It's BYU game week. The 16th-ranked Cougars should pose another tough challenge for the Huskies. And if you're heard the unhappy buzz around Husky Nation this week, you can imagine how quickly things could tumble downhill with another loss -- this time falling to 0-2 against a mid-major in Husky Stadium. (And conversely, a UW win would help forgive a lot of sins from Oregon.)

My Tuesday story will deal with some of that unhappy buzz -- including some fairly candid comments from coach Willingham about his career record falling below .500.

Meanwhile, here's some early information on BYU:

The official BYU football website.

A look at the game from the Salt Lake Tribune.

And my early look at those other Cougars:

NO. 16 BRIGHAM YOUNG (1-0)
Noon Saturday, FSN, at Husky Stadium.
Coach: Bronco Mendenhall (29-10 in fourth season at BYU).

Last week: Brigham Young extended its nation’s-longest winning streak to 11 games with a 41-17 win over Northern Iowa. The Cougars raced to a 27-3 halftime lead. When Northern Iowa cut the lead to 10 in the third quarter, BYU sped away again. The Cougars had 563 yards of total offense, including 486 in the air. However, they fumbled five times, losing four.

Against the Huskies: Washington leads, 4-2 overall and 3-0 in Seattle. Brigham Young won the most recent meeting, 35-28, in 1999.

Washington connections: Freshman RB Jerry Bruner (Vancouver/Evergreen), freshman LB Spencer Hadley (Connell/Connell) and senior WR Bryce Mahuika (Vancover/Evergreen.)

Scouting report: The Cougars are two-time defending Mountain West Conference champions. They are considered among the best of this season’s mid-majors and a possibility for one of the BCS bowls. Their slogan this season is “The Quest for Perfection.” … The Cougars’ have a longtime reputation as an explosive offensive team. This team should be no exception, as nine starters return from last year’s offense. … Quarterback Max Hall passed for a conference-record 3,848 yards last season. … Tailback Harvey Unga was a freshman All-American last season. … Dennis Pita ranks among the MWC’s top tight ends. … The Cougars lost eight starters from last season – seven to graduation and one to a church mission. However, UW coach Tyrone Willingham said the defense is tough and has good speed.

We just got our weekly Monday lunch meeting with Coach Willingham and a few of the Huskies.

The biggest news was Willingham saying that he is "leaning toward" having safety Jason Wells redshirt this season while his knee healts.

The news was better for tight end Michael Gottlieb, who sat out the opener at Oregon due to a hamstring injury. Willingham said that Gottlieb is "probable" for the Brigham Young game at Husky Stadium on Saturday.

The previously injured Jake Locker (hamstring) and Juan Garcia (foot) apparently game through the game fine. However, Locker said that he "didn't feel as fast as I normally am."

I'll go through my notes and probably add a few items this afternoon.

Until then, however, the general bottom line seemed to be a feeling of disappointment at how the team played in Oregon, but with no implication of any discouragement that should make their load any heavier for BYU. Willingham expressed believe in the normal coaches' truism that any team's greatest improvement usually appears between the first and second games.

QB Jake Locker, CB Quinton Richardson and LB Chris Stevens were by the Huskies coaching staff as offensive, defensive and special teams players of the game against Oregon.

LB Kurt Mangum, TB Terrance Dailey and WR Vince Taylor were honored for their work on service teams.