Practice report: getting ready for Seminoles

Junior cornerback Brandon Bradley hails from Tallahassee, home of Florida State. He was never a FSU fan, but he knows a lot of people who are, including his brother. I’ll have more about him, and his story, in an article on Thursday.

Coach Bronco Mendenhall said as far as who will handle the kickoff chores, it’s “dead-even” right now between Mitch Payne and Riley Stephenson. The battle may go all the way until warmups before Saturday’s game.

Of course, the problem has been too many kickoffs going out of bounds, giving the opponent the ball at the 40-yard line. The kickers are instructed to kick it toward the sideline because of the coverage BYU plays. “The issue with kicking it down the middle is, you have more field to cover,” Mendenhall said. “It’s easier to cover if you place the ball in the corner. It’s a fine line between how far to put it to the corner. I think we could kick it down the middle every time, but it would require a different coverage. If we are unable to put it directional, we might have to cover in the middle, which is more difficult.”

Jordan Richardson, an Idaho native who was moved from the defensive line to the offensive line on Monday, is adjusting to his new role on the depleted O-line.
“He’s being force-fed the offense,” Mendenhall said. “He calls it, ‘Drinking from a fire hose,’ some sort of Idaho term he used today. He’s certainly not game-ready yet, but it’s given us a chance to practice. (Tight end) Braden Brown is working at the other tackle. We’ve done about every option available.”

Offensive lineman Jesse Taufi isn’t back yet and won’t be until he resolves academic issues, Mendenhall said.

Mendenhall was asked about DirecTV no longer carrying Versus, which will broadcast Saturday’s game with Florida State. “I didn’t even know about that until just a second ago. That’s unfortunate that a contract or negotiations couldn’t be reached for the benefit of the subscribers and fans. It’s too bad … The contract in general from beginning to end has been less than desired.”