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With Army and Notre Dame having byes last week and Navy losing to Rutgers, it was slim pickings for the FBS Independent Players of the Week honors. Only BYU and Navy had candidates. But the Cougars didn't sweep the awards, and surprisingly, Cougars receiver Cody Hoffman didn't get one despite a career day against Oregon State. Quarterback Riley Nelson is the Offensive Player of the Week, instead, after the junior completed 17 of 27 passes for three touchdowns against OSU. He also rushed for a team-high 87 yards on 12 carries. BYU linebacker Brandon Ogletree picks up his first Defensive Player of the Week award after intercepting a pass, causing two fumbles and making six tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. The Special Teams Player of the Week is Navy kicker Jon Teague. ————————-

BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall will conduct his weekly news conference this morning at Legends Grille. Certainly, a big topic today will be injuries, as this story in this morning's Tribune details. Along with Richard Wilson (knee), Hebron Fangupo (ankle), Romney Fuga (knee), Mike Hague (nose) and Uona Kaveinga (lower leg), pass rusher and special teams player Ziggy Ansah (knee) left the game with an injury.

———————— We've already posted some video of the postgame news conferences from Saturday. Here's more from Mendenhall, mostly from the latter half of the interview that isn't on the video. Mendenhall on Mike Alisa's play and whether he's a starter now: "I am not sure if we will continue starters or non-starters, or whatever. We have specific roles. We love J.J. [Di Luigi] out of the backfield, We love him on the perimeter. We love what he is capable of doing as well. Josh Quezada and Mike Alisa are similar type of backs, as well as Bryan Kariya, so I am not so concerned about the starting spot. I just love guys running over people and getting 5 yards a carry. That gives you a great chance to win the game." Mendenhall on the turnovers caused by the defense: "This particular defensive group, they practice hard and they play hard. And, I am not sure how many [turnovers] they have created at this point in the season, but it would be fun to kind of compare that to other teams we've had. But I think it is tied to effort, I think it is tied to physical play, and I think they are both of those. They play hard and I think they are physical. Oregon State did try to run the ball today, and establish that, and were not successful, and so it turned into just throwing and throwing and throwing. That's good, from a game balance standpoint." Mendenhall on giving up the long ball: "Just got outrun. Oregon State had a fast guy, and we had a fast guy, and their guy was faster than ours. It was a good throw and a good catch. There was no coverage help for that play, or on that play. It was zone coverage on that play. It was a zone that we play more than any other play. And that predicted the ball would go downfield. At some point, we will make our share of plays down there. I am talking about the deep ball. And it is just taking a little longer than expected. Again, we are not overreacting to any of those because those players are trying hard and we are looking to build their confidence. At some point they will start intercepting or knocking those down." Mendenhall on Riley's scrambling ability: I would say 60 percent designed and 40 percent him just doing — or maybe 70-30 designed — and him just deciding he's going to get a first down. His helmet will come off, and he will get a first down. And the team loves that." Mendenhall on dropping eight guys into pass coverage and playing that way: "It was really the very last drive. We dropped eight the majority of the time. We got them to fourth down twice, maybe three times. Eventually we got to knock one of those down. We had lost a couple D-linemen early, and when we turn those guys lose up front, they know it is only pass. I would like to get more pressure through four-man pressure. But I didn't think the situation warranted doing that. So I would have liked to have seen more pressure." Mendenhall on Brandon Ogletree: "He is a middle linebacker. I have used the word twisted to talk about him before, just because he is wound so tight. At one point, his helmet came off, after he had caused a fumble, and he had blood coming out both his nostrils, and he's smiling, and it looks like Halloween, and he said, 'man this is fun.' so that's a middle linebacker." Mendenhall on Matt Putnam coming back for the D-line: "It is huge, because it gives us depth. Those positions are ones that you have to keep throwing in, throwing fresh bodies in. So 2.6 a carry, and 59 yards [rushing for OSU], so the guys that came in did a nice job. But it really showed was having enough bodies to substitute knowing that they were going to throw it. And we kind of ran out of fresh bodies to throw at them." Mendenhall on the run the team is on: "I think is gaining momentum and making progress. But we are not to the point where we are to end up where that game would have been 45-17, something like that. It is just there is progress being made, but there's not enough yet to have that kind of consistency, I guess would be the word for it. In the meantime, I like the wins that are coming, and I like the progress. It is coming in increments that you can see are good, but small."Mendenhall on where the most progress has been made: "Run game. Running the football." Mendenhall on whether that's the running backs or the line: "I think it is both. I think it is a decision by our coaching staff to make sure we can. I think it is a decision by our players to make sure they will. And then I think it is a game plan that allows us to do it." Mendenhall on still having a couple costly turnovers and how he can fix that: "Delicate balance, especially with quarterbacks. I don't think anyone said a word [to Riley about the pick-six]. It was a poor decision, but he made a lot of great decisions as well. Eventually that will get to where we have none, and the other team has three or four. But in the meantime, and as long as we are getting more than the opponent, that's a step in the right direction."Mendenhall on the identity of BYU's football team right now as a running team: "I love it. I am a defensive coach. I like physical play and I like players that demonstrate heart and grit and determination, and I like them to be bloodied at the end of the game. It is fun. That's the way I like it. That doesn't mean that we can't throw it, because we can throw it very well. But I like it when the game is physical like that."