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PROVO — Now that the toughest September in BYU history is over, it has become abundantly clear the football team can't expect to emerge unscathed from such stiff competition.

The losses will accumulate any time the Cougars play the likes of Nebraska, Boise State, UCLA and Michigan over four consecutive weeks, especially when three games are on the road. Yet, to make any kind of inroads as an independent, the program has no choice but to continue on the same scheduling path.

That's why the next several Septembers will look much like this season. Starting next season and running through 2021, the Cougars will play 20 games against teams from Power 5 conferences in the first month season.

In reality, BYU has nowhere near the depth of talent to successfully compete with the grind it had this September. This point was clearly illustrated during last week's 31-0 loss to Michigan in a game that, according to the coaches, BYU was dominated in every aspect from start to finish.

"That thing was a shellshock from the first snap right up until the last," said BYU offensive coordinator Robert Anae. "We were beat from top to bottom from play one to, I don't know, whatever it was."

And the embarrassment was all worth it.

For four years since becoming an independent BYU football has been stuck in a rut. Without the lure of a conference championship, the team and fanbase has struggled to find incentive after a few losses. The home schedule has also lacked the sizzle to keep up fan interest.

The only way to grab any sort of national attention, as athletic director Tom Holmoe and coach Bronco Mendenhall have pointed out, is to play the toughest schedule possible even if it means taxing the team with an overload of road games.

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Is BYU football still playing for anything in 2015? After the shellacking that BYU received by the Michigan Wolverines, Cougar Nation began debating whether BYU's season is effectively over or not. I, myself, started hearing two voices in my head about whether the Cougars are still playing for anything. Call it an angel vs. a devil on my shoulders, or an optimist vs. a pessimist or whatever you want.

For the last few years Mendenhall has given variations of the following quote numerous times: "We're anxious to go anywhere we can, play the best opponents in front of the most people, in the most unique venues to help our program."

In victory and defeat, BYU grabbed a piece of the national spotlight for four weeks by playing such a difficult schedule. Finishing this September at 2-2 was far better for the program than going 4-0 by knocking off a string of cupcakes.

For two weeks, thanks to thrilling last-second wins against Nebraska and Boise State, the Cougars were the national darlings of college football. One national writer listed freshman quarterback Tanner Mangum as a serious Heisman Trophy contender after only one start.

BYU even got some positive national run in the one-point loss to UCLA in the Rose Bowl. In a weird way, the Cougars drew national attention by getting blown out in Ann Arbor, Michigan. From the first three games, most college football observers knew BYU had played an unusually grueling schedule. And they also knew the grind caught up to the Cougars.

I don't think there's any excuses. We knew the schedule that was presented to us in the offseason. –linebacker Jherremya Leuta-Douyere

After the Michigan game, Mendenhall admitted all the hoopla and travel played a factor, but he didn't want to use it all as a reason for his team's poor performance.

"I don't think there's any excuses," said linebacker Jherremya Leuta-Douyere. "We knew the schedule that was presented to us in the offseason. Most of us were excited just to travel and (get) the exposure that it brings to the program and the opportunity to see how we compete against the best."

Unless BYU gets an added surplus of talent in the next few recruiting classes, the results of this September might be repeated in the coming years. But give the Cougars credit for trying. And who knows, maybe everything will break right.

"Now that we're independent we don't have a choice," said former BYU linebacker Bryan Kehl. "We've got to schedule as hard as we can and try to win games."

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