Unfortunate injuries mar Friday's tilt

[IE]

On Friday, we'll see the Aggies and Cougars try and rise above some very unfortunate injuries.

It's the saga of the scalpel and ice pack.

American statesman Henry Cabot Lodge once said, "The time given to athletic contests and the injuries incurred on the playing field are part of the price which the English-speaking race has paid for being world conquerors."

I don't know how much of the world BYU and Utah State have done in the conquered-the-world department, but both have suffered untimely injuries to football players this year. And that has to mean something.

Utah State is winning this battle of misfortune. The Cougars aren't too far behind. To say injuries have not impacted both teams is like saying Tiger Woods divorce didn't mess with his game.

The Aggie issues surfaced before they even played a game. Linebacker Matt Ah You, a BYU and Central Washington transfer, went down in August. Star running back Robert Turbin underwent ACL surgery back in February. A stud running back, Turbin's injury has impacted Gary Andersen's squad in a big way losing a guy who rushed for 1,296 yards and 13 TDs, a threat to break the big one on any given play.

The Aggies also lost receiver Stanley Morrison and corner Jamaine Olson to injuries before the opener at Oklahoma. USU offensive lineman Tariq Polley also got injured in the preseason but unlike the four others, he may return.

Before the San Diego State game, the Aggies reported injuries to offensive lineman Spencer Johnson, receiver Matt Austin, safety Rajric Coleman, corner Chris Randle, running back Michael Smith and kicker/punter Peter Caldwell. Austin is out for the season but the others, excluding Caldwell, made it back for SDSU and may play Friday.

That's quite a roll call for sick bay.

And it doesn't even count head coach Gary Andersen, who fell and hurt his neck this week and will likely be seen wearing a neck brace during the game.

BYU lost starting quarterback Riley Nelson to shoulder surgery after an aggravated injury in the loss at Florida State. Freshman receiver Ross Apo dislocated his finger in practice before the FSU game and needed surgery.

Starting free safety Steven Thomas also went down in that game and the other safety, Andrew Rich, had what trainer Kevin Curtis described as a "full body contusion", but he returned against Nevada.

One of the most dramatic, if not controversial injuries in the region took place last Saturday with a BYU starter.

In that Nevada game, starting BYU nose guard Romney Fuga tore his knee up after a questionable cut block and underwent ACL surgery this past week. Also under the surgeon's knife was outside linebacker Jamison Frazier, who broke his hand in the Nevada game.

These two teams have suffered. Three BYU defensive starters will miss Friday's game. For the Aggies, a multitude of freshmen have been called for duty because of injuries.BYU will take the redshirt off freshman Graham Rowley, a defensive end, because of Fuga's injury. Freshman Kyle Van Noy will see significant action Friday because Frazier is hurt.

"There have been a lot of unique challenges this year," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I've been learning a lot and growing a lot as an individual. I've been impressed with our team's resiliency. We have a lot of challenges right now. It's difficult to lose players for the season who you are close to."

 

[IE]

USU, BYU football gameday



Partly cloudy, 72 degrees at kickoff


THE EDGE

USU will win if ... the Aggies can capitalize on their home-field advantage, force turnovers and shut down BYU's ground game.

BYU will win if ... the Cougar offense can score at least 30 points, which is double its season average.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Jake Heaps, BYU: BYU's true freshman quarterback is making his first start on the road. Has he grown up enough to lead the Cougars to victory in a hostile environment?

KEY MATCHUP

BYU's defense vs. Utah State's offense: The Cougar 'D' is without three starters and facing another running quarterback in USU senior playmaker Diondre Borel.

INJURY REPORT

USU: Offensive lineman Spencer Johnson, safety Rajric Coleman, cornerback Chris Randle, running back Michael Smith have been injured but could play tonight.

BYU: Safety Steven Thomas (concussion), linebacker Jameson Frazier (broken thumb) will not play. Defensive lineman Romney Fuga is out after suffering a knee injury.

NEXT UP

Utah State travels to Louisiana Tech while BYU hosts San Diego State next Saturday.

 

[IE]

Diondre Borel's mobility will challenge Cougars



In what's become a recurring theme this season, BYU faces yet another mobile quarterback tonight.

Utah State senior Diondre Borel is the latest in a string of running QBs the Cougars have gone up against this season, starting with Washington's Jake Locker, followed by Air Force's Tim Jefferson, Florida State's Christian Ponder and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick.

"Diondre is very, very mobile and his strength is running the football and creating, making players miss as they go back to sack him," said BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall. "He's on any given play a threat to take it the whole way. He's the next in a long line of active quarterbacks that we've played. I think they're using him effectively."The way USU uses Borel is different from the way previous opponents use their quarterbacks, Mendenhall explained.

"I'm not sure any rely quite as much on the creativity than Utah State," the Cougars' coach said. "They allow Borel to do a lot of scrambling and give him a pretty long leash that way."

Borel has thrown for 832 yards and four touchdowns this season for the Aggies. He's rushed 54 times for 85 yards, an average of just 1.5 yards per carry.

The key to stopping Borel is "going to be containment, for sure," said BYU linebacker Austen Jorgensen. "Our front seven have to be able to contain. So far, I think we've done a good job against these mobile guys. So we're pretty prepared for anyone."

Mendenhall agreed. "I think we've been as prepared as we possibly can be ... having seen some of the nation's best runners," he said.

 

[IE]

Monson: For BYU, season is on the line in Logan




By Tribune Columnist


Blowing straight past the turn-offs to Winner?s Alley and Victory Lane, Bronco Mendenhall this week has continued steering down a street that is a difficult one to cover for a proud football program accustomed to winning.

It?s a street known as: the Road to Improvement.

And it?s a metaphorical boulevard usually driven and dominated by losers.

No matter how hard he is pressed, Mendenhall has chosen, at least publicly, not to classify any game this season as a must-win. Not even against Utah State, a team, with all due respect to Gary Andersen and his Aggies, to which BYU does not lose.

Asked beforehand about the chances of beating Nevada last week, Bronco said, in so many words, that he did not see that game as any more critical than any other. He said, instead, the Cougars? challenge ahead included ?a season?s worth of work.?

And he said the same thing this week before Utah State:

?It?s certainly, in my mind, not a make-or-break game, nor are any games this season. It?s the next chance to improve. It?s the next chance to measure. It?s the next chance to develop. Certainly, a win is what we?re shooting for, that?s what we?ll prepare for. But I?ve said all along that this step is going to be a longer process than many would like it to be. But I think the direction is the right direction.?

Somewhere Vince Lombardi, whether he was misquoted or not on that winning-is-the-only-thing thing, is reaching for a stomach-distress bag. Herm Edwards is scratching his bean. You play to win the game, right?

Or do you play to head in the right direction, give everyone a ribbon for trying real hard, and pass out the Otter Pops?

Let?s say it the way it is here: If BYU loses Friday night to Utah State, and falls to 1-4, and then has to face a San Diego State team that just beat USU, 41-7, and, thereafter, TCU on the road? The Cougars are staring six straight losses in the teeth.

They have to beat the Aggies.

If they don?t, the only exit left is the highway to hell.

They should be that desperate. And, the funny part is, Utah State couldn?t care less about poor, poor, pitiful BYU. The Ags have their own troubles, but nothing that can?t be solved by a win right now over a team it hasn?t beaten for the better part of two decades. This game matters to them, big time, as it should. They say it, straight up.

How much does it matter from the other direction?

For the pure psyche of the team, this may be one of the most significant games in Mendenhall?s time at BYU. Not because the top end this season is so vast, but because the bottom is so deep.

Not even a post-TCU run that includes some of the worst teams in college football, including UNLV and New Mexico, will save the Cougars? self-respect, regardless of whether it?s just a set-up for subsequent seasons.



And Mendenhall, of course, knows this. After his team started 1-3 his first year as head coach at BYU, the Cougars came back to barely win their next game, and the coach said that single outcome altered the course of the season, even though they still ended up at just 6-6. It beats 3-9.

There are a couple of ways, then, to view and interpret what?s going on with Mendenhall now soft-shoeing every bump ahead. He has a young team with a bunch of sophomores and freshmen he?s trying to nurse along. Killing them every day might not be the best track. Putting more pressure on them might cause more imprecision, and, as everybody knows, that?s been a nasty county two-lane head-on, especially on offense, where third-down conversions are vapor and touchdowns from the red zone are piles of crunched sheet metal.

Still, one of the hallmarks of Mendenhall?s coaching, at least at a bygone juncture, was holding players accountable, holding them to certain expectations, week in, week out. They are, after all, scholarship athletes playing Division I football.

Remember when Mendenhall had his players sprawl themselves out on the field at LaVell Edwards Stadium, listening to piped-in highlights of championship seasons past? Honor? Spirit? Tradition? Winning? Zillions? Of? Games?

Circumstances change ? a bit. Winning might not be the only virtue here, nothing wrong with progress, but relegating games to mere experiments where increased good effort becomes the measure of success is, at this level, running away from a coach?s sanction.

BYU?s season, mediocre though it may be, is on the line here. The road to 6-6, after all, beats the back street to 3-9.

But somebody behind the wheel has to steer the car.