Hoffman, Di Luigi Make Touchdown Grabs

PROVO -- Freshman wideout Cody Hoffman and junior running back J.J. Di Luigi caught touchdown passes from junior quarterback Riley Nelson during practice Tuesday morning.

In his first possession during the team segment, Nelson hit freshman tight end Marcus Mathews for back-to-back completions before throwing an interception to Jray Galea’i.

The junior would bounce back on his next possession, completing a pass down the middle of the field to freshman running back Joshua Quezada. After finding Bryan Kariya for a short gain, Hoffman went up and got a fade pass in the back of the end zone.

The Cougar defense came back on the next possession, providing coverage in the secondary that resulted in three-straight sacks by freshman Kyle Van Noy, sophomore Eathyn Manumaleuna and senior Vic So’oto.

Practice ended with the customary long form 11-on-11 session. Freshman quarterback Jake Heaps had the first chance running the offense, handing off to Di Luigi for a seven-yard run and completing a short pass to freshman tight end Mike Muehlmann before being stopped by the Cougar defense. Heaps went 5-for-14 for 19 yards on the day.

Nelson returned for the last two possessions, the second of which lasted 10 plays and resulted in a 10-yard touchdown pass to Di Luigi. Nelson also ran for 17 yards and completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive, including a 23-yarder to Hoffman. Altogether, Nelson went 13-for-21 for 149 yards and two touchdowns while running for 63 yards on seven carries.

Di Luigi totaled 13 yards on two rushes to go with his touchdown catch. Junior Spencer Hafoka had 22 yards on two catches while Hoffman had 25 yards and two catches.

"I liked the intensity," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "I thought that was a positive thing out there today."

Freshman running back Drew Phillips suffered a quad contusion during the practice. X-rays came back negative, and he is expected to be fine.