This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
File this one in the making-lemonade category. BYU announced last night that there would be no media availability on Monday for coach Bronco Mendenhall and players, so I jumped on the American Athletic Conference coaches teleconference and listened to what Houston coach Tony Levine had to say about Thursday's matchup. The blue Cougars play host to the red Cougars at 7 p.m. MDT at LaVell Edward Stadium. Houston is coming off a 47-0 blasting of Grambling State after losing to UTSA in its opener. "We saw improvement from week one to week two, and with this short week, our preparation with our student-athletes began [Sunday]. We had extensive meetings and we will have practice [Monday evening]. We leave in two days to head to Utah to play BYU on Thursday," Levine said. "Certainly, an outstanding opponent. Coach Mendenhall has done a great job in his time there. Very, very physical team in all three phases — offense, defense and special teams. It will be a great challenge for us, first game this year on the road. I think it is their home opener. We are getting prepared today and we look forward to this challenge." Levine said he doesn't know if it will be another shootout yet, after BYU edged Houston 47-46 last year at Reliant Stadium. "I think it will be a good challenge for us," Levine said. "Last year was a good football game. Unfortunately for us, we didn't come out on top, but again in terms of how I think this game will be, whether it is high-scoring or low-scoring, at this point I don't know." Levine talked about defending BYU QB Taysom Hill this year, and you can read more about that here. Although Houston and QB John O'Korn have struggled a bit, Levine said it is pretty much the same team that almost knocked off the Cougars last year. "We've got the vast majority of the guys in our program who played for us last year back this year. We have got a new punter and a new field goal kicker. But we return nine starters from last year's defense. Probably seven or eight starters from last year's offense, including John O'Korn, our quarterback and most of our receivers. So, in that sense, it is going to be really similar in terms of personnel."————————— Couple leftover notes and quotes from BYU's 41-7 win over Texas last Saturday: * The Cougars have intercepted at least one pass in 12 straight games (Michael Alisa did the honors vs. the Longhorns). That's tied for the longest picks streak in the Mendenhall era. * BYU scored 28 points in the third quarter for the first time since a 41-20 win over Hawaii in 2011. Jake Heaps announced he was leaving the program two days later. * Texas' fine running backs, Johnathan Gray and Malcolm Brown, gained 2 yards or less 18 times on Saturday. Each back had 14 carries. * Senior receiver Jordan Leslie has caught a pass in 30 straight games, dating back to his freshman season at UTEP. "It was unreal … I am really lucky Jordan is on our team," Mendenhall said. —————————— Mendenhall on what Hill's long TD run did for the team on the sideline: "I think you saw the reaction. Even our [players] are fans of Taysom. They admire and they respect his great athleticism, and toughness. I don't want him to take as many shots as he is taking, but man, what it does for our team is amazing. It is a fine balance. When he is running over defenders, when he is hurtling over defenders, it is very hard to say 'how much offense do you give him, when you know there are still 11 games left?'" Mendenhall on the bad center snaps early:"Yeah, really, we didn't see it coming. All week long in practice, everything has been fine. So I am not sure what caused it. Just nerves and jitters. But that was uncharacteristic, and I think after the second series we got it fixed."Mendenhall on changes at halftime to get better play in the third quarter:"Yeah, significant changes. I really won't share what we did, but from the minute we came in at halftime, we did things we've never done before. And when we came out at halftime, we did things we've never done before, and so we've been targeting those things, based on what you just referenced. It hasn't been a strength of ours. We knew we had to address it. Had some ideas, put them in place. Did that translate directly to our third-quarter play? I can't say. We did target it, and we did some pretty unique things."Mendenhall on the defense's play:"It is nice to be able to have Rob Daniel back. Really nice to have Marques Johnson back. Our run defense was very strong. When you have a chance to play Travis Tuiloma and Marques Johnson at the same time, that's two 300-plus players, and all of a sudden our run defense is stout. And then you have a chance to have Jordan Johnson in the mix as well, it is just more depth. When you play against the best teams that are fast and athletic, it is nice to have that depth."Mendenhall on making adjustments for new Texas coaching staff:"I think first and foremost, Mack Brown is one of the best coaches in all of college football, and has been for a long, long time. We happened to play them on a day [last year] where they had a hard time figuring out how to stop us offensively, and that happened again tonight. Certainly, there is new leadership." Mendenhall on forcing four turnovers: "We know that field position is so vital to our scoring. It is well documented. We study it. It is really fun to have emphasis show up on game day. Nick has done a really nice job focusing on enthusiasm and effort, and is able to, without being the head coach, make it his side of the ball, rather than balance it, like I was trying to do. So it is really fun to see the extra focus on that, and the extra passion he is able to throw into it. And the players are responding really well."Taysom Hill on if he felt like it was a matter of time before they found end zone: "Honestly, in my mind, and I felt the vibes from the team that it was just a matter of time. A lot of that was was our defense playing so well that we had a great field position and it allowed us offensively — we had momentum and their defense was on their heels." Hill on the leap over the Texas defender: "Once I broke through the first level, I knew I was one on one with the safeties, and they had been taking me low the whole game, so I figured instead of trying to juke him, I would just jump over him, so I know it happened fast in my head, but they had been diving at my knees and ankles, so I took a leap of faith."On whether he's thought about leaping over defenders:"I have definitely thought about it. I had what, three or four seconds to think about it, and instinctively I just did it."Hill on having Texas defense focusing on him and handling it:"Shoot, I was aware of it. Things were said to me. But it was football, so I didn't worry about that. I worried about us. I worried about me and our preparation and made sure that we could come down here and execute at a high level. I wasn't worried so much about them, other than schematically and their personnel than I was just worrying about us."Hill on how Texas was different than last year:"I thought they were more physical. They definitely had bull rushers, and they applied some pressure, and I was hit quite a few times. So I think they were more physical than they were last year. They are a great team, great athletes, but offensively for us, our scheme is really difficult to defend, with all the different options. Like I said before, I thought it was only a matter of time before we started getting touchdowns."Hill on Jordan Leslie's catch:"It was incredible…..If I had thrown a good ball, it was probably a touchdown. But I got hit, and then I thought, shoot, that might get picked off. I looked up just in time to see Jordan on his back, catching that. That was a big play for us, a big momentum swing, and we were able to score shortly thereafter." Hill on the BYU offensive line's play:"Definitely have some things to clean up there, but I was very pleased, very impressed with the way they came out and battled. Big stage for a guy like Lui [Lapuaho] and Tejan [Koroma]. Tejan came out and played extremely well in the second half, and it was big-time football. I haven't seen the stats, but any time you can rush for as many yards as we did, it is pretty impressive." Hill on Tejan Koroma's bad snaps and responding:"He was fired up. Big stage. Coming back to Texas, he was ready to go. … But yeah, I did talk to him."