Pressure mounts for Utah to represent league in BCS

Brigham Young’s loss last week at Texas Christian shifts the pressure to Utah as the Mountain West Conference’s only undefeated team and its best hope for a Bowl Championship Series bid.

Fortunately for the Utes (8-0), 11th in the BCS standings, they have been here before. They were the original BCS busters, going 12-0 in 2004 and trouncing Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.

Coach Kyle Whittingham was the defensive coordinator that year, and two of his assistants were on the staff. About a half-dozen current players were on the roster, including quarterback Brian Johnson, who played sparingly in 10 games.

"I think it was a good experience for him," Whittingham said. "He had a firsthand look at watching how Alex Smith handled it. That’s probably the biggest advantage. He has a lot of the same characteristics Alex has as far as leadership and keeping people grounded and being a stabilizing influence on the team."

Utah had a tougher path to the BCS in 2004. The rules have been relaxed for schools from conferences whose champions don’t automatically qualify. The highest-rated team from such a conference gets a BCS bowl bid if it is in the top 12, or in the top 16 if an automatic qualifying conference’s champion is not ranked above that school.

In addition to Utah, fellow Mountain West teams TCU (14th in BCS) and BYU (21st) have shots at one of those big games. But the Utes also have to be wary of Boise State (12th).

But the bull’s-eye clearly is on the Utes, who play TCU and BYU next month.

"What we’ve done so far we hoped to do," Whittingham said. "But we certainly understand we’ve got some physical football games down the road."

• AND IN PROVO … — The Cougars haven’t seemed right since jumping to a 24-0 first-quarter lead over Utah State on Oct. 3.

They were outscored 14-10 the rest of that game, looked sluggish in a 21-3 victory over New Mexico, then suffered through Thursday’s 32-7 loss at TCU.

Did something happen at Utah State? BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall acknowledged the drop-off, though he attributed the struggles against New Mexico more to what the Lobos accomplished.

"I think we have been a little flat, haven’t been quite as inspired, nor have we been as sharp in terms of position mastery, the kind of things that are a signature part of our program," Mendenhall said.

"I think the things that helped us win the number of football games we had to be successful, those things have not been as sharp, and I’m talking about entire team, and that’s what we’re working on."

• ATTACK FROGS — TCU coach Gary Patterson has a history of taking offensive skill players and turning them into defenders. It has worked well over the years as the Horned Frogs have consistently fielded suffocating defenses.

It also worked against BYU, with defensive end Jerry Hughes, a converted running back, posting four sacks and two forced fumbles. Hughes was named national defensive player of the week by the Football Writers Association of America and by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Because of that speed off the edge, TCU didn’t have to blitz to pressure BYU quarterback Max Hall and were able to drop defenders into coverage.

"Your best coverage is always a pass rush," Patterson said.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.