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Show DAILY BYU football HERALD Makeno mistake, Harris Poll: voters will endure supremescrutiny Continued from D1 Stephen R. Covey) was a twoHerald oftheYear at patehigtg COMMENTARY David Whitley There are potential conflicts of interest everywhere. Like + THE ORLANDO SENTINEL ORLANDO,Fla. — Charles Davis is one of the luckiest or one of the dumbest guys wingSon 905 yards anid 11 pore emOrden told his players, “If you want to be great, work as hard as Covey does.” Even thoughh he hadn't played defense since the first three a contrasthefateofmany. the fate ity. He's dumb because no matter how hardhe tries to get it right, it won't be good enough. “It’s a no-win situation,” Davis says. Heis one of 114 voters in the new Harris InteractivePoll.It's games of his sophomore year high school, the 5-11, D0 pound Covey was asked to move from quarterback to cornerback, then safety as fall camp began. the latest tweaking of the Bow! Withall the injuries in the de- fensive backfield, Covey has gotten plenty of reps and has impressed the coaches with his athletic ability and toughness. “Stephenis one of three or four freshmen we hope we can redshirt,” Mendenhall said. “We'veidentified those players and removed them from special teams for now. We're hoping some other players will be ready, but we won't decide for the first three weeks.” BYU plays at home forits first three games and doesn't haveto traveluntil Sept. 1 to San Diego State. The Cougars can take 64 players onthe trip, and Mende: hopes to have the right combination of healthy players by then. “I'm comingalong,” Covey said. “I knowit can take awhile to adjust to thetempo. The intensity really rises when we go Championship Series, whichis generally considered the worst invention since Pauly Shore. The fact is, there never has and never will be a controversy-free system.I hate even iting about it, since that gets peopleall lathered up over playoffs vs. polls vs. computers vs. Auburn vs. Oklahoma. And if you don’t know whatall that means,it’s muchtoo tedious to explain. Let'sjust deal with what we have. The APpoll is out, the Harrisis in. So far, so bad. The names were announced Monday. Imagine the Senate hearings for ota Roberts multiplied 114 times. There’s something wrong with everybody. Evenif there's not, people will inevitably think thereis. Take Davis. He’s an analyst for TBS, and about as likable a guy as you'll ever meet. Good family man. Proud Orlandoan. No underworldties. Hewas also stellar defensive back at Tennessee (SEC Bias Alert), works Pac-10 and Big 12 games for TBS (Potential West-Coast Bias), is married to an Oklahoma native (he doesn’t like sleeping on the couch), and does Arena League games for NBC (which will explain it if the San Jose SaberCats get ranked ahead of Penn State). In other words,Davis is not a perfect voter. Find someone who is, and you'll have meta Martian. “Weall came from somewhere,” Davis said. fired te Terry Bradshaw ; spends most of his Saturdays « coming up withinsultsfor Howie Long. 3 I'm sure voters will be as + conscientious as possible. But they have placed themselves ; undera thankless microscope, especially if there is another scrum of unbeaten teams. “At some point, somebody is going to be upset,” Davis. said.“I'll vote their school No. » instead of No.3, soa they‘ think I’m the dumbestper: who ever walked the ioeee ‘i the earth.” So whydoit? Davis invoked; the answer given by former Texas Tech coach Spike es, “Ego,” Davis said. “Weall think we can do the job better » than the next person.” The Harris poll may be better. Just remember,thereis no; poemts will make everybody “ft:'sbe to be a mess,” Davis said. FILE/Daily Herald BYU wide receiver Luke Ashworth was named to the Daily Herald's Elite 11 in 2004 while playing for Timpview (above). day’s practice, Mendenhall iden- practice on Saturday, has opted to enroll at BYU in January. tified Covey, returned missionAnother Timpview recruit, offensive lineman Matt Reynolds, is serving an LDS mission. tight end Vic So’oto as players that he hopes to redshirt but » Practice, practice: On Saturwill be kept ready for the first day, BYU did more prep work three games. for Boston College and went Mendenhall said he met with the players who would redshirt only five minutes with “Blue Zone”drills. Senior cornerback or be used on the scout team both as a group andindividually Chris Hale partially blocked a 31yard Jared McLaughlin field goal on Friday. “It’s very difficult for ae andthe ball bounced off the (outside) here. Hopefully, I can tht. Junior Michael Morris to cometo terms witht contribute in a game.” concluded the drill with a diving sions,” Mendenhall said. oy This spring, Covey said he catch of a Matt Berry pass for a had aspirations to play and it S-yard touchdown. told the coaches he may want to can sometimes be a difficult give quarterback a try when he transition. We have some upD Better not skip: On Monday, returns from an LDS mission. perclassmenin those roles and BYU begins its game week So does Covey miss playing it’s tough. But I think the scout quarterback? team effort improved from Fri- with afternoon practice. School starts on Mondayas well. “To be honest, I don’t miss day to Saturday.” “I know every day by 1 p.m. it that much,” Covey said. “At who's missed class,” Mendenfirst I did, but playing defense is. D T-Birds roll call: Covey and a whole different mind set. You Ashworthare twoofsix former hall said. “There aren't very Timpviewplayers on the BYU manythatwill miss class, but don't have to worry about so roster. The others are senior those who dowill be held acmuch.If I get a chance, | want to help onspecial teams.I try to center Lance Reynolds Jr., fresh- countable.” man offensive lineman Dallas go as hard as Coach MendenDarnell Dickson can Reynolds, freshman running hall wants meto go andhit as back Wayne Latu and senior de- be reachedat 344hard as I can.” fehsive end T.J. Sitake. Running 2555 or by e-mail at » On the bubble: After Saturback Harvey Unga, who was at ddickson@heraldextra.com. in full pads.” The twoplayers are roommates as schoolbegins on Monday. Both haveplayed well enoughduring fall camp to earn a shot onthe field in 2005. “Playing with John Beck, it really is a cool thing,” Ashworthsaid. “He throws such a good ball. I’m so excited to play in this offense. I'm adapting to it. | played slot receiverin high schoolbut I’m playing ‘X’ WHEN You BUY4] TIRES! ‘50 - PISSVBORI3 «° PIBS/BORTS ° PITS/B0R13 °PBS REBATE ON ALL MICHELIN TIRES PI7S/TORI3 © PIBS/7C “120 D5/7SRI5 © P215/7SRIS P227SAIS BYU re-learningdiscipline under new coach Mendenhall Doug Alden THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PROVO,Utah — Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall doesn't ask too much from his players. Whathe expects without asking is another matter. “If you don't play with effort and aren't accountable and disciplined, you’re not going to play. He doesn’t care who you are. He'll play the walk-on over everybody,” linebacker Cameron Jensen said. Mendenhall, defensive coordinator for the past two seasons,is trying to end the Cougars’ worst stretch in 40 years. BYU has finished with a losing recordthree straight seasons, something that hasn't happened since the Cougars had six straight from 1959-64. Mendenhall was promoted in Decemberafter a long search following Gary Crowton’s resignation. Mendenhall was hired over fellow assistant Lance Reynolds. Mendenhall has spent the last nine months ing a footballteam forthe first time and dealing with otherobligations, like keeping fans up to date with the program. After 28 yearsin a row without a losing season,the last three have fans on edge and hoping Mendenhall,the son of a former BYU player,can get the program back to prominence. “Those other demands don’t go away,” Mendenhall said. “I didn’t have a complete understanding of how interested these fans really are about every detail about this program.” Mendenhall, a formersafety who was voted most inspirationalplayer his senior year at Oregon State, seems to have had an immediate impact on the Cougars’attitudes. Hestill looks almost young enoughtoline up andplay for the Cougars and kept things light after a practice by joining his players in a post-game wa- DOUGLAS C. PIZAC/Associated Press New BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has made it clear for the upcoming season that discipline and accountability will be two essentials for the Cougars as they try to snap their worststretch in decades. ter slide on plastic tarp. “You're on the same page with him.He's not all negative,” running back Curtis Brown said. “He's out there for the benefit of everybody, and he’s out there to push everybody to oywell. It’s just great to have es said preseason camp was more physical than they remembered it, and they loved the change. Althoughhe finished his teture with a winning record, Crowton never came close to living up to the expectations after BYU opened the Crowton era with12 straight wins when he took over for LaVell Edwards in 2001. When Mendenhall took over, he met with each player and advised them ofhis straightforward approach. A few players decided to leave, but most already knew what was coming from Mendenhall and stuck around, Discipline is a priority for Mendenhall.If a play isn't run to Mendenhall’s standards in practice, it is run again. Even if a pass is caught, the completion doesn’t necessarily make it a good play.It has to be run recisely. “It’s been a workin progress, but we've come a long,long way,” Mendenhall said. BYU was actually close to a winning record and possibly a bow! game last fall, but lost the last two games ofthe season. A546 finish was an improvement from going 4-8 in 2003 but wasn'treally fitting way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of BYU’s1984 national championship. “Who wantsto lose? I came to BYU to win,” Jensensaid. “Youcan always say how close wewere. The fact of the matter was we didn’t makethe plays whenweneeded to. And almost hate hearing that — wewereclose.” Jensen is oneofsix starters Mendenhall has returning from his defense and sevenstarters are back on offense, snc Brown, quarterback John Bec! and receiver Todd Watkins. them to Watkins.Four of the scores to Watkins were on passes of 68 yards or more and the combination shouldfit nicely with any changes from new offensive coordinator Robert Anae. Anae, a member of BYU's 1984 national cl ions! on came back to Provoafter five seasons at Texas Tech, w re the Red Raiders throw the ball like BYU used to. Beck said the coaches have a good balance between pushing the players and knowing what is realistic. “They know that you can't keep everything exactly right allthe time. There's going to be times that you mess up, but we ‘ou mess up you have to ‘om it,” Beck said. “We Satta parton tat wet as close to perfect as we can.” © PISS/75R14 PIOB/TSRIG ae VALUE BUYS! 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