Cougars ‘D’ provides test for the Rebels

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003 | 10:06 a.m.

One of the more intriguing matchups in UNLV's football game against Brigham Young on Saturday afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium will take place in the trenches.

And between the headsets.

This is Rebels offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Rob Boras' week to try to decipher, and neutralize, the mayhem that new Cougars defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall creates each weekend with his unique 3-3-5 set.

"I don't know if anyone knows, but BYU poses a lot of problems," Boras said. "It's a very good defense. Teams aren't ... getting a lot of yards. They stunt and blitz, and they're organized. They present a lot of problems."

Many might overlook the Cougars' defense because BYU is 3-5, including 2-3 in the Mountain West Conference, and have a notoriously poor offense.

The Cougars have scored 14 or fewer points five times already, an ugly low to which they hadn't sunk since 1971.

Boras, however, has taken great interest in the success that Mendenhall, a protege of New Mexico coach and defensive whiz Rocky Long, has achieved in his first year back home in Utah.

BYU is second in the league in total defense, allowing 307 yards a game after yielding an average of 385 in 2002. It relies on disruption up front, where the Cougars have recorded a Mountain West-best 22 sacks.

Senior linebacker Colby Bockwoldt leads the conference with 4 1/2 sacks, and junior right end Brady Poppinga has 4. Junior left end John Denney (3 1/2), junior cornerback James Allen (3) and freshman linebacker David Nixon (3) are the rest of those instigators.

Denney and junior safety Jon Burbidge have two interceptions apiece, and BYU's 10 picks ties it for the most in the conference.

"This defense is crazy," said Colorado State co-offensive coordinator Dan Hammerschmidt.

Boras spotlighted Poppinga, Denney and senior nose tackle Ifo Pili as the catalysts of the chaos that the Cougars try to concoct.

"They're as talented as any line we've played," Boras said. "Schematically, they're very good, and they have good personnel. That's a pretty good combination. Very rarely will they show you the same front twice.

"You have to scheme fronts and runs to take advantage of it. There's a lot of burden on the center."

That's Dominic Furio, the UNLV senior who must recognize what's going on around him to make the correct protection calls.

In addition, it will be imperative for him and junior quarterback Kurt Nantkes to be cool under what will most surely be tremendous pressure.

They botched three snaps last week, at home against Utah. One of those lost fumbles gave the Utes an extremely short field, and they punched it in for a touchdown. Another one derailed a drive that had dug deep into Utah territory.

"Furio will have to make a lot of calls and identify their fronts," Boras said. "A lot of teams will show one front all day and try to beat you with that. This one tries to create confusion.

"Furio will have to make the right calls and get everyone going in the right direction, and I feel very confident with him. He's a good leader and has a good understanding of what we're trying to do. I don't expect a problem."