LAS VEGAS — Having won five of its last six encounters with Pac-10 Conference opponents, BYU is looking forward to one more game against a team, Arizona, from that Bowl Championship Series league in Saturday's Las Vegas Bowl.
"It's another statement game. We feel like with the Mountain West this year, we're one of the better conferences in the West," Cougar linebacker David Nixon said. "This is one more opportunity for us to show that it is that way. We're in third place in the Mountain West and Arizona is in fifth place in their league. You've got some programs in the middle that are going to duke it out. It's going to say a lot about the Mountain West and about our program, where it's headed."
The MWC has posted a 6-1 record against the Pac-10 this season, including the Cougars' pair of victories over Washington (28-27) and UCLA (59-0) as well as New Mexico's 36-28 win at home over Arizona.
Yet the Wildcats are favored in this contest, relegating BYU to the role of underdogs.
"We've had some success in the Pac-10 this year. Everybody in our conference has," said BYU quarterback Max Hall. "But that's behind us."
Hall noted that the Wildcats fell to the Lobos early in the season, "but the second half of the season, they're a totally different team.
They're playing a lot better football. It's another great Pac-10 matchup for BYU."
Two years ago, the MWC-champion Cougars entered their Las Vegas Bowl showdown against a struggling Oregon team. Days before the game, Duck coach Mike Bellotti was asked to compare BYU to teams in the Pac-10 and said they couldn't compete with the elite and that it would be a midlevel team in that league. Even after his team's 38-8 shellacking at the hands of the Cougars, Bellotti wasn't convinced.
"We didn't play like a midlevel Pac-10 team, but no, my opinion of them hasn't changed," Bellotti said. But he did credit BYU. "I think we got out-coached, outplayed and out-hustled. They played with great discipline and they are a very, very good team."
Last year, UCLA interim coach DeWayne Walker was told about Bellotti's quote that BYU would have a difficult time competing with the middle of the Pac-10. "I don't know what team he played against, but having played BYU earlier this year, knowing their coaching staff and players, I think they definitely could compete in the upper tier of the Pac-10," Walker said.
Arizona coach Mike Stoops, whose team has already lost to a MWC team that finished with a losing record and has split two meetings with BYU since 2007, said his program respects BYU.
"BYU is going to do what they do. They're a very physical team," Stoops said. "When you look at them, their physical presence as an offensive line, and as an offense, is the first thing that you really notice. And, obviously, their precision throwing the football. They're very difficult to defend. They can run the football as well. It's a tall task. Our team has played well and it should be an interesting matchup. We're going to have to play very well defensively and our offense is going to have to score some points as well."
Stoops suggested this week that BYU's physical brand of football is different than the Pac-10, which relies on speed. "They want to make it a physical game with two physical backs," Stoops said. "Their receivers are physical, their tight end is physical. They like to make it hard on you. They are a little different than what we see in this league."
Certainly, BYU's respect for Arizona is mutual. Mendenhall has been saying since the Las Vegas Bowl pairing was announced that the Wildcats are the best bowl opponent the Cougars have faced in the last four Las Vegas Bowls. He added that Arizona has improved dramatically since the two teams last played in the 2007 season-opener.
"They're a much better football team. I think the results have shown that," Mendenhall said. "They've been in every game they've played. They've beaten some quality Pac-10 opponents. They have a winning record and this is the first time they've been to a bowl in 10 years.
All of those things say they're much better."
Las Vegas Bowl
BYU (10-2) vs. Arizona (7-5)
Saturday, 6 p.m. (MT)
Sam Boyd Stadium
Las Vegas
TV: ESPN
Radio: KSL 1160-AM,
102.7 FM
E-mail: jeffc@desnews.com