A good, long look at … BYU

By Ryan Greene

Friday, Oct. 24, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Each Friday during the 2008 season, the Sun will take an in-depth look at the Rebels' upcoming weekend foe, giving you a crash course on what you need to know, plus what you might not have known already.

A good, long look at BYU (Saturday, 11 a.m., PST)

The rep ... When it comes to football, BYU is nationally the most recognizable name the Mountain West Conference has. There's not much debating that. And despite a 32-7 loss a week ago to TCU, the Cougars still have a good shot at winning the league crown yet again. They're consistent, as Bronco Mendenhall, now in his fourth year at the helm, carries a 34-11 mark.

As far as this year's team, the offense has made a name for itself by utilizing the big play behind quarterback Max Hall. The junior has already thrown for 2,119 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. He's 12th in the nation in total offense, while Austin Collie has established him as the league's most productive receiving threat. His 112.7 receiving yards per game ranks fourth nationally.

Though with the offense getting so much attention, a relatively stout defense has flown under the radar a bit. The Cougar defense is allowing 318.7 yards per game, which ranks in the top third of the FBS ranks and is fifth in the MWC.

Last week ... Talk about what a difference a few turnovers can make. Well, actually more than a few. BYU gave away possession four times against TCU, which carries the country's top defensive unit. To put things in perspective, the Cougars had only turned the ball over nine times in their first six games before heading down to Fort Worth.

Other than that, not much changed. BYU's possessions on offense were quick and to the point. The Cougars have only won the time of possession battle twice in seven games.

What TCU did so well was balance things on offense -- one thing UNLV is capable of doing. The Horned Frogs typically run the ball well, but mixed that with 170 yards through the air and 29 first downs to the Cougars' 19.

You look at the team stats rundown, and things are pretty even except for the difference in rushing yards (240 for TCU, 23 for BYU) and the four turnovers on BYU's side compared to TCU's one.

Unfortunately for UNLV, creating turnovers and stopping the run have not been among the defense's specialties in recent weeks.

Why BYU can beat UNLV ... If you go by the numbers there's a reason why BYU is favored by 23 points in most Vegas sports books going into this weekend's contest. The Cougars hold a 12-3 series advantage between the two schools.

Just as it was known a week ago for the Rebels that if Air Force showed up and executed its run game the Falcons would get yards, the same goes for BYU and its passing game. Some big plays are certainly to be expected.

The x-factors will be whether the Cougars can protect the football better than they did against the Horned Frogs and how well the run game gets going and keeps things mixed on the offensive side of the ball.

UNLV ranks 115th in the nation in takeaways and eighth in the conference against the run. If BYU can extend UNLV's recent struggles in those areas, a bounceback win is more than likely.

Why UNLV can beat BYU ... No one's really expecting UNLV to actually go into LaVell Edwards Stadium and win. Then again, that was the case on Sept. 13 when the Rebels went into Sun Devil Stadium and squeaked out a 23-20 overtime victory over Arizona State.

That said, anything's possible. But, of course, it won't just happen by chance.

At this point in the season, it's pretty much become a given that Omar Clayton and the Rebels offense are going to score three or four touchdowns and keep things competitive by not turning the ball over. In fact, UNLV and Florida are tied for first in the nation in turnovers lost with just five apiece on the season.

The key will be whether the front seven can get to Max Hall, create some havoc, stem the run game and force some errors on BYU's part.

Crowd noise at this point doesn't really factor into the equation. It affected UNLV in its first road game at Utah, but Sanford's club corrected things quickly before heading to ASU.

The infirmary report ... More important for BYU than any bumps and bruises the Cougars bring into their return home this weekend are just how healthy the psyches of the players, coaches and community are more than a week after the season's first loss.

The 'Quest for Perfection' T-shirts fans in Provo have been donning probably won't be very visible Saturday. The Cougar faithful pride themselves on presenting an imposing home atmosphere. But is the excitement still there at full force on the heels of embarrassment?

A name that could creep up for the Cougars ... The names Collie, Pitta and Unga have been beaten to death this season when talking about the Cougars' high-powered offense. But another name worth keeping an ear open for is that of Michael Reed. He had just two catches for seven yards against TCU, and is still getting back to 100 percent after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in late September. He is still a big-play threat as always. In five games this season, the senior has 21 catches for 246 yards and a pair of scores.

Be sure to log onto www.lasvegassun.com both leading up to, during and after Saturday's game in Provo. You'll find ongoing numbers and analysis in our game day blog, plus postgame analysis, reactions from the Rebels, photos, video highlights and much more.