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Cougs Unsure About Short Layoff
The Salt Lake Tribune
Dec. 10, 2001
By Michael C. Lewis HONOLULU - Having just completed the longest college football regular season in Division I-A history with one of their most disastrous performances ever, the Brigham Young Cougars are not sure what to think about facing their shortest layoff ever between the regular season and a bowl game. Is it good? Bad? Or, like their 72-45 loss at Hawaii on Saturday, ugly? "We'll find out," defensive coordinator Ken Schmidt said. "I don't know." So much is up in the air now for a 12-1 team that just last week was enjoying one of its best seasons and the possibility of making life difficult for Bowl Championship Series officials. With only three weeks before playing Louisville in the Liberty Bowl -- teams usually have closer to six weeks off before bowl games -- the Cougars might normally appreciate the chance to bounce back, if not for the injuries to three of their best players. That makes it hard to gauge whether the quick turnaround will help by allowing them to maintain their focus and routine, or hurt by preventing quarterback Brandon Doman, running back Luke Staley and wide receiver Reno Mahe from healing adequately. The emotional toll taken by such an overwhelming loss is hard to measure, too. "Obviously, now we're anxious to play another game," Doman said. "We don't want to finish like this. It would kill me to go out like this." Doman left the game against the Warriors with what doctors fear are fractured ribs, but even if that is confirmed in X-rays, trainer George Curtis said Doman probably will be simply limited in practice and able to play in the Liberty Bowl. Mahe is believed to have torn the meniscus in his right knee and could barely hobble out of the locker room and to the team bus. That injury could require arthroscopic surgery, but Curtis said he won't be able to tell until he examines Mahe again. Staley already was out with a broken leg that will need at least another two weeks to mend. Mahe said not having Staley was perhaps the most crucial element in the landslide loss. "Luke would have given us 28 points," he said. Still, the Cougars committed nine fumbles (losing six), allowed four sacks, threw an interception and committed a dozen penalties. Combined with horrible special teams and a defense that broke spectacularly after a season's worth of dramatic bending, the Cougs hardly seemed to have a chance. The 72 points was the most ever allowed by BYU. "They came out and flat whipped our butt," center Jason Scukanec said. And the nation noticed. The Cougars fell 10 spots to 19th in the AP Top 25 released Sunday, and nine spots to 17th in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Now, they must shake off the disappointment and find some motivation to play Louisville in a bowl game. The Cougars played in the Liberty Bowl three years ago, and did not particularly enjoy themselves even before losing 41-27 to Tulane. The weather can be awfully cold in Memphis, Tenn. Yet coach Gary Crowton is trying to remain positive. "We won our conference, we're going to the Liberty Bowl. We know that," Crowton said. "We just have to learn from this football game and move forward."
The Cougars will take a few days off before resuming practice Thursday, Friday and Saturday. They will work out twice more the next week before breaking for Christmas and returning Dec. 26 to prepare for the 9-2 Cardinals, who clinched the Conference USA championship before losing to Texas Christian.
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