BYU tabbed to win '08 conference title; Hall leads seven Cougars named to All-MWC team

HENDERSON, Nev. -- For the first time since Bronco Mendenhall became head coach of the BYU football team, the Cougars are picked to win the Mountain West Conference.

It's also the first time BYU and Utah have been picked to finish 1-2 by the league's media.

Kind of hard to wait for Nov. 22, huh?

The MWC released the media's predicted order of finish on Monday at the league meetings in the Green Valley Ranch Resort, as well as the preseason All-MWC selections. BYU was picked to finish first with 29 of the 34 first-place votes. Utah got the other five. The Cougars had 299 points in the poll, ahead of Utah (274) and TCU (239).

"There were high expectations at BYU before I got here, there will be after I leave and that's the current expectation," Mendenhall said. "This isn't new to me or our program. It's just part of being at BYU."

BYU junior quarterback Max Hall, picked as the preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year, joined five other Cougars on the first-team offense: senior guard Ray Feinga, senior tackle Dallas Reynolds, junior tight end Dennis Pitta, junior wide receiver Austin Collie and sophomore running back Harvey Unga.

"We wouldn't have been disappointed if we weren't picked to win the conference, but we would have been surprised," Hall said. "We're coming off two conference championships and two undefeated conference seasons, so we deserve it. Now, our goal is to stay on top until the end."

BYU's Jan Jorgensen was the only BYU selection on the first-team defensive unit. Jorgensen, who finished the 2007 season at just over 250 pounds, has bulked up to 268 pounds and was noticeably bigger. He said it hasn't affected his speed or quickness.

"I tested out faster than I ever have," he said.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham acknowledged the rest of the league is still chasing BYU.

"It's nice to be recognized in the preseason polls with five first-place votes," Whittingham said, "but I think BYU is the clear-cut favorite. No one's beaten them in conference for two years. I think the five first-place votes shows the level of respect of our returning guys. It's a positive thing, but we don't put a whole lot of stock in those things."

Hall said he hopes no one on his team is looking past any MWC opponents.

"There are good players in our conference and we had close games against UNLV, New Mexico, Utah and TCU last year," he said. "We have tough teams in our conference. We need to concentrate on our non-conference schedule and then focus on our MWC games."

With such high expectations, Mendenhall said he'll be challenged to keep his players ready for each game.

"The very best way to stay grounded is to focus on the details of each day and work as hard as you can to master those things," he said. "We do that without considering opponents or others' point of view. We work on just trusting each other and following that. Youth and success have led to failure many times after having that success."

The Cougars have been mentioned in publications around the country as a team that has an opportunity to earn a BCS bowl berth. Can BYU do that without going undefeated?

"History says no," Mendenhall said. "Utah, Boise State, Hawaii, they say no. Until someone does it, I have to stay with that and plan accordingly.

"But rather than focus on that, we'll focus on how good we are each day. If we don't play well at home and don't win the conference, none of that matters."

Expectations are something Mendenhall has learned to deal with as head coach at BYU, from the first day he took the job.

"When I became head coach, some members of the BYU administration came in to suggest themes for our program," he said. "I learned a valuable lesson there, that if you're not clear about what you want, others will tell you what they want. I think they saw a young and naive head coach and thought they had a chance to shape the direction of the program.

"The third day when they came back, I had our program's principles for them - spirit, tradition and honor. Once I shared those with them, they said, 'Those will make you a target.' My point was, 'When has someone stood for something boldly and not been a target?' "

The bull's-eye rests squarely on BYU in the MWC this season.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Read his blog at http://blogs.heraldextra.com/Darnell.

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