Offense, defense making plays at second scrimmage

PROVO, Utah - The BYU football team held its second scrimmage of fall camp on Thursday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The team ran about 60 plays to help indentify where the team is at and solidify depth at key positions.

"We’re on track. We have two more days to clean up scheme-wise, then our full attention shifts," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "We have a great handle on personnel."

Mendenhall Interview

The offense shined for a big part of the scrimmage. Quarterback Riley Nelson directed three touchdown drives in four series. In the first of the day, Nelson found one of his favorite targets, wideout Cody Hoffman for two big completions, the second being a 17-yard scoring strike.

Nelson's second drive was a three-and-out but he scored on his final two. Wide receiver JD Falslev and running back David Foote were clutch on both scoring trips. Foote caught a quick pass and laid a shifty move on linebacker Austen Jorgensen to get free, running for 17 yards and on the next play Falslev's 24-yard reception set up a one-yard scoring run for Foote.

On Nelson's last drive, Falslev caught a short pass that turned into a 32-yarder with his speed. Later on, Foote punched the football into the end zone for his second one-yard touchdown.

Nelson finished the scrimmage going 10 of 16 for 169 yards and one touchdown. The senior signal caller didn't have any rushing attempts but got out in front of Falslev to throw a block for Falslev to pick up 10 yards. Falslev had two receptions for 56 yards to go along with his 10-yard rush. Foote finished with six rushes for 19 yards and two scores. He also had two receptions for 17 yards.

Running back Adam Hine got the bulk of the work for the running back crew. The redshirt freshman had 13 carries for 117 yards, including a 50-yard run to help set up a touchdown. Quarterback James Lark hooked up with wide receiver Kurt Henderson for a 15-yard score.

"Adam did a nice job. A little more breakaway than what we’d been able to see during camp," Mendenhall said. "A few longer runs so you could see him get to the second level and then make someone miss and run away."

First-year football player Paul Lasike, a former rugby star, was also a force out of the backfield, rushing two times for 23 yards and catching three passes for 16 yards. The 6-foot, 227-pounder was difficult to bring down, breaking tackles for a few extra yards on most plays.

"I liked the offensive line and running backs. I thought the run game looked really good," Mendenhall said. "Five, six yards per carry. Foote is hard to tackle. Paul Lasike is hard to tackle. Adam Hine showed some potential. There was some good lead blocking, I like that part a lot."

It wasn't all offense during the scrimmage however, with the defense making its share of plays also. Freshman defensive back Matt Hadley was a standout, recovering a fumble forced by defensive back Blake Morgan. Hadley also recorded a sack on the last play of the day.

Also registering sacks was linebacker Teu Kautai and defensive lineman Jherremya Leuta-Douyere. Defensive back transfers Drew Reilly and Adam Hogan both recorded pass breakups.

The Cougars will return to practice on Friday and have a few more days of practice before the focus turns to the season opener on Aug. 30 against Washington State.