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Show DAILY Tuesday. July 22, 2008 2008 Preseason All-MW- HERALD C3 FootbaU Team C On Offense It 1 AUSTIN COLLIE RYAN WOLFE HARVEY UNGA RODNEY FERGUSON BYU BYU NEW MEXICO BYU BYU BYU TCU AIR FORCE UTAH Wide Receiver UNLV Wide Receiver BYU Quarterback Running back Running back Tight end Offensive line Offensive line Offensive line Offensive line Offensive line MAX HALL DENNIS RAY FEZNGA PITTA DALLAS REYNOLDS NICK CHARLES wttAKT! SCHLUETER ROBERT CONLEY On Defense JAN JORGENSEN PAUL JOHN RYAN KRUGER FLETCHER KEMP WYOMING BYU UTAH Defensive line Defensive line WARD DO BBS RUSSELL ALLEN AIR FORCE WYOMING DLLB Linebacker SAN DIEGO ST. Linebacker Defensive line On Special Teams ,r ym. r Mi yo rJ ivy JASON K BRICE MCCAIN TCU Linebacker UTAH NEW MEXICO TCU UTAH Defensive back Defensive back Defensive back Defensive back DEVTN SAKODA MOORE OFFENSIVE UTAH WYOMING Kicker and Returner PLAYER OF THE YEAR Mexico's) games will be seen nationally," Long said, "and that's one of the biggest pluses for this league. Once the TV Continued from CI weren't, those things would be a lot harder." I The more things change ...:There's one football coach who is ultimately qualified to talk about the 10 years the Mountain West Conference has been in existence, and that's New Mexico's Rocky Long. Long is the only coach remaining from the group that kicked things off back in 1999. "When I started in this league and came to the first meetings, there was John Robinson at UNLV, LaVell Edwards at BYU, Sonny Lubick at Colorado State, Fisher DeBerry at Air Force, Ted Tollner at San Diego State, Ron McBride at Utah there were some great coaches. Of course, LaVell decided what we would do all the time" Long said he felt like the current MWC is making progress, especially with the television contract. "Every one of our (New contract gets better, everyone will see we can play." Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said the league is improving and could be in for a big year in 2008. "We have a chance this year to have three teams in the Top 25," Whittingham said. "The TV situation goes a long way in our exposure and credibility. The thing we have to do is win the games." Some of those games include Utah at Michigan, UCLA at BYU, San Diego State at Notre Dame, TCU at Oklahoma and UNLV at Arizona State. Wyoming's Joe Glenn likened the MWC to a water skier trying to get up in the school football in Texas, failed to make qualifying scores and will likely enroll at Snow College. In the next couple of days, Mendenhall expects to hear about the final grades for San Mateo, Calif., running back Sete Pohahau, another player who has yet to qualify. Junior college transfer Bernard Afutiti, a defensive end, is already working out with the team on the BYU campus. Offensive lineman Jesse Taufi, another JC transfer, will arrive with the other newcomers when practice starts Aug. 1. t On the mend: Sophomore nose tackle Russell Tialavea, who missed all of last season1 with a knee injury, should be ready for 2008 fall camp. Mendenhall said Tialavea. who was injured during a scrimmage before the 2007 water. season, has been training hard "There's not much difference and showing better work ethic between right here (almost all than at any time in his career. "He's dropped 30 pounds the way up) and getting planed and he'd down to 305." Mendout," Glenn said. enhall said. Tialavea was a starter durI Newcomers: Mendenhall said Atem Bol, a Sudanese wide ing the 2006 season. "When he's healthy, he's receiver who played high Cougars quarterback Max Hall, picked as the preseason MWC Offensive Player of the Year, joined five other Cougars BYU junior (Through July 17) Jason Phillips. LB. TCU MAXWELL TROPHY OF THE YEAR) LOMBARDI AWARD (TOP DOWN LINEMAN) Ray Feinga. OG. BYU Dennis Pitta. TE. BYU offense: seon the first-teaDallas Reynolds. 0T. BYU nior guard Ray Feinga, senior Jan Jorgensen. DE. BYU tackle Dallas Reynolds, junior LOTT TROPHY (CHARACTER tight end Dennis Pitta, junior COMMUNITY SERVICE) wide receiver Austin Collie and . Jan Jorgensen, DE. BYU sophomore running back HarRAY GUY AWARD vey Unga. (TOP PUNTER) "We wouldn't have been disLouie Sakoda. KP, Utah if we weren't appointed picked BRONCO NAGURSKI AWARD to win the conference, but we (TOP DEFENSIVE PLAYER) would have been surprised," Jan Jorgensen. DE. BYU Hall said. "We're coming off DeAndre Wright, DB, New Mexico two conference championships Stephen Hodge, DB. TCU and two undefeated conference seasons, so we deserve it. Now, our goal is to stay on top until bulked up to 268 pounds and the end." EYUs Jan Jorgensen was the was noticeably bigger. He said it hasn't affected his speed or only BYU selection on the first-teadefensive unit. Jorgensen, quickness. "1 tested out faster than I who finished the 2007 season ever have," he said. at just over 250 pounds, has m (PLAYER Max Hall. QB. DAVEY BYU O'BRIEN AWARD (TOP QB) Max Hall. QB, BYU OUTLAND TROPHY (TOP INTERIOR LINEMAN) Feinga. OG. BYU Dallas Reynolds. OT, BYU John Fletcher. DT. Wyoming Ray RIMINGTON AWARD (TOP CENTER) Blake Schlueter. C, TCU JIM THORPE AWARD (TOP DEFENSIVE BACK) DeAndre Wright. DB. New Mexico Stephen Hodge. DB. TCU 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- - end 2. Utah (5) 3. TCU New Mexico - ' great," BYU defensive end Jan Jorgensen said. "In a lot of games when he steps on the field, he's the best player out there." ,. Mendenhall said starting guard Travis Bright, a senior, and junior guard Garrett Reden are doing well and on track to be ready for fall camp. Both players suffered injuries last season, with Bright 's broken leg coming in the Las Vegas Mendenhall said junior wide receiver Ryan Neeley and junior defensive back Chris Warner are "questionable" for the start of fall camp because of injury. I More than a rumor: After spring football, former Timpview standout Luke came to Mendenhall to ask for a chance to switch from wide receiver to safety. Ashworth is actually listed in the BYU press guide as a defensive back. But Mendenhall said Ashworth would be at receiver when fall camp begins. "That's the best place for him and the best place for him to help our team," Mendenhall said. h 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 schedule our 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 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. ' Wyoming Air Force San Diego State Colorado State UNLV I Earned his spot: Utah's Louie Sakoda is probably the first kicker or punter to represent histPMmat mpptmffs "That speaks to the level of respect we have for him on this football team," Whittingham said. "In my opinion he's the best kicker in the country. He deserves to be here." Two former Utah County players defensive end Paul Kruger (Timpanogos) and tight end Colt Sampson (Pleasant Grove) figure to have a big impact for the Utes in 2008. Kruger. who suffered injuries when he and a group of friends were jumped by attackers with knives this summer, appears to be ready to go. "Paul is 100 percent recovered." Whittingham said. "He's a tremendous talent, an caliber guy." Kruger. just a sophomore, was named to the preseason defensive team. r "Colt is a senior," Whittingham continued. "He had a knee injury last year and we lost him for four or five games. He's right in the mix for starting tight end with Brad Clifford 4, 245 pounds. So ). Chris Joppru (6-- 255 Jr.) and Dudley LaPorte (6-- 250 Jr ,Wh?n '4 .trfit ("nit hp was; 202 pounds, now he's 250. He's done a good job in the weight room and we're looking for a productive senior year from Colt." 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 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 abotit 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 pro- dual-thre- Bowl. Pts. 299 274 239 197 156 141 92 73 59 votes) (first-plac- e 1. BYU (29) r. dkhilud Dttuuiiniun TCU, Fr., Defensive place votes," Whittingham said, "but I tliink BYU is the clear-cu- t favorite. No one's beaten them in Mountain West Conference athletes on 2008 Awards Watch Lists Continued from CI FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR mi TCU, Sr., Linebacker Notebook Utah, Sr., KickerPunter PLAYER OF THE YEAR JASON PHILLIPS FOOTBALL POLL Rank ID LOUIE SAKODA ROBERT JOHNSON HODGE 2008 MWC PRESEASON SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR MAX HALL BYU, Jr., Quarterback STEPHEN DEANDRE WRIGHT LOUIE DEFENSIVE 1 PXDXLD7S 2008 MWC PRESEASON SUPERLATIVES Punter r? . fifth-yea- 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. 6 3 t Familiar opener: TCU and New Mexico begin MWC play early. The two teams face each other on opening weekend (Aug. 30) in Albuquerque. "We have to be at a high emotional level for that game," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "The last two years when we've played Texas Tech and Baylor, we've had be at that same kind of level. We respect New Mexico on both sides of the ball. If you can win that first league game, it's definitely a boost. From our first practice, that has to be our focus." I Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson ccm be or reached at at ddickson1" by heraldextra.com. Read his blogul http:blogs. heraldextra.comDarnell. 344-255- 5 gram. "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?' " rests squarely The bull's-eyon BYU in the MWC this season. e t Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at or by at ddicksonf" heraldextra.com. Reud his blog at http:blogs. 344-255- 5 heraldextra.comDarncll. 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