PROVO — Two days after absorbing a season-opening 20-3 defeat at the hands of Boston College, the BYU Cougars reconvened for practice Monday determined to learn from, and overcome, the mistakes that helped lead to the loss.
After dissecting film of the game, coach Bronco Mendenhall noticed both positives and negatives from his team's performance on Saturday.
"I was pleased with our offense basically between the 20s and moving the ball with tempo, precision and execution," he said. "However, when we got to the blue zone (inside the 20s), that's where the execution or penalties emerged, as well as our short-yardage situations. Those two things specifically (are) points of emphasis for the upcoming week offensively."
Defensively, he said, the pair of Boston College touchdown passes was attributed to coverage breakdowns. So was the 35-yard pass from quarterback Quinton Porter to wide receiver Jason Lilly right after the Eagles blocked Jared McLaughlin's 48-yard field goal attempt. That long pass play set up a 39-yard field goal that gave Boston College a 10-0 halftime advantage.
Mendenhall added that his team's punt coverage needs work, and he was disappointed that the Cougars allowed the blocked field goal attempt.
"Our execution wasn't up to Boston College's execution," he said. "That was the difference in the game. I'm responsible to get that at a higher level."
The coach is confident that he and his staff can correct the errors.
"I talked directly and bluntly to the team and assessed their desire to elevate our play. I think today's practice was a strong indication that they are willing," he said. "From the first day, ball security has been stressed after practice every day, and there were no turnovers. Dropped balls have been addressed, and I believe there was one of those. When we ask them correctly, they respond. When I frame things correctly for this team, they do it the way they're asked to."
As for the overall mood of his players on Monday, Mendenhall said, "They were disappointed. They expected to win. They were prepared to win," said Mendenhall. "Mentally, we didn't execute to earn the victory. They're disappointed in knowing that they had the opportunity to do that and didn't and fell short."
Mendenhall said he was "very happy" with the play calling by offensive coordinator Robert Anae and said he would like to see wide receiver Todd Watkins get his hands on the ball more often, when possible. Watkins caught two passes for 19 yards against Boston College.
"Certainly, when you have a player who has the ability to stretch the field like Todd, it would be great to get him the ball more," he said. "(Boston College's) coverage was certainly addressed and they were very well aware of him. That's why the underneath game worked so well for so long."
The Cougars escaped the Boston College game reasonably healthy. Quarterback John Beck suffered an injured nose, cornerback Nate Soelberg sustained a minor hand injury and tight end Jonny Harline had an AC separation (shoulder). But all three are expected to play Saturday against Eastern Illinois.
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com