Bye week helps BYU players, coaches in many ways


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PROVO — BYU enters this week following its only bye week of the season. The week off provided some needed time off for key players nursing injuries.

"It was really nice," BYU receiver Mitch Mathews said. "It (the bye week) came at a good time because we had a lot of guys who were injured. It was important to have a week and a half for those guys to get ready to come back. I don't necessarily know their health levels, but I do know we're getting a lot of guys back because of the bye week."

The Cougars' rushing attack will have running back Adam Hine back in the lineup Friday night against San Jose State (9:30 p.m. MDT, KSL 1160 AM) after an ankle injury sidelined him since the game at Michigan. It is unclear at this time which other injured players will return to the field this week.

From a coach's perspective, a bye week provides the extra time needed to go back and watch film from previous games. This added study allows teams to fine-tune weak spots in scheme, plays and personnel. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall has a better understanding of his team after watching film during the week off.

"I learned a lot," Mendenhall said. "Week in and week out, there's not much time to step back and see the big picture of the team. It's hard to even remember some of the early games. There were some things that were more successful than I had remembered and other things that we continued to do that weren't quite as successful. The key now moving forward is to only do things that have been established as consistent producers and to get rid of, or fix, the things that have been inconsistent. In addition (during film study), you might notice a player or two who played better or worse than what you thought in the moment. So you might see a little shuffle in personnel here or there."

Mendenhall has hinted before at the possibility of opening up the playbook for true freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum as the season progresses. Following a bye week would seem to be the likely time to do so. Mendenhall said that while it is happening, the coaching staff is being careful not to give Mangum more than he can handle.

Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

"I don't think you'll see a dynamic or completely different offense," Mendenhall said. "A new wrinkle or two is what you'll probably see. It's a step-by-step process. He (Mangum) is already playing really well within the schemes that we've given him, so we're hesitant to make too big of a jump. But we do have a few complements now we can focus on."

For players, a bye week offers the opportunity to find some relief from the grind of the college football season. Many players step away from the game for a time in order to get ready for the next stretch of the season. Mangum and his teammates had some fun off the field.

"We played football and hung out," Mangum said. "We did some Halloween festivities, but more than anything we spent time together. It was good to relax and get the body healthy and refreshed and ready to go for this week."

Mathews feels re-energized following a week without football for the final slate of games left in his BYU career.

"Usually you roll out of bed on Monday thinking, 'Here we go again,' but this time I was really eager to come back," he said. "I missed getting ready for a game, so it's nice to be back."

In the Mendenhall era, BYU is 10-4 in games after a bye week, but just 1-3 in its most recent outings following a week off. The Cougars hope to avenge a difficult loss the last time out versus San Jose State in 2012, falling 20-14 at Spartan Stadium. Blake Dorton is a BYU student studying broadcast journalism and French. He hopes to pursue a career in sports broadcasting following graduation. Follow him on Twitter @BlakeDorton.

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Blake Dorton

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