU record set in 1983 vs. Wyoming. 

10 weeks in the spotlight. BYU’s game Saturday will be its 10th straight on national TV. BYU has been on ESPN six times, ESPN2 once, Fox Sports 1 once and CBS Sports Network once. Saturday’s game will be the Cougars’ first time on ESPNU this season.

Blackout. Saturday’s game is a blackout game. The team will wear black alternate jerseys.

Monday Media Briefing

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall

Anxious to get ready to play our next game. A lot of great work a week ago, not only in healing, but school and practice. I like our team's mindset right now. Anxious to have a strong finish to the season and to play well at home this next week. Looking forward to coaching a lot of eager and optimistic players that I think really had a nice bye week.

What did you gauge from the bye week as far as progression for this team?
Quite a bit. They're certainly anxious to play. They're certainly anxious to win. They're certainly anxious to finish the season the right way, and they're working really hard. I think hungry is the right word from where I see them. 

What do you see from UNLV? did anything change from when BYU played UNLV in the Mountain West?
New coach...Different styles of offense and defense than when we played, but there's still some explosive athletes and they've always had that. 

How do you gauge success?
To me it's each game are we improving? Are we getting better? I think I have a great gauge of that. Really an interesting dynamic–most teams have our next two games at the beginning of the season. As an independent, we're basically the opposite…we're switching basically our opponents that traditionally most people have at the beginning and as an independent, we have them at the end. I'm anxious to play well. We're certainly anxious to play postseason. We're anxious to win as many games as possible. 

Do you personally believe that there is one more Power Five shift coming?
I sure hope so. I can't imagine how not every conference won't have to have a championship game, for parity. It doesn't make any sense. If I were one of the four teams that had a championship game and that extra risk and/or opportunity, I would certainly want every team to be doing it. 

Is BYU well-positioned right now for this shift if it comes?
There was an ESPN head coaches vote and the question was, which team that's not currently one of those teams is deserving and belongs in the Power Five and BYU was the first choice. I think it's been an oversight already to this point.

Did the four-game losing streak affect recruiting?
We haven't lost a single player that was already committed, nor have we lost any interest from others that have. BYU is a really unique choice. The kids that are interested, they know we're always going to win, which we have. They know that that will continue, which it will. And they know that there's only one BYU. There's only one school in the world that's owned by the Church that plays football. That's what it was designed for so I'm anxious for that. I anxious for everyone to see how that continues to play out recruiting-wise because it hasn't changed anything. 

Senior OL De'Ondre Wesley

On what you did during the bye week:
A lot of rest, progression, being deliberate in our practices and working on our technique throughout the whole week is our focus as a team and what we'll focus on this week. 

Where do you guys want to keep improving these last three games of the season?
Just staying together as a team, being good teammates toward each other and going out and winning every game. Every game that we play from here on out is winnable. Every game that we've played is winnable. We just have to go out and just win. Go out and have that mentality to go out and win this game and win this snap and win this opportunity to go to a bowl game and go to the postseason. 

Any difference between Christian (Stewart) and Taysom (Hill)? 
Scheme-wise, it's not really different...Christian is not as fast as Taysom, but he can sling the ball. That kid can throw the ball. It's not that much of a difference. We stick to our usual plays, our usual strategy. Nothing is really different, it's just a different name back there, a different guy.

What is the honest feel of the team right now at this point in the season?
Just win every game. Just come out and practice hard and win every game and be deliberate and work on our technique and study our opponents, study their tendencies and come to LaVell Edwards Stadium this week and just win this game. 

Junior DE Graham Rowley

How was the bye week?
It was awesome. It was a much, much needed rest. I got to kind of relax over the weekend and not have to worry about football. I was able to watch a few games. I was been able to watch a few games. It was the first time I've done that in a long time. It was a great week, a great weekend and I'm ready to get back at it. 

What did the win at Middle Tennessee do for the defense?
I thought we played extremely well. We stopped them on a ton of three-and-outs…it was huge to get our aggressiveness back for that game. We handled it really well. Coach Mendenhall was really proud. 

On potentially securing bowl game this week:
We're coming at UNLV hard. We've been studying their film the past week. That's why this bye week has been beneficial because we can know what to do against UNLV. We'll have two weeks to prepare for them. We cannot wait to get back on the field and face the opponent, no matter who it is. 

On plan for UNLV:
They have a quarterback that can run. He's going to like to run…They have a good receiver No. 83--I think he's their biggest target. We just have to keep the quarterback in the pocket and keep our lanes so he doesn't want to take you up the field and run with it.