SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
The Cougars figure to be a much stronger unit than they were when they faced the Bruins way back in Week 2 of the season. QB Max Hall was making only the second start of his career, and RB Harvey Unga had yet to establish himself as the featured back. Now that both are playing with the benefit of a season's worth of experience, expect them to better exploit the UCLA defense. They still have a tendency to turn the ball over and must play a cleaner game than the three-turnover game BYU had in Los Angeles in September.

SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
LB Bryan Kehl and DE Jan Jorgensen had yet to establish themselves as the disrupters on the defense the last time the Cougars played the Bruins. Jorgensen has come into his own as one of the premier defensive linemen in the conference. If he can apply pressure while BYU plays the bend-but-don't-break strategy in the secondary, UCLA will be hard-pressed to match the 27-point effort of its first game. If the Cougars can't get pressure with their front four, the Bruins may be able to take advantage of their athletic ability at the receiver position.

MATCHUP TO WATCH
The first time the two teams met, the Bruins grabbed a 20-0 lead to take the BYU rushing attack out of the game. The Cougars have become a much more physical running team since then, and the Bruins will have a hard time slowing down RB Harvey Unga, who will come right at the heart of their defense. When he rests, Manase Tonga and Fui Vakapuna will do the same. If BYU can turn the game into a grind-it-out affair, it should have the upper hand.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"On any given year, it gives you a chance because teams are not identical, nor is our opponent identical, and I've learned something with each bowl preparation. Certainly, we made quite a jump from year one to year two. This team has a little different model; they don't take as much work. They practice just so hard. We're looking to gain momentum going into the game. Some teams overwork their players, so I think we're just about right at this point." -- Coach Bronco Mendenhall, to the Deseret Morning News, on bowl preparations.

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