Final week of fall camp begins

PROVO, Utah — BYU football started its final week of fall camp in preparation for the first game of the season August 26 against Portland State.

The Cougars are now transitioning to morning practices to implement an in-season type of schedule. The team is utilizing extra time before school starts to watch film and do walk-throughs.

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BYU will have an open practice at LaVell Edwards Stadium this Thursday, August 17, at 10 a.m. Get more details HERE.

The following quotes are from BYU’s post-practice media availability on Monday.

Head coach Kalani Sitake
Scrimmage on Thursday
“The defense was really good. Offense made some bad decisions, but we saw some good things from them. They were still physical up front. There are still a lot of things that we need to clean up.”

“With our defense flying around and adding a little bit more to the blitz package and covering, it was meant to confuse the offense more. It created some turnovers and big plays, and that was lacking from the first scrimmage.”

Transition heading into the final week of fall camp
“We are starting to transition into getting ready for Portland State, but if you start too early they become stale as well. We want to spend the right amount of time finishing and polishing up on our offense, defense and special teams.”

Matt Bushman playing as a freshman
“The guy can catch. He runs routes and is big and athletic. He’s getting better as a blocker and he has gained weight so he’s big. Steve Clark has done a great job preparing him and that whole position group has gotten a lot better. We are committed to the tight end position. He’s humble and willing to work hard. He’s even willing to block for others and that usually makes a great player for us. He does all the little things too.” 

Receivers coach Ben Cahoon
“Practice today was good. We had a long weekend off, but they brought great energy today.”

On playing tough defensive teams with press coverage
“It’s been a high priority preparing for those teams this fall camp. We have to win at the line of scrimmage. We have a defense that has been very cooperative. They are in our face and pressing us and has been a big part of fall camp.”

On fall camp surprises 
“The most pleasant surprise has been the emergence of Neil Pau’u. He’s had a really nice camp and has been extremely consistent in catching the ball well since he changed positions. He has stepped up and had a nice game.”

On Talon Shumway 
“He is a great athlete and a competitor. He is tall and strong, and has had a great camp. Neil has pushed him and it’s been nice to see. Neil is going to fight for playing time, and Talon is going to respond. It’s been a nice little battle. Talon is still quite young, but he is going to be a playmaker for us.” 

On Aleva Hifo 
“He’s had a really good camp. He’s dynamic and might be as dynamic a football player as we’ve ever had at BYU. It’s not just me that thinks that. He just needs to work on being a little bit more consistent and earning the trust of the quarterback. He is quicker than a cat, explosive and dangerous with the football. He’s going to be fun to watch. The fact that he missed spring ball has hurt him in not having those reps with the quarterback, but he is doing the best that he can and making up for it.”

Quarterback Tanner Mangum
Today’s practice
“I think we came out today and had a good, sharp practice. It was a little bit quicker, but I thought we did a good job keeping the energy up. Sometimes it can be tempting on a Monday to just go through the motions, but guys were excited to come out and get better.”

On Neil Pau’u
“Neil Pau’u it’s his first year, but ever since he got here in January he has been working hard. He’s done a good job of getting better throughout fall camp, going against the physical defense and the physicality of the corners. He’s handling it, he’s absorbing it and still getting open. That’s what we need. We need guys who can learn, pick up the speed of the game and go out and make plays come game time.”

On Matt Bushman
“Matt does a great job of using his speed. He’s a tall guy, he’s 6-foot-5, but he moves well. He uses his speed to create separation between linebackers and safeties, but he’s also got a great feel. He’s good at finding the soft spots in the defense, finding holes and he just knows where he needs to be. He’s done a really good job for us.”

The defense
“Our defense is good. I’m tired of seeing Fred (Warner), Sione (Takitaki), Micah (Hannemann) and Matt Hadley making plays. They’re good players, so that’s exciting for me because I’m excited to see what they can do against our opponents.”

Expectations and potential for the season 
“We have high expectations for ourselves and high goals. I really believe the sky is the limit, it’s just up to us if we want to execute. We have good talent, we have good players, we have a great coaching staff with good schemes and so it’s just up to us. A lot of that falls on me and I recognize that as the quarterback I need to take the responsibility of the offense to move the ball and put points on the board to put our team in a good position to win. That’s exciting to me, I like having that potential because we have worked all offseason, the hardest we’ve ever worked, and we’re ready to go and put that out on the field.”

Offensive lineman Austin Hoyt
Lessons from the scrimmage 
“A big thing we learned from the scrimmage was cleaning up our pass protection. We had a couple small errors on that. And then to keep working on technique — working on big punches and staying lower. Those are big takeaways we learned from the scrimmage.”

What impresses you most about Tanner
“I think Tanner’s ball placement and how he delivers the ball on time in the right spot. He does a great job at that. And our big job is keeping the defense off of him and keeping a big pocket around him. Tanner’s ball placement and passing have been great.”

How have you seen your abilities improve over the past seasons
“In my abilities, I’ve noticed that I understand the plays a lot better. I’m able to recognize the defense and what they’re going to do and it’s helped me to be able to react to it quicker.”

Assessment of the D-line
“The defensive line is doing really well. I think we’ve got a couple of really good young guys, but there are also returners like Corbin (Kaufusi), Sione (Takitaki), Kesni (Tausinga), Handsome (Tanielu) — all of those guys are doing a really good job. I think the D-line is going to be really strong this year.”