Cougars Hurting At Cornerback

Much has been made of BYU’s personnel struggles along their offensive line which isn’t great news considering the strength of Oklahoma’s defense is the line but the Cougars are also struggling in another crucial area as well. As they prepare to face Sam Bradford and OU’s high flying offense that is sure to stretch the field there seem to be struggles at the cornerback positions.

Starting corner Brian Logan broke his finger in practice Saturday. BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said that Logan would play but admittedly he’s not sure how.

"How that works, I'm not certain. He had a similar injury in junior college and was able to play and perform. He's assured me that it won't affect him. When you see him, it will make you nervous because it's wrapped right now from his (fingertip) to the elbow. But I've been assured that he'll be able to play and he's excited to play."

Logan was listed as the starter because Robbie Buckner, who was originally pegged as the starter at the start of camp, has struggled with a hamstring injury and is currently listed at second-team and is still struggling with the injury.

The boundary corner is still an open competition which reading between the lines means that no one has yet to step up and win the position.

"It's about dead-even between Brandon Bradley and Lee Aguirre. By Thursday we hope to have an announcement made there," Mendenhall said.

Another cornerback, Corby Eason, is suffering from Mike Balogun syndrome and is waiting to be cleared by the NCAA before he can strap it up. Unlike Oklahoma and the Balogun case the Cougars have been assured that they’ll have a response from the NCAA before they head to Dallas.

In one other bit of corner conundrum, Garett Nicholson didn’t make kind of grades that would allow him to participate on the field so he’s actually not even in school right now. All of this can’t add up to great news for the Cougars as they are now very shallow in two of the positions most critical to pulling an upset on Saturday night.