Defense improves Monday, offense continues to earn praise

PROVO, Utah — In its first practice since the spring scrimmage, the BYU football team took to the turf in the Indoor Practice Facility Monday morning to begin the fifth and final week of spring drills.

The team conducted its 13^th practice session with a return to its usual practice format. BYU will wrap up spring on Friday with its annual Alumni Day.

In the 11-on-11 team segments on Monday, the defense made several plays that slowed the offense’s progression downfield.

Highlighting the big plays made by Cougar defenders were freshman defensive back Brian Fifita recording an interception over the middle and freshman linebacker Phillip Amone, junior cornerback Michael Davis and senior defensive linemen Latanoa Pikula and Logan Taele each tagging the quarterback with a sack. Sophomore defensive lineman Kesni Tausinga also had one of a couple additional tackles for loss recorded by the defense.

On offense, freshman Rickey Shumway, junior Mitchell Juergens and seniors Mitch Mathews and Kurt Henderson each made nice plays from the receiver position while junior running back Algernon Brown also contributed as a receiver out of the backfield.

Sophomore defensive back Kamel Greene had a pass breakup during the 7-on-7 drills while juniors Colby Pearson and Nick Kurtz and sophomore Trey Dye were among the receivers who helped move the offense with catches.

Regarding last weekend’s “Friday Night Lights” event, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said he has received positive feedback and indicated the Friday night format will certainly be considered in the future along with the more traditional Saturday scrimmages. The event attracted some 14,000 fans that were able to attend a kids clinic and meet and mingle with the team prior to the practice and scrimmage.  

With regard to what he saw from his team on the field, Mendenhall said the defense took a step forward in execution but still has quite a bit of work to do while the offense showed what he has consistently seen from that unit all spring.

“We are going to be able to throw and catch the ball well,” Mendenhall said. “I think our protection will be stronger than what it has been, and I like the explosive nature of our receivers. Running back will be certainly strong and deep enough. What our team is calling the bash brothers—Steven Richards and Tanner Balderree, both got switched over from defense—they are adding a nice dimension to our offense being able to block and catch the ball on play action. Ultimately, we really like what we have seen offensively.”

BYU will conduct practice again Wednesday before its spring finale on Friday.