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PROVO — After a third straight loss, head coach Bronco Mendenhall and his young team say they know the primary issue holding this team from wins. After practice Monday morning, the theme was assignment-sound football.
“The main thing for our team to take another step forward, I think just discipline and execution are the two words that would really be helpful.” Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall said the team is very close to making those plays that win games, but admitted he underestimated the youth and inexperience of the team and on defense that contributes greatly to the lack of execution.
“When you flip on the film, the lack of precision, the number of spots per play is just reflective of not much experience, not great concentration, just a lot of guys that don’t have much experience,” Mendenhall said. “One more gap over one, one more head fake here, it really is just the execution. There are all kinds of plays to be made out there.”
With lack of experience and execution, the question becomes how do you solve things that take time? Senior linebacker Michael Alisa said the time needed isn’t all game experience but needs to come from work during the week.
“I do think repetition is part of it.” Alisa said. “A bigger part than that is guys need to be in the film room longer than they are right now. Guys need to spend more time learning the defense and just knowing exactly what their assignment is so they can play faster.”
Alisa said they want to win for Cougar nation and also themselves, they want redemption and the chance to show what this team can do. He said the team is close and there is good leadership on defense, but they can do more.
“I would say that maybe we need to be a little more vocal,” Alisa said. “From here on out guys will have to hold each other to a higher standard.
Bronco Mendenhall and Alisa both mentioned they know the players have the drive and a lot to play for.
“I know this, their hurting, and they want to play well and they want to win,” Mendenhall said. “They also know they’re not quite executing in the three to five plays that are separating wins from losses.”
Mendenhall addressed the talk around the team and how negative it has become. He said it is inevitable in the day and age of social media, but the team had a good meeting Monday morning and they have to stay focused. Much of that negative attention has come aimed at defensive coordinator Nick Howell. Mendenhall gave the play calling duties to Howell this year and he doesn’t see Howell as the problem.
“Nick has done a really good job, I know that there's statistics and things that don’t bear it out.” Mendenhall said.
He also said that nobody works harder than Howell, but execution has to catch up pretty fast.
The defense is giving up too many points but the offense has been hot and cold. Mendenhall said he is happy with the significant progress Christian Stewart has made since Utah State. The offensive takeaways from Nevada seem to be consistency and turnovers. Tight end Devin Mahina said they can’t give opponents a short field and that was the key mistake last week.
“Turning the ball over three times is huge, so if we can limit that I think we’ll be just fine,” Mahina said.
Christian Stewart is now 0-2 as the starter and was responsible for two of those turnovers. By the nature of his position, much of the blame falls on him. Mahina said Stewart took it hard, but his receivers believe in him.
“That’s your job to pick him up and make sure everything is all right. You gave it your all and that’s all you could do,” Mahina said.
“He is a natural leader both on and off the field,” wide receiver Mitchell Juergens said. “So we look to him as the leader on offense and we trust him.”
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On injuries, Mendenhall said that Alani Fua, Jamaal Williams and Craig Bills should all be listed as hopeful.
“The way things are going, better for us to plan on none. Then be surprised when we get ’em,” Mendenhall said.
The flood of ankle injuries is also getting a deep look. Mendenhall said he has about 50 pages on his desk that breaks down where the injuries happened, the surface, what the player was wearing, and more. He said he wishes there was a common thread so they could fix it, but nothing stands out at the moment.
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Against Nevada, Sione Takitaki was noticeably absent after a standout performance at UCF. Mendenhall said this is because he was late to or missed a meeting and there is a hard policy on that. Michael Alisa said that can’t happen and is not a common issue and was one mistake which he has spoken to Takitaki about. Takitaki is now back in good standing.
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BYU will look to bounce back as it travels to Boise for a bout Friday night. The teams have a 12-year series that Mendenhall says is great for two strong prominent programs in the region. Mitchell Marshall is a KSL Sports Radio intern and broadcast journalism student at Brigham Young University where he anchors and produces sports. Find him @mitchellive on Twitter.
