Another fall camp practice for BYU football

PROVO, Utah– BYU football picked up fall camp again with a practice session that was observed by the media Tuesday.

“The defense did a much better job of limiting explosive plays and executing without major breakdowns, which limited points," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "The biggest difference from the scrimmage to previous practices days was a lack of explosive plays offensively. I like where our team is. We’re still ways to go before we play, but I think we’re on the right track."

The Cougars trained in only shoulder pads and helmets, working on short field situations, special teams, position-specific skills with some 11-on-11 work in addition to a water balloon diversion.

Some explosive plays highlighted the day for the offense as Mitchell Juergens broke a 55-yard run and Squally Canada broke a long run on the left side. Quarterback Beau Hoge also ran 20 yards after not finding anyone open down field.

Later Tuesday, the team will head to the 11th annual Cougar Kickoff from 6-8:30 p.m. at Haws Field. Athletes from the football, women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and cross country teams will be available to sign autographs and run games and drills for fans and kids. Fans will also have the chance to take photos with Cosmo, the Cheer team and the Cougarettes. Admission is free.

Prior to Cougar Kickoff, the annual Cougar Sale takes place in the adjacent Indoor Practice Facility beginning at 5 p.m. Cougar Club members can gain early admission at 4:30 p.m. by presenting their membership card. The Cougar Sale, which goes to 7 p.m., allows fans to pick up gameday shirts and posters and purchase game-worn apparel, jerseys and more. Admission is free.

QUOTES

Coach Bronco Mendenhall

“Day by day, momentum is swinging back and forth between the offense and defense.”

On Steven Richards:

“It’s unfortunate that yesterday we had a season-ending injury. It was a non-contact injury to our tight end Steven Richards. He was on the grass running a route. At tight end, there are two positions: the pass catching position and the blocking position. Stephen was running number one at our true tight end spot. It will be interesting to see how that is filled in. Bryan Sampson is a candidate. Tanner Balderree and Theodore King as well in terms of the true tight end spot.”

“Some of our corners have been starting to play better than we had anticipated. We have a little more depth and if that happens, our nickel/dime package could benefit greatly. If we have Micah [Hannemann] and Kai [Nacua] that know multiple positions, that basically doubles our depth.

Disruptive defensive plays and keeping track of it in practice:

“They’re really important on early downs because they allow us to get the third downs. We have a really extensive nickel and exotic blitz package that allows us to be confident in third down play. On early downs, if we are able to make sure that we are in second and long, or at least medium, that’s really important to us.

Top three safeties right now:

“Eric Takenaka, Kai Nacua and Grant Jones, but following close behind is Matt Hadley.”

Difficult beginning portion of schedule:

“It doesn’t change the way we practice. I don’t know how to prepare them any more than we have. It’s on the road and they’re great opponents, so we’re certainly not wasting anytime. I think we have a nice model to start and some experience, especially in the quarterback position, so that will help us.”

Derwin Gray talking to the team:

“He did such an amazing job today. He was a great player and a great speaker. He really talked about the stories in BYU football and he shared a lot of those stories. He talked about different games and players he was involved with, and then challenged them to make their own stories. The players started to grasp the history and tradition of this program that came alive with the stories. It was very powerful.