TCU’s Patterson dislikes spotlight

At least there's Boise State.

That must be what Texas Christian football coach Gary Patterson thinks now that Brigham Young has blown its chance of crashing the Bowl Championship Series and perhaps playing for the national title.

Patterson is no big fan of the media and would rather they focus on somebody else. It's apparently nothing personal; he just views reporters as a distraction -- and he hates distractions.

So Patterson doesn't want to hear talk about his No. 15 Horned Frogs being the Mountain West Conference's best hope for a BCS game. It's true, of course, but No. 8 Boise State is the front-runner among BCS outsiders.

"I've never been one of those guys who talks about the BCS," Patterson said Tuesday. "We've got to win the conference championship first."

The Frogs were picked by the media to win the league title, but BYU's 14-13 victory over Oklahoma on Sept. 5 shifted the focus.

Then the Cougars imploded with a 54-28 home loss to Florida State on Saturday and Utah lost 31-24 at Oregon, leaving TCU to carry the BCS torch for the Mountain West.

Patterson would rather focus on the Frogs' next game, Saturday at Clemson.

"That may be as talented as the Oklahoma team we'd seen a year ago," Patterson said.

He might not like the spotlight, but Patterson knows how to talk up an opponent to the media.

• LOSS? WHAT LOSS? -- BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall insisted the Cougars' goals remain the same even after losing to Florida State.

He's right in that BYU still can win the conference title, but gone is any shot at making history and playing for the national championship or, for that matter, playing in any BCS game.

"It's always first and foremost in our thoughts to play really well in our league," Mendenhall said.

He hopes some good can come from the loss to Florida State. Mendenhall pointed out the Cougars' Mountain West titles in 2006 and 2007 occurred after opening 1-2.

"You don't learn anything without those losses," he said.

• FOCUSED UTES -- Utah's nation-leading 16-game winning streak ended in the loss at Oregon, and Utes coach Kyle Whittingham echoed Patterson and Mendenhall in putting the emphasis on league play.

"If you drop a ballgame, does that mean your season is completely lost?" Whittingham said. "The BCS has become this big monster that is consuming everybody. Whatever conference you're in, your first and foremost objective should be to win that conference, and that's pretty much where we're at."

• FLU HITS UNLV -- Rebels wide receiver Phillip Payne and second-team quarterback Mike Clausen didn't practice Tuesday because of the flu.

Coach Mike Sanford said he didn't know whether they would play in Saturday's noon PDT game at Wyoming.

Also, Sanford confirmed wide receiver Rodelin Anthony and safety Marquel Martin, who each have concussions, will not play.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Read the latest UNLV football updates at lvrj.com/blogs/unlv_sports.