Reception trouble arises again in Mountain West

The Cougars, ranked seventh in the media poll and ninth in the coaches poll, can improve their case Saturday when they host Florida State.

But the game will be on Versus — which recently lost distribution on DirecTV — instead of a major network.

BYU’s early success this season has stoked the ongoing debate about the Mountain West Conference’s television contract. SI.com’s Andy Staples wrote it’s a shame a network such as ESPN won’t carry the game.

Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall said he has to focus on trying to win the game and "the daily runnings of a football program" and not issues he can’t control.

Mountain West officials get jumpy when the conference’s TV deal is questioned, and it was pointed out that even without DirecTV, Versus reaches between 65 million and 69 million homes. The DISH Network recently moved Versus to its basic tier, adding 5 million to 8 million homes.

Still, to many sports fans, if it’s not ESPN, it’s not on. ESPN reaches 97.8 million homes.

Staples argued that not being on ESPN ultimately hurt Utah last season. The Utes were the nation’s only unbeaten team but did not play in the BCS title game.

Utah never would have been selected over Florida or Oklahoma for the championship game, though, even if ESPN provided weekly coverage.

And Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said Tuesday that the conference’s deal hasn’t hurt the program in recruiting.

"That is the real litmus test," Whittingham said. "If you’re getting hurt in recruiting because of a situation, then that has to be addressed, but we had our best recruiting class ever last year."

Maybe the best way to gauge the TV deal’s effect will be at the end of the season if BYU or another Mountain West team is undefeated. Will that team get an honest look at playing for the national championship, or will league commissioner Craig Thompson once again be making a trip to Capitol Hill to rail against the BCS system?

• CLAYTON INJURY — UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton’s MRI results were encouraging. He has a bruised right knee and a possible low hamstring pull but is expected to play against Hawaii.

Coach Mike Sanford said he would need to see Clayton in practice before determining whether he will start. A decision probably won’t come before Thursday.

Mike Clausen, who helped the Rebels overcome a 20-7 fourth-quarter deficit in Saturday’s 23-21 loss to Oregon State, will start if Clayton does not. Either way, both figure to play.

Also, Marquel Martin moved ahead of Travis Dixon on the depth chart at free safety. Dixon started the first two games.

• EAR-SPLITTING TIME — No. 18 Utah and first-year starting quarterback Terrance Cain visit noisy Autzen Stadium on Saturday to play Oregon.

Whittingham is using blaring speakers in practice to simulate the crowd noise. He didn’t sound concerned about Cain being able to handle one of the nation’s toughest venues.

"Terrance is a very cool customer," Whittingham said. "I believe that he’s going to handle it very well. Nothing fazes the guy. He’s very even-keeled. If there’s a guy that is a rookie quarterback that will be able to make that adjustment, I believe it’s Terrance."

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