Fall camp practice No. 2

Monday, it was back to the reality of fall camp.
Saturday’s opening practice was filled with excitement but Monday’s session overall was “sloppy and a little bit undisciplined” according to coach Bronco Mendenhall.
“As good as the first day was, and I praised them, from the early kicking session, the volume of kicks it took to get that up to standard carried through for quite a bit of the practice,” he said. “A lot of attention to detail and maybe the enthusiasm for precise execution drifted a little bit and it took us most of the day to get it back. I think we learned a lot. We’ll find out tomorrow if they retained it.”
Any explanation for the sloppiness? “I probably praised them too early,” Mendenhall said. “But I was very pleased with the Saturday practice. I’ve always been honest with them and they’ve proved that they weren’t quite capable of handling that and it took the edge off them a little bit.”
A couple of players said the reason for the sluggishness stemmed from a rigorous weight room session earlier in the day, something they didn’t do Saturday.
After practice, Mendenhall had his players do “up-downs” as a penalty for breaking team rules. Two players, out of the 105 in camp, didn’t complete an assessment test they had been asked to do. Six others did something else that Mendenhall did not elaborate on. Quarterback Max Hall said some players did not have a coin that Mendenhall gave the team and asked them to carry with them while they’re not on the field.
At the beginning of fall camp, Mendenhall gave every player a coin that features an image of a player running with the Y. Flag. The mission statement is embossed on the opposite side: “To be the flag bearers of Brigham Young University through football excellence, embracing truth, tradition, virtue and honor as a beacon to the world.”
Apparently, when coaches were checking to see if players had those coins in their possession off-the-field prior to practice, several did not. Hence, the “up-downs” penalty was enforced.
As for his performance on the field, Hall, who threw a couple of picks during the non-contact scrimmage, acknowledged that the practice was sloppy. However, he added that, “We ended practice well. We made some great plays. This is what fall camp is for — to keep getting better.”
During team kicking drills, incumbent placekicker Mitch Payne drilled several field goals while freshman Justin Sorensen missed a few.
Running back Fui Vakapuna was still limited in his participation in practice due to a lingering hamstring injury.