Fall camp continues on Day 8

PROVO, Utah – Moving back into helmets and shoulder pads for another day of limited contact, the BYU football team continued to work hard Friday morning at the start of its second two-a-day practice session.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall called the limited contact “really, really efficient and really, really effective.”

“In this format, even though guys aren’t tackling and knocking guys to the ground and blocking, I can see a lot of what they’re capable of,” Mendenhall said.

The first practice of the day consisted of 18 periods, divided between conditioning, position drills, 7-on-7 and blue zone work. During the team series at the end of practice big plays were made on both sides of the ball.

The offense made back-to-back touchdowns during the first two plays of 11-on-11. Starting at the 20-yard line, senior quarterback Riley Nelson connected with junior Cody Hoffman for a touchdown before junior JD Falslev ran into the end zone for another 20-yard touchdown.

Freshman Mitch Mathews put the offense on the board again after grabbing a 10-yard pass by Nelson. On the final play of the day, Nelson scored through the air for the third time by finding a wide-open Hoffman in the back of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown.

Seniors DeQuan Everett and Preston Hadley shined for the defense with pass breakups in the end zone. Recently returned missionary Craig Bills picked off Nelson for another defensive highlight.

Nelson finished 7-for-9 for 65 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Senior James Lark also took snaps, going 1-for-3 for eight yards. Freshman Taysom Hill went 2-for-3 for 12 yards.

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After Thursday’s successful scrimmage, Mendenhall said the team will most likely have another scrimmage before camp ends.

“We accomplished exactly what we hoped to at the scrimmage,” Mendenhall said. “Rather than having on the depth chart guys side-by-side, we were able to get more clarity. We’ll probably do one more of those similar-type scrimmages before we move on to preparing for Washington State at the end of next week.”

BYU continues fall camp Friday afternoon before a Saturday morning practice.