Football wraps up first week of fall camp

PROVO, Utah - BYU's football team completed its first week of fall camp with a practice and scrimmage in front of more than 10,000 fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday morning.

Saturday's scrimmage marked the first time fans were able to see the 2013 football team in action since it started fall camp on Aug. 3.

"The one drive from our offense towards the end of practice has been what I have seen throughout fall camp up to this point," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "That was the cleanest representation of offenseive football that I saw today. Defensively they were sound in general; it looked like they got tired to me at some point toward the end of practice. I'm comfortable with the amount of players that we have and the amount of depth we currently have. Execution, installation, etc., we are still about 20 practices away from ending camp so there is still a lot of work to do. Overall, a solid day."

Video Highlights and Mendenhall Interview

Fans saw firsthand an example of what a typical practice looks like with individual, team and special teams drills spread over the course of two hours.

After warm ups, the team opened practice with a 'blue zone' period (from the 20 yard line) with quarterbacks Taysom Hill, Ammon Olsen and Christian Stewart each taking snaps. Olsen found wideout Ross Apo for a 15-yard score in the back corner of the end zone. Hill and Stewart's drives ended in field goals with Vance Bingham kicking a 19 yarder and Justin Sorensen knocking one in from 26 yards out.

Just before moving into a 7-on-7 session, the place kickers each attempted a field goal from 52 yards with Trevor Samson and Sorensen each splitting the uprights. Later in the session, both sides of the ball made plays with defensive back Scott Lefrandt registering a pass break up and wide receiver Terenn Houk hauling in two grabs for a total of 26 yards.

In the final session of practice, the team completed an 11-on-11 period. Hill led the first-team offense on a 16-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a 2-yard scoring run by running back Adam Hine. Hill finished the drive 5 for 8 for 55 yards and three rushes good for 20 yards. He found five different receivers on all five of his completions on the drive. Practice ended on a defensive highlight as defensive back Michael Wadsworth intercepted a pass and ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown.

"I like the talent, I like the pace, I like the consistency and I've liked the execution for the first week of practice," Mendenhall said. "Probably a lot better than where I thought it would be (at this point)."

Fall camp resumes on Monday with players taking part in two-a-days. 

Cougar Nation will also have an opportunity to meet members of the team at the annual Cougar Kickoff at Haws Field (directly west of the Indoor Practice Facility) on Wednesday, Aug. 21. BYU welcomes fans to meet with members of the football team at the annual Cougar Kickoff from 6-8:30 p.m. MDT. Fans can also meet members of the women’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s cross country teams and the Spirit Squad.