This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • The BYU Cougars in 2010 are getting a taste of what it will be like to be a football independent a year before that big, bold move takes place.
Thanks to a 3-5 overall record and 2-2 mark in Mountain West Conference games, the Cougars are in an unfamiliar position in coach Bronco Mendenhall's six-year tenure. Heading into November, BYU is realistically out of the MWC title chase, although it has not been eliminated mathematically.
So what do the Cougars have left to play for, beginning Saturday when UNLV pays a final visit to LaVell Edwards Stadium?
"Definitely a bowl game," said senior defensive end Vic So'oto. "Also, leaving strong, and leaving a legacy that we turned around a season. And, as always, beating Utah [on Nov. 27] is something we always want to do."
The Cougars will certainly be invited to a bowl if they finish with six wins, which means they must win three of four November contests. With their chances of knocking off the No. 6 Utes in the regular-season finale at Rice-Eccles Stadium highly unlikely, the next three games are all crucial.
"I think there has been urgency for quite some time," Mendenhall said Tuesday. "Whether it is in relation to a bowl game or not, I can't say that's the motive. I hope it is just [because] we are working really hard to improve, and reach our potential, which I don't think we have done yet."
If nothing else, BYU will help the conference it is leaving if it gets bowl eligible because the MWC obviously wants to fill its bowl agreements. Utah, TCU and San Diego State are already bowl eligible, and Air Force (5-4) is close. Colorado State (3-6) would have to win out, including Nov. 13 against BYU in Fort Collins.
UNLV (1-7) has nothing to play for on Saturday, but coach Bobby Hauck said Tuesday that every game for the Rebels is critical to the development of his program. Wyoming (2-7) and New Mexico (0-8) have also been eliminated from bowl contention.
BYU cornerback Brian Logan said the Cougars, who are in danger of posting their first non-winning season since 2005, also have more to play for than just a bowl bid.
"We know we weren't too successful at the beginning of the year. But hopefully we can change the culture and continue to go up for the next generation, and for next year and the years to come," he said. "Hopefully they will take our momentum, see our culture, see what we have done, see how we have changed some things around and use that."
The next three opponents on BYU's schedule are a combined 4-21, but UNLV has always played the Cougars tough in Provo, and Colorado State has been a different team in Fort Collins than on the road.
"We have lost five games, so for me [the goal] is an 8-5 season," BYU lineman Jason Speredon said. "We've got four more games left, and then a bowl game, so we want to win all of them, and have that kind of a season, a winning season. That's something we could be proud of, with all that has happened."
drew@sltrib.com Twitter: @drewjay —
MWC's 2010 bowl tie-ins
Bowl Date Selection
BCS Bowl TBD Any BCS qualifier
Las Vegas Bowl Dec. 22 First pick (after BCS selections)
Poinsettia Bowl Dec. 23 Second pick
Independence Bowl Dec. 27 Third pick
Armed Forces Bowl Dec. 30 Fourth/fifth pick
New Mexico Bowl Dec. 18 Fourth/fifth pick —
Saturday's game
P UNLV (1-7) at BYU (3-5), noon
TV • The Mtn.