LOSS MAY EMBARRASS BEARS; HISTORY ON COUGARS' MINDS
By Jay Heater
Knight Ridder
LAS VEGAS - Despite the presence of an Elvis impersonator and a couple of feather-clad showgirls, Brigham Young's John Beck and Cameron Jensen could best be described as grim during their appearance at the final Las Vegas Bowl news conference Wednesday.
Both, it seemed, had put on their game faces early, ahead of today's matchup against Cal at Sam Boyd Stadium. Beck didn't apologize for being stiff under the collar. ``We came here to win,'' he said. The two Golden Bears players in attendance, seniors Marvin Philip and Donnie McCleskey, were a striking contrast. They seemed to be enjoying another day in Sin City, smiling and joking with the media. That would appear to buck the impression that Cal (7-4) is the team under pressure, with nothing to win and its reputation to lose. After all, Cal is a Pacific-10 Conference team facing an opponent from a non-Bowl Championship Series conference.
``Don't they say that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas?'' Philip said with a laugh. ``We'll try our best not to embarrass the Pac-10.'' The Bears seemed to mimic the attitude of their coach, who isn't concerned with anyone's perception of a Mountain West Conference opponent.
``I have great respect for BYU,'' Coach Jeff Tedford said. ``When we play a game, it doesn't matter what conference the opponent comes from.'' Said McCleskey, ``We pride ourselves on winning games. We are not out to beat the Mountain West Conference. We are out to beat our opponent, which happens to be BYU. ``And we are what our record shows. We got the greatest opponent we could get to play another game.'' Perhaps BYU's players were a bit tight in the face because of the Cougars' four-year bowl drought. ``It's nice being back in the bowl business,'' said Bronco Mendenhall, 6-5 in his first season as BYU coach. ``This is the beginning of the road, not the end of the road.'' BYU has won the only two games in the series (in 1999 and 2001), and it has been in the national spotlight since Lavell Edwards took over in 1972. The Cougars have won a national title (1984), produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Ty Detmer, 1990) and saw a streak of 28 winning seasons snapped in 2002.
Jensen conceded the players feel the pressure to return BYU to that kind of success.
``This game means a lot to us,'' he said. ``It's just not all that we wanted to accomplish.''
Mendenhall understands how important it is for his team to look good against a Pac-10 opponent. ``This game gives us a chance to be viewed differently,'' he said.
His team is in a similar position to Cal's 2003 squad, which beat national powerhouse Virginia Tech in the Insight Bowl after not having appeared in a bowl since 1996.
``It was a huge boost to our program in recruiting,'' Tedford said. ``Then we played a great Texas Tech team the next year (in the Holiday Bowl) and all the media attention was on the BCS. That was a whole different animal.''
• Cal offensive tackle Ryan O'Callaghan, who hasn't practiced recently because of a sprained ankle, should be available for today's game, Tedford said. If O'Callaghan doesn't start, senior Jonathan Murphy will take his place.
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