BYU report: Unga still a game-time decision
BYU just wrapped up its Wednesday practice, which concluded with a session in the weight room. Coach Bronco Mendenhall said that practice overall this week has been good, though he noted that his team wasn’t as sharp as he would like, calling it a little “sloppy.”
Linebacker Matt Bauman (mild concussion) is expected to practice Thursday, which would mean he’ll play Saturday against Tulane. Running back Harvey Unga (hamstring) is “probable” for Saturday, with Mendenhall saying it could be a “game-time decision.”
Mendenhall said he liked the way freshman Braden Hansen played against Oklahoma. He started that game at left guard and played the majority of snaps, being spelled by Marco “Moose” Thorson. Hansen will be the starter again on Saturday.
Center R.J. Willing said after practice that he and the offensive line proved something last week against one of the nation’s top defensive lines. Willing said
the O-line’s confidence is growing. The team is working just as hard for Tulane as it did for Oklahoma, he added.
Mendenhall was asked about New Orleans, the site of Saturday’s game. He used to recruit that area when he was at Louisiana Tech, saying there’s “a lot of culture” in New Orleans and it took “a while to feel comfortable there.” Asked his thoughts about New Orleans, Mendenhall paused for a moment before saying, “It’s not Alpine, Utah.”
I had a chance to talk to quarterback Riley Nelson after practice, the first time we reporters have had that opportunity because he was off-limits to the media until after the OU game. He had a lot of interesting things to say and I’m planning on doing a story on him for the paper in the coming days.
Happens every time BYU makes a splash nationally. Coaches, and reporters, like to bring up stuff about the Cougars so-called “unfair advantage” because they have returned missionaries on the roster who are older and more mature than most. Tulane coach Bob Toledo has been beating that drum this week. Though he’s not calling it an advantage, he’s been talking a lot about the ages of the players this week. Here are some of his comments from his weekly press conference (as found on the Tulane web site):
“As far as BYU, we all know they beat Oklahoma 14-13 and they are now ninth in the nation. I’ve played BYU several times. They’re an older, much more mature football team than anybody in the country. They’ve got guys going on 2-year missions and they come back. I would venture to say that I heard that there’s like forty-something guys that are married on that football team and I know they have kids too. So, they’re mature guys who are responsible people too. But they’re an experienced football team because of the Mormon faith they have to do the 2-year mission as I mentioned, they come back. I know one guy went away as a quarterback and when he came back he was a nose tackle. They grow and mature.
They have a great quarterback Max Hall. He’s a great quarterback. I remember him when he was at Arizona State. He’s really good. Dennis Pitta. He’s a California guy. As a matter of fact, my house in California – I could hit a wedge and hit his house. He’s a teammate of Casey Blum – one of our players. He’s one of the best tight ends in the Country…I think he had about 7 catches last week.”