BOWL BREAKDOWN
Brigham Young vs. UCLA, Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 22 -- The Cougars are making their third Las Vegas Bowl appearance in as many years, all under third-year coach Bronco Mendenhall. The underdog Cougars put a scare into California in 2005 before dominating Oregon 38-8 last season. The Bruins are making their third Las Vegas Bowl appearance in the last six seasons, beating New Mexico in 2002 and losing to Wyoming in 2004. UCLA is just 1-3 under coach Karl Dorrell in bowl games, the lone win coming in the 2005 Sun Bowl.

PLAYERS TO WATCH
RB Harvey Unga has rushed for 1,211 yards and 13 TDs this season and could have a huge impact in the rematch against the Bruins. He's also third on the team with 41 receptions for 629 yards and four scores and will give the Cougars a dimension they didn't know they had the first time the teams met.

QB Max Hall could be the MWC Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 3,617 yards this season. He had 24 TDs and just 12 interception, and he developed the ability to engineer drives at critical times for the Cougars down the stretch, including an 80-yarder in just less than a minute for the game-winning touchdown against Utah on Nov. 24.

FS Kellen Fowler started the season as a fourth-stringer but has kept the BYU defense from falling off after injuries depleted the position. In the Las Vegas Bowl, Fowler will go up against as athletically gifted wide receivers as he has seen all season.

DE Jan Jorgensen has turned in a monster sophomore season, recording 12 sacks and 18 tackles for losses. For the year, he's risen to third on the team with 73 tackles and will be key in slowing UCLA's offense.

ROSTER REPORT
QB Max Hall is close to 100 percent recovered from a grade-three shoulder separation suffered against Wyoming on Nov. 17.

RB Harvey Unga's practice time for the bowl game has been limited because of a sprained ankle, but his time off is only precautionary.

Backup OL Jason Speredon will miss the bowl game because of a torn ACL he suffered in the regular-season finale against San Diego State on Dec. 1. Speredon had surgery on Dec. 6

Copyright (C) 2007 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.