SEATTLE

Mendenhall is trying to achieve something he's never done: Lead BYU to a road win over a BCS conference team. Willingham is simply trying to save his job.

In the eyes of Washington fans and media, Willingham is perched precariously on the edge of a knife. Rumblings about Willingham's security increased last season when Washington went 4-9. The Huskies opened 2008 with a disappointing 44-10 loss at Oregon, a game Washington was expected to lose but not in such dismal fashion.

"It's one game," said Washington quarterback Jake Locker. "I really don't think there needs to be any panic amongst anybody, any kind of extra stress on anybody. Like I've said before, he's our head coach, he's our leader, we look to him and he doesn't it let it bother him, and we treat it the same way. He's here to win games and so are we. We all understand that and we know that, and that's our main focus. We don't worry about all that other stuff."

BYU is mainly worried about stopping Locker, a marvelous athlete who ran for nearly 1,000 yards from the quarterback spot last season.

"We still have a ways to go and grow until we can become the dominant defense we want to be," junior defensive end Jan Jorgensen said. "The thing is Washington has a running game even when it's a pass because Locker can run around out there. For us to win we have to corral him."

The Cougars are hoping to clean up what was a ragged offensive performance in last week's 41-17 win over FCS foe Northern Iowa. BYU dominated the first two quarters but turnovers allowed the Panthers back into the game for a time.

The past two seasons, BYU has started 1-2. The Cougars are also 0-8 on the road against BCS conference foes since 2002. For this season to be different, BYU needs to win in Seattle.

"I'm hesitant to say it would be a milestone for the program," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Each team we've had the last couple of years is different. Each opponent has been a little bit different, as this one will be.

"But the fact can't be lost that our early road games haven't been possibly our best ones. So I am anxious to see if the model we have in place has addressed that at a higher level. Not so much as a program -- victories, so to speak -- but maybe just on a personal level, in trying to help these young men prepare earlier in the year to win on the road."

The players know the team's poor history against BCS teams on the road but have their eyes firmly on the Huskies.

"We try not to even think about that," BYU junior quarterback Max Hall said. "It's a totally new season, a different team with different expectations, everything. We're just focusing on what we're doing now and not let the past haunt us or bug us at all."

• Ode to the familiar: The Cougars have three players on their roster from Washington state. Freshman running back Jerry Bruner and senior receiver Bryce Mahuika are both from Vancouver and freshman linebacker Spencer Hadley played high school ball in Connell. Washington linebacker Cort Dennison (6-1 230 Fr.) attended Judge Memorial High School in Salt Lake City.

There are some coaching ties as well: UW tight ends and special teams coach Brian White was on staff at UNLV with BYU offensive line coach Mark Weber in 1994 and Husky defensive coordinator Ed Donatell and BYU linebackers coach Barry Lamb worked together at the University of Idaho from 1986-88. In addition, UW offensive coordinator Tim Lappano was a member of the San Francisco 49ers staff when BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman played in the NFL.

As for the players, UW safety Jason Wells and BYU defensive end Bernard Afutiti both came from Mt. San Antonio College; UW center Mykenna Ikehara and BYU tight end Kaneakua Friel, safety Travis Uale and offensive linemen R.J. Willing all prepped at Kamehameha High in Oahu, Hawaii. BYU defensive end Ian Dulan and UW defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim are both from the Big Island (Hawaii) version of Kamehameha High.

• Extra points: Rick Neuheisel, now the head coach at UCLA, was coaching his first game at Washington when the Huskies traveled to Provo in 1999 and lost 35-28. ... There are 45 players in the BYU program on LDS missions in 13 different countries. ... Of the 105 players in fall camp, 75 served missions. ... BYU senior Dallas Reynolds has 39 straight career starts. ... Washington played eight true freshmen in its opener, BYU seven.

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Read his blog at cougarblue.com. Dickson hosts "The Home Team" on AM 1400 KSTAR weekdays from 4-6 p.m.

No. 15 BYU (1-0) at Washington (0-1)

When: Today, 1 p.m. MT

Where: Husky Stadium, Seattle (72,500)

TV: FSN (Barry Tompkins, Petros Papadakis, John Jackson)

Radio: KSL 1160 AM and 102.7 FM (Greg Wrubell, Marc Lyons and Nate Meikle)

Internet Webcast: www.byucougars.com

The Word: Washington leads the series 4-2 but BYU won the last game, 35-28, in Provo in 1999. ... BYU has never won in Seattle (0-3). ... The Cougars have an 11-game winning steak, the longest in the nation.