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BYU tight end Dennis Pitta speaks to the media during the Maaco Bowl Las Vegas press conference Thursday at the ESPN Zone at New York New York. BYU will face Oregon St. Dec. 22 at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Friday, Dec. 11, 2009 | 2:02 a.m.
Las Vegas Bowl Presser
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Initial thoughts on the selection of BYU and Oregon State to play in this year's Maaco Bowl Las Vegas from the programs' head coaches and players.
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Forget about last year.
That was the predominant theme surrounding an appearance by the BYU contingent Thursday at the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas press conference at ESPN Zone.
The Cougars appeared sluggish in last year's Las Vegas Bowl and fell to the Arizona Wildcats, 31-21. But BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall was adamant that this year's game would be different.
"Our team is more eager to play," Mendenhall said. "Our team is anxious to continue to prove that we belong and are working toward national prominence."
It would be easy for the Cougars to limp in to Sam Boyd Stadium on Dec. 22 and face Oregon State without much motivation. After all, BYU is in Las Vegas' bowl game for the fifth straight year.
BYU (10-2) has already clinched its fourth straight 10-win season and was at the center of the college football world when it upset Oklahoma in the teams' opening game.
None of that matters, though, said BYU senior tight end Dennis Pitta. The Cougars still believe they have more to prove and are more focused than they were a year ago.
"I think we genuinely are excited to be here," Pitta said. "Especially being able to play a quality opponent like Oregon State. They've had a tremendous year and were a couple plays away from a BCS bowl game. It will be a terrific matchup and a great challenge."
To illustrate the difference between this year and last year, both Mendenhall and Pitta said to look at how the regular season ended.
BYU edged Utah, 26-23, in an emotional overtime victory at home last weekend. That's quite the opposite of what happened last year.
In 2008, BYU's final regular season game was also against rival Utah. Both teams were ranked in the top 15 and the winner would emerge as the Mountain West Conference champion.
Utah pulled away in the fourth quarter en route to a dominating 48-24 victory and advanced to the Sugar Bowl, while BYU was relegated to Las Vegas.
Mendenhall said the Cougars had not recovered from the defeat by the time they kicked off against Arizona.
"The critical moment happens after a loss like that when the players decide they want to do something about it," Mendenhall said. "That opportunity was one I didn't leverage our team well enough on. They were a little bit down from that game and I don't we think we responded."
This season, the Beavers are the team traveling to Las Vegas after a devastating loss in a rivalry game. Oregon State (8-4) lost to Oregon, 37-33, last week in a game where the winner automatically advanced to the Rose Bowl as the Pac-10 Conference champion.
But Oregon State coach Mike Riley acknowledged that the Beavers can't stay down about the loss like last year's BYU team might have done. If Oregon State isn't over the loss to Oregon, Riley knows BYU is well capable of making the Beavers miserable.
"They are a rock-solid football team that is talented and well-coached," Riley said. "They just do everything right."
BYU is 2-2 in the last four Las Vegas bowls. There's reason to believe, however, that this is the best Cougars squad of the last five years.
They want to show it in the bowl they've come to know the best.
"I consider this our bowl now," Pitta said. "I don't know anything but Vegas. I've never been to another bowl, so this is kind of my home. I'm grateful to be back."
Be careful or Maxie Hall will hate on you all!
It's great to have BYU back. They have fantastic athletic programs. When their 20,000 fans visit and drop $20 apiece, and then flee back to SLC in the late evening, it's not so good for our economy. Oh, well, at least I-15 will be safe, with soda pop the drink of choice-"Hey Dad, does this soda have caffeine in it-you're driving a little fast"?
Why would Kunzer-Murphy care about whether BYU fans spend money in Vegas? All she wants is the best match-up so she can continue to market the bowl successfully, getting top dollar for TV rights, sponsorships, and advertising. Her job has nothing to do with getting people to spend money in casinos.
We had great VIP tickets on the BYU side last year. Funny though, there was never any line at the beer counter.
Truth is, I could have counted on one hand the number of people I saw drinking beer on that side of the field. Gotta love the BYU fans!
OK, Let me get this correct: BYU and it's fans deserve to be trashed because they aren't filling the beer line at the Sam, and I-15 will be fairly safe since those fans are drinking soda instead of booze? I think we've got something a little out of whack. BYU and it's fans love Las Vegas, simple as that. They eat, sleep, spend money and a few are likely to gamble. Rather than feel a need to ridicule why not show a bit of respect for people who seem to walk the talk. In a world filled with folks who don't, (I won't mention Tiger Woods, it's too easy) I have all the admiration in the world for people who act their convictions, regardless of religion, origin, or race. If we look at the bowl objectively what ranked team is playing for a $1 mil guarantee? Not many. Look at all the bowls picking up teams with 6-6 or 7-5 records paying out 3-4 times what the LVB pays. Where would the bowl be without BYU, anyway? It wasn't all that healthy 6 years ago, unable to fill the place and having awful TV ratings. The arrangement is good for BYU, LVB and the city of Las Vegas.