BYU’s success relative

Brigham Young coach Bronco Mendenhall can't control perception, but he knows the implications are real.

The national profile of the 18th-ranked Cougars, particularly in the polls, isn't totally under their control. Their ultimate status will largely depend on how two opponents -- Oklahoma and Florida State -- play the rest of the season.

BYU defeated the then-No. 3 Sooners 14-13 in the season opener. The Sooners lost Saturday at Miami, 21-20, dropping them from No. 8 to No. 19 and out of the national championship race.

Florida State, meanwhile, knocked BYU out of the running for a potential Bowl Championship Series berth by swamping the Cougars at home on Sept. 19, 54-28. Since then, the Seminoles have lost to South Florida and Boston College to fall to 2-3.

BYU will play UNLV at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium. But regardless of what the Cougars do on the field, it will be hard for them to overcome negative perception if Oklahoma and Florida State continue to stumble.

The Sooners, playing without injured Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Sam Bradford, are still considered a top team and could return to the top 10. Florida State is in trouble with pressure building on longtime coach Bobby Bowden to step down, but a turnaround would bode well for BYU.

As it is, the conventional wisdom is the Cougars pulled off a spectacular victory over Oklahoma and suffered an inexcusable loss to Florida State, but their talent is probably somewhere between those extremes.

"Maybe at some point we're more the team that beat Oklahoma than the team that didn't play well against Florida State," Mendenhall said.

• ANOTHER COMPARISON -- Utah's lone loss was to an Oregon team whose stature has risen since a season-opening 19-8 loss at Boise State. The Ducks now are No. 13.

"When you talk about gaining perspective -- and it starts happening about now in the fourth, fifth or sixth week of the season -- it doesn't hurt our cause that they keep doing well," Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. "It's still a loss."

That loss still hurts the Utes. They were No. 18 before that game but haven't been ranked since.

• WINNING CLOSE -- Wyoming was picked last in the Mountain West, but the Cowboys are 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play under first-year coach Dave Christensen with victories of 7, 3 and 2 points.

"Our kids are a tight-knit team," he said. "We just want to win. That's the bottom line."

Will the winning continue? It should Saturday when winless New Mexico visits Laramie. Wyoming is favored by 101/2 points.

But reality probably sets in after this weekend. The Cowboys' final six opponents are a combined 19-9, and four of those games are on the road, including San Diego State (2-3), the only opponent with a losing record.

• HURTIN' REBELS -- UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton practiced Tuesday, but it won't be determined until later in the week whether his right (throwing) shoulder will keep him from starting Saturday.

Linebacker Starr Fuimaono (ankle), defensive end/linebacker Jason Beauchamp (knee) and defensive end Preston Brooks (shoulder) did not practice. More will be known on Fuimaono and Beauchamp closer to game day, and Brooks is questionable.

• BYU DISMISSAL -- Cougars reserve safety Shiloah Te'o was kicked off the team Tuesday for an undisclosed violation of team rules, Mendenhall announced.

Te'o, a 5-foot-10-inch, 206-pound sophomore from Laie, Hawaii, had played in all five games this season and made five tackles, one for a loss.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Read the latest UNLV football updates at lvrj.com/blogs/unlv_sports