BYU NewsNet - Cougars Hope to Stay Healthy as Fall Training Camp Starts

As the first day of the BYU 2008 fall training camp came to a close, there was one main thing on quarterback Max Hall's mind.

It wasn't the million pages of the playbook that he has to refresh his memory on. Nor was it who his new center would be. He wasn't even concerned about the team's recent No. 17 ranking in the USA Today Coaches' Poll.

Hall was worried about the team's health.

With junior wide receiver Austin Collie out with a stress fracture on his left leg, and a number of other players on offense and defense out for most or all of the year due to injury, Hall just wanted a team with a clean bill of health.

"We need to stay healthy," Hall said. "That's the main thing. I can't pick just one thing to work on, but that's a big one.

"We also need to expand the offense more, start doing the little things and get better at them. We definitely need to keep getting better at the little things."

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall agreed with his starting quarterback, but added a few things to his mental checklist of champions.

"It's the exact same thing that we've worked on to this point: position mastery, execution and our will," Mendenhall said. "As soon as we start distracting ourselves with other things, we fall into the same trap that others have in confidence in success. I'll try to keep them focused enough to remain focused on the task at hand, because that's the only way we'll have a chance to achieve our goals."

Some of those distractions include the No. 17 national ranking, being the preseason favorite to win the Mountain West Conference and numerous players' nominations for national awards.

"[The No. 17 ranking] was nothing that we hadn't expected," Mendenhall said. "The real challenge has been to remind our team what has gotten us to this point. Winning at home and winning a conference championship are it.

"Another thing I had to remind them about was, in 1997, we started out at no. 17 and then went 6-5. The preseason doesn't always ensure that you have a great year. It's nice to be acknowledged for the past two years, but it doesn't mean much for this year."

Mendenhall will try to do his part to keep his players healthy.

"I would like to have a fall camp motto to refer to in order to give us our best chance to succeed early in the year," Mendenhall said. "But I'd also like for us to remain healthy. And I'm still learning how to do both of those."

One area that Mendenhall doesn't see much need for improvement is the kicking team. With kicker Mitch Payne and Justin Sorensen and punter C.J. Santiago, the Cougars are looking to have a strong special teams unit this year.

"Santiago looks the healthiest; the ball was jumping off his leg with more power than I've ever seen," Mendenhall said about Saturday's practice. "Justin Sorensen can kick the ball a mile. But with him coming in, I think Mitch Payne's accuracy is really impressive. I haven't made a decision about them yet."

Wide receiver Austin Collie agrees with the coach that humility is one of the keys to success. But it's OK to know when you're good, he said.

"The expectations are high, and we know it," Collie said. "We need to remain humble, but at the same time we should remain confident. We can't act like we dominate, but we need to have a swagger and stay humble at the same time."

Despite the weaknesses, the BYU football team is expecting a great year. It's no secret the Cougars represent the best non-BCS chance to make a BCS bowl game, and they are ready to meet the challenge no matter how much work it takes.

"The expectations are high, but we want it that way," Hall said. "If we want to end the year playing in a BCS bowl game, then we've got to start somewhere. No. 17 is a good place to start, and hopefully we'll be able to be one of the Top 10 teams by the end of the season."