2008 BYU Cougars football team

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The 2008 BYU Cougars football team represents Brigham Young University (BYU) in the 2008 college football season.

In the past two years, BYU clinched consecutive Mountain West Conference (MWC) championship titles outright with an 11-2 overall record and 8-0 in the conference. BYU has grabbed four MWC championships since the league began in 1999 (Co-Champions with CSU and Utah in 1999, and sole Champions in 2001, 2006 and 2007), and 23 conference titles overall. The Cougars have won an MWC record 16 straight league games dating back to 2005 and are on a ten game overall winning streak, the longest winning streak in the country. The Cougars ended last season ranked 14th in the nation. That finish was the highest back-to-back rankings in the AP Poll since 1985 after the Cougars won the national championship in 1984.

The 2007 team had their eye on a BCS bowl, but their two losses put it out of reach that year. Given the talented squad returning to play, the team is in a better position to capture a BCS bowl game this season.

They finished their past two post-seasons in the Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada with a 38-8 win against the Oregon Ducks in 2006 and a 17-16 win against the UCLA Bruins in 2007.

The Cougars play their home games at LaVell Edwards Stadium, named after its legendary coach, LaVell Edwards.

Pre-season

Spring Practice started March 17th and ended April 12th at the annual Blue/White spring game.

Fall camp starts August 1st.

MWC Standings

See also 2008 Mountain West Conference football season

Team	Conference				Overall				Bowl
	Wins	Losses	PF	PA	Wins	Losses	PF	PA
Air Force	'	'			'	'
BYU	'	'			'	'
Colorado State	'	'			'	'
New Mexico	'	'			'	'
San Diego State	'	'			'	'
TCU	'	'			'	'
UNLV	'	'			'	'
Utah	'	'			'	'
Wyoming	'	'			'	'

Rankings

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking Movement

Poll	Pre	Wk 1	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Final
AP
Coaches
Harris	Not released
BCS	Not released

Preseason rankings

In the pre-season, the Cougars were ranked #19 and then later #14 by ESPN's Mark Schlabach , #12 by Rivals.com David Fox and Steve Megargee, #22 by College Football News, #17 by Stewart Mandel of CNN's SI.com (Sports Illustrated), #12 by Lindy's, #14 by CBS Sportsline, #13 by Tony Barnhart (a.k.a. "Mr. College Football") of the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, #14 by Athlon Sports, #17 by Phil Steele , and #16 by CBS College Sport's Adam Caparell. They started the season ranked th in the Coaches Poll, and ranked th in the AP Poll.

MountainWest Sports Network

Fans, coaches, players, and administrators of the Mountain West Conference are waiting for implementation of the conference's primary media goal: national satellite distribution of the MountainWest Sports Network (The mtn.). The mtn. was the first regional sports network dedicated solely to a college conference's sports followed shortly by the Big Ten Network (BTN). In 2004 CSTV (now called CBS College Sports Network) was originally designated as the channel for carrying MWC sports, but it was later announced that another channel, The mtn., would primarily cover the MWC. Over time The mtn. was rolled out on cable to various markets in the MWC. Currently Dallas-Fort Worth is the only remaining MWC market that has no provider for the mtn. On February 21, 2008, San Diego State University Athletic Director, Jeff Schemmel, stated in a media conference that a deal had been struck to broadcast the mtn on DirecTV beginning on August 1st. Spokesmen for the MWC, the mtn. and DirecTV confirmed this the following day.

Schedule

August 304 pmNorthern Iowa*

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

The mtn.   September 612 pmWashington*

• Husky Stadium
• Seattle, WA

FSN   September 131:30 pmUCLA*

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

Versus   September 201 pmWyoming

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

The mtn.   October 3TBDUtah State*

• Romney Stadium
• Logan, UT

TBD   October 114 pmNew Mexico

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

The mtn.   October 167 pmTCU

• Amon G. Carter Stadium
• Fort Worth, TX

Versus   October 2512 pmUNLV

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

The mtn.   November 14 pmColorado State

• Hughes Stadium
• Fort Collins, CO

The mtn.   November 812 pmSDSU

• LaVell Edwards Stadium
• Provo, UT

The mtn.   November 151:30 pmAir Force

• Falcon Stadium
• Colorado Springs, CO

CBS CS   November 224 pmUtah

• Rice-Eccles Stadium
• Salt Lake City, UT

The mtn.  

Game notes

Northern Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers					0
Cougars					0

This will be the first game between the University of Northern Iowa Panthers from the Division I FCS and BYU in what may be the Panthers most talented team ever fielded. The Panthers agreed to a last minute matchup after the Nevada Wolf Pack reneged on its agreement to play BYU in 2008. The Panthers appear to be a suitable substitute given that they ended with a considerably stronger Sagarin rating than Nevada and finished #4 in the FCS in 2007.

Washington

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Huskies					0

This will be the 7th game between the Washington Huskies and BYU. This game is an opportunity for BYU to end its poor record against an out-of-conference team on the road at the beginning of the season. The last time these two teams met, BYU beat Washington in Provo 35-28.

Washington Leads series 4-2

UCLA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bruin					0
Cougars					0

UCLA offensive coordinator, Norm Chow (former OC of BYU), and UCLA quarterback, Ben Olson (former BYU QB recruit) come back to Provo for the 10th meeting between the UCLA Bruins and BYU. BYU defeated UCLA in the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl with a blocked field goal after losing away to UCLA in a close game earlier that season.

UCLA Leads series 7-2

Wyoming

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys					0
Cougars					0

This will be the 73rd game between Wyoming and BYU.

BYU Leads series 39-30-3

Utah State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Aggies					0

This will be the 78th game between the Utah State Aggies and BYU.

BYU Leads series 41-33-3

New Mexico

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lobos					0
Cougars					0

This will be the 58th game between New Mexico and BYU.

BYU Leads series 42-14-1

TCU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Horned Frogs					0

This will be the 10th game between TCU and BYU.

BYU Leads series 7-2

UNLV

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels					0
Cougars					0

This will be the 15th game between UNLV and BYU.

BYU Leads series 11-3

Colorado State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Rams					0

This will be the 66th game between Colorado State and BYU.

BYU Leads series 35-27-3

San Diego State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aztecs					0
Cougars					0

This will be the 33rd game between San Diego State and BYU.

BYU Leads Series 24-7-1

Air Force

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Falcons					0

This will be the 29th game between Air Force and BYU.

BYU Leads series 22-6

Utah

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars					0
Utes					0

This rivalry game, unofficially dubbed "The Holy War," is typically the most anticipated conference game for each of these two teams. In November 2005, The Wall Street Journal ranked the BYU-Utah Football Rivalry as the fourth best college football rivalry game in the country. This will be the 84th game between Utah and BYU with the series going 49-30-4 for Utah since 1922. Utah dominated the series 34-2-4 through 1964. Since that time BYU has led the series 28-15. In 2007, BYU grabbed its first back-to-back wins over Utah since 2000-2001.

Utah leads Series 49-30-4

Bowl Game

Not eligible yet. The Cougars must win six of their next twelve games to be eligible. The Cougars have gone to the Las Vegas Bowl in the last three seasons.

Coaching and player changes

Jamie Hill was promoted to defensive coordinator on January 10th. Previous to this, Bronco Mendenhall was filling the position both as head coach and as defensive coordinator. Mendenhall is reserving play-calling responsibilities on game-day.

Vic So'oto moved from tight end to outside linebacker.

Coaching staff

File:BroncoMendenhall.jpg

Bronco Mendenhall, Head Coach

Name	Position	Year at BYU	Alma mater (Year)
Bronco Mendenhall	Head Coach	6th 2003-present	Oregon State (1987)
Lance Reynolds	Assistant Head Coach/ Running Backs	26th 1983-present	BYU (1980)
Robert Anae	Offensive Coordinator/ Inside Receivers	4th 2005-present	BYU (1986)
Jamie Hill	Defensive Coordinator/ Defensive Backs	3rd 2006-present	San Francisco State University (1986)
Brandon Doman	Quarterbacks	4th 2005-present	BYU (2002)
Patrick Higgins	Outside Receivers/ Special Teams	4th 2005-present	William Penn University (1986)
Barry Lamb	Outside Linebackers/ Safeties	16th 1994-present	Oregon (1978)
Paul Tidwell	Inside Linebackers	8th 2001-present	Southern Utah University (1979)
Mark Weber	Offensive Line	2nd 2007	Cal Lutheran (1980)
Steve Kaufusi	Defensive Line	7th 2002-present	BYU (1994)
Jay Omer	Strength and Conditioning	8th 2001-present	Southern Utah University (1972)

Players

Among the 9 returning starters on offense and the 5 returning starters on defense are: Max Hall (quarterback), Harvey Unga (tail back), Austin Collie and Michael Reed (wide receivers), Dennis Pitta (tight end), Travis Bright and Ray Feinga (offensive guards), Dallas Reynolds and David Oswald (offensive tackles), Jan Jorgensen and Ian Dulan (defensive ends), Russell Tialavea (nose tackle), David Nixon (linebacker), and Kellen Fowler (free safety). Bryce Mahuika returns as a slot back and return specialist. Experienced lettermen starting this year include: Fui Vakapuna (fullback), Tom Sorenson (center), Matt Reynolds (right tackle) Matt Bauman, Shawn Doman, and Vic So'oto (linebackers), Brandon Howard (field corner), and David Tafuna (strong safety). Matt Reynolds will cover Travis Bright's position until Bright is full recovered from his injury by mid-season.

Statistical Leaders

[1]

Passing
Player	COMP	ATT	Pct.	YDS	TD	INT	QB Rating
Max Hall

Rushing
Player	ATT	YDS	YPC	TD
Harvey Unga
Fui Vakapuna

Receiving
Player	REC	YDS	YPC	TD
Austin Collie
Dennis Pitta
Michael Reed
Harvey Unga

Tackles & Interceptions
Player	Solo	Asst	Total	TFL	Sacks	Int
Jan Jorgensen
David Nixon

Injuries and Suspensions

Russell Tialavea (nose tackle) and David Tafuna (strong safety) are recovered from their injuries suffered in the preseason in 2007. Travis Bright (right guard) is still recovering from his broken leg from the 2007 Las Vegas Bowl, Matt Reynolds will start at right guard until Bright is ready some time by mid-season.

Terrance Hooks, a backup for inside linebacker, tore his patella tendon during spring practice and underwent surgery the following day. His recovery is anticipated to take 6 to 8 months. He will be seeking his second medical redshirt.

In late spring, senior Manase Tonga, the starting fullback, was ruled to be academically ineligible to compete during the 2008 season, and he was suspended from BYU. Tonga may re-apply for admission in October for Winter Semester, 2009, and he will redshirt the 2008 season.

Players' backgrounds

Because BYU is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), many of the team members are Latter-day Saints (LDS) commonly referred to as Mormons. Because of this religious and cultural affiliation, many of the team members: have served a 2 year proselyting mission (often in a foreign country); are fluent in a foreign language because of their mission; are married and sometimes have children; and tend to be a couple of years older than their collegiate football peers. Thus the canard of the team having "old, slow white guys". The effect of a mission is believed to be both an advantage or a disadvantage. It is an advantage in that the players are considered to be either more physically developed, or more intellectually or emotionally mature for the game of football. It is a disadvantage in that a hiatus of serving a two-year mission after being recruited for football, the player returns from the mission (grossly) under-conditioned and out of practice. An out of condition player often redshirts his first year back from his mission.

Because of the long-standing ties of the LDS Church in Polynesia, many football players are also Polynesian. Bryce Mahuika, for example, is Māori, and he introduced the tradition of the team performing the Haka in 2005.

Roster

[2]
Edit
Wide Receivers 2 Bryce Mahuika††- Senior 3 Michael Reed†† - Senior 9 Austin Collie††- Junior 13 Nate Hutchinson - Junior 20 Reed White - Senior 22 Tyler Kozlowski - Sophomore 29 Luke Ashworth - Sophomore 82 Ryan Neeley - Junior 83 Saia Hafoka - Senior 84 Spencer Hafoka - Freshman 85 Landon Jaussi - Sophomore 89 Cortny Barton - Junior Fullbacks 1 Fui Vakapuna†† - Senior 30 Isaac Taylor - Senior Offensive Linemen 53 Tom Sorensen†† - Junior 61 Mark Freeman - Sophomore 64 R.J. Willing - Junior 65 Dallas Reynolds†† - Senior 66 Garrett Reden - Sophomore 68 David Oswald†† - Senior 70 Matt Reynolds† - Freshman 72 Nick Alletto - Sophomore 73 Jason Speredon - Sophomore 74 Travis Bright - Senior 76 Ray Feinga†† - Senior 78 Levi Mack - Junior 79 Manaaki Vaitai - Freshman Punters/Kickers 26 C.J. Santiago†† - Senior 38 Mitch Payne†† - Sophomore Justin Sorenson† - Freshman		Tight Ends 32 Dennis Pitta†† - Junior 80 Kaneakua Friel - Freshman 88 Andrew George - Junior Quarterbacks 4 Kurt McEuen - Sophomore 6 Brenden Gaskins - Junior 10 Stephen Covey - Freshman 15 Max Hall†† - Junior Running Backs 10 J.J. DiLuigi - Freshman 28 Bryan Kariya - Freshman 33 Wayne Latu - Junior 45 Harvey Unga†† - Sophomore Defensive line 52 Russell Tialavea†† - Junior 56 Chris Muehlmann - Sophomore 59 John Pace - Sophomore 71 Rick Wolfley - Sophomore 77 Ian Dulan†† - Junior 84 Jan Jorgensen†† - Junior 90 Mosese Foketi - Senior 91 David Angilau** - Freshman 92 Brett Denney - Junior 97 Tevita Hola† - Junior (†)† (Returning) starter at position * Injured ** Suspended		Linebackers 34 Matt Ah You - Junior 35 Matt Bauman† - Junior 37 Vic So'oto† - Junior 39 Grant Nelson - Sophomore 41 Coleby Clawson - Junior 42 Shawn Doman† - Junior 43 David Nixon†† - Senior 44 Dan Van Sweden - Junior 46 Masi Tuitama - Freshman 47 Terrance Hooks* - Junior 49 Jadon Wagner - Freshman Cornerbacks 4 Brandon Howard† - Junior 5 Brandon Bradley - Sophomore 12 Brannon Brooks - Freshman 17 G Pittman - Freshman 21 Scott Johnson† - Junior Safeties 16 Kellen Fowler†† - Senior 18 Aaron Attig - Junior 22 Steven Thomas - Freshman 23 David Tafuna†† - Senior 25 Gary Nagy - Freshman 27 Jordan Pendelton - Freshman 36 Andrew Rich† - Sophomore Defensive backs

Depth chart

Edit

Defensive Starters [3] FS Kellen Fowler Gary Nagy WLB BLB MLB SLB Vic So'oto Shawn Doman Matt Bauman David Nixon Grant Nelson Matt Ah You Dan Van Sweden Coleby Clawson KAT/SS David Tafuna Andrew Rich or Jordan Pendelton BCB Scott Johnson Brandon Bradley LE NT RE Ian Dulan Russell Tialavea Jan Jorgenson Brett Denney Tevita Hola or Mosese Foketi or Rick Wolfley Bernard Afutiti FCB Brandon Howard G. Pittman

Offensive Starters SE/XR Michael Reed Spencer Hafoka LT LG C RG RT Dallas Reynolds Ray Feinga Tom Sorensen Matt Reynolds David Oswald Nick Alleto Jason Speredon R.J. Willing Travis Bright Garrett Reden TE/YR Dennis Pitta or Andrew George SB/HR Bryce Mahuika QB Max Hall Brenden Gaskins FL/ZR Austin Collie Luke Ashworth FB Fui Vakapuna Isaac Taylor RB Harvey Unga J.J. DiLuigi or Wayne Latu Special Teams Kicker Justin Sorenson or Mitch Payne Punter C.J. Santiago Brian Smith DS Chris Muehlmann or John Pace Holder Bryce Mahuika KR G Pittman & Austin Collie PR Bryce Mahuika or Austin Collie Kickoff cover unit , , Kellen Fowler, , , Dennis Pitta & Vic So'oto

Awards and citations

Outland Trophy

Senior offensive linemen, Ray Feinga and Dallas Reynolds, were named to the 2008 Outland Trophy watchlist. BYU boasts two previous Outland Trophy winners, defensive lineman Jason Buck (1986) and offensive lineman Mohammed Elewonibi (1989).

Rotary Lombardi Award

Junior defensive end Jan Jorgensen, junior tight end Dennis Pitta and senior offensive linemen Ray Feinga and Dallas Reynolds were all named to the preseason watchlist for the Rotary Lombardi Award. No other team has as many candidates on this watchlist except for the University of Hawaii.

Lott Trophy

Jan Jorgensen was selected as a preseason candidate for the Lott Trophy's Defensive Impact Player of the of Year. He is one of 42 preseason candidates being considered for the award. Last year the Cougar defense did not allow any 100-yard rushers until the Las Vegas Bowl game against UCLA.

Bronko Nagurski Trophy

Jan Jorgensen was named to the preseason watchlist for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy which is awarded to the best defensive player in college football.

All-Mountain West Conference Football Teams

First Team Offense:
First Team Defense:
Second Team Offense:
Second Team Defense:
Honorable Mention:

External links

• BYU Cougars football
• Cougar Stats
• Cougar Board
• Cougar Legion formerly My 3 Cents
• Cougar Blue
• Blue Fan Group (Garn videos)
• Cougar Outpost
• Cougar Fan
• Cougar Champion