Who would have thought that a pair of rival football coaches like BYU's LaVell Edwards and Utah's Ron McBride would become brothers-in-arms and resort to kiss-and-tell tactics.
But there the pair were Tuesday, side by side, each with an arm draped over the other's shoulder, during the weekly Big 5 Football Huddle at the Doubletree Inn. Edwards was set to discuss with the media his Cougars' 14-3 upset loss at Texas-El Paso last week, and McBride tagged along to the podium in impromptu style, his Utes having suffered a similar fate with a 21-13 defeat at Tulsa.They were ready to shoulder the pains, the blames, the burdens of unexpected losses to lower-level WAC opponents.
"There's only one guy in this room that I can commiserate with," said Edwards, who then startled not only the media in attendance but McBride as well by planting a kiss on the latter's forehead.
"Other than that," deadpanned Edwards, "tell me how much fun you're having, Ron."
If laughter is the best medicine, the Cougar coach found a temporary remedy. Television cameras and lights quickly came on to record a few more quips before Edwards got serious about his team, now 5-3 overall and a step behind Rice in the race for the WAC Mountain Division title.
Edwards might want to save some of his smooches for his quarterbacks - the Cougars have started three different QBs so far, and all three are banged up and could use a kiss to make them better.
Freshman Drew Miller, who started last week at UTEP, is battered and bruised after being the target of first ferocious blitzing and then an effective four-man Miner pass rush. Junior Paul Shoemaker is still hobbled with knee and ankle injuries. And sophomore Kevin Feterik is on the mend from an ankle fracture . . . but may be able to play this weekend.
Wait a minute. Isn't that a week or two earlier than the initial diagnosis? "His healing has been remarkable - he's been way ahead of schedule all along," said Edwards. "It's not out of the realm of possibility that Kevin may be playing this weekend."
A porous offensive line, an ineffective rushing attack and the double-teaming of the wide receivers allowed the Miners to abuse Miller last week.
"Our inability to run the football, as it turned out, was the tale of the whole evening," Edwards said.
The keys will be getting more production out of the tight end in passing situations and more production out of the fullback position. Having Dustin Johnson - who was injured late in last week's game but should play Saturday against Tulsa - bounce back and forth between the two thin and injury-depleted positions hasn't helped the Cougars' consistency.
Rice, BYU, New Mexico and Southern Methodist each have two losses in WAC play, with Rice holding most of the tie-breaking advantages in head-to-head competition and division records (one of the Owls' losses came against Air Force of the Pacific Division).
For BYU to return to the WAC championship game next month, the Cougars must hope for Rice to take another stumble - just as they did last week in a loss at SMU.