Running Game Featured During Four-Minute Drills

PROVO -- Spring situational work continued on Tuesday as the BYU football team practiced a series of full-contact four-minute drills outdoors. The run game was the feature of the day as the offense was given the situation of coming from behind and the defense had to manage its timeouts appropriately.

“I’m very impressed with our situational work so far,” said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “A lot of those situations determine the outcome of a game, so the more experience we have handling those the better.”

The defense had a better performance on three of the four series, holding the first-team offense and Harvey Unga to negative yardage on the ground. Senior defensive lineman Brett Denney was quick off the line as he tackled Unga for a loss of one yard. Senior linebacker Terrence Hooks got into the action to force J.J. Di Luigi back two yards. A bright moment for the offense came as senior tight end Dennis Pitta secured a tough pass over his right side from quarterback Max Hall to convert on third-and-eight.

The second-team offense started their first drive with an 11-yard run by freshman Malosi Te'o. On the day Te'o recorded 18 yards rushing on six carries.

As Hall and company retook the field it was senior defensive back Scott Johnson’s turn to contribute a big play, holding Unga to no gain. Another completion from Hall to Pitta brought up a tough fourth-down, but the defense stuffed Di Luigi to end the series.

The Cougars will have Wednesday off before resuming practice on Thursday. Practice is closed to the public.