BYU football camp Day 11

The Cougars completed their morning workout Thursday on Day 11 of fall camp. The practice was open to the public, and 1,001 fans showed up to watch drills and a short 11-on-11 scrimmage. It was another stellar day for the defense, as the offensive highlights were few. The biggest crowd reactions came when O’Neill Chambers broke loose into open field on a kickoff, and when third-string linebacker Connell Hess leveled JJ DiLuigi for a loss on a swing pass. Junior QB Riley Nelson had a quiet day going 0 for 1, while freshman QB Jake Heaps was 7 of 9 for 59 yards. The only score came on a 2-yard dive from DiLuigi, who also caught three passes for 25 yards and rushed twice for 20 yards. His score was set up by an 18-yard run. Luke Ashworth caught a 21-yard pass. Romney Fuga and Vic So’oto each had sacks.
“We’re aligned right to finish strong, now it’s just a matter of putting in the work and getting execution where we need to in a pretty short amount of time,” coach Bronco Mendenhall said following the practice.
The team’s execution is still not as clean as Mendenhall wants to see it.
“No question, we’re not game ready yet and probably no one in the country is. But us, maybe more so than any, we have a lot more youth to get seasoned and a lot more chemistry to establish and a lot more plays to be made,” he said.
He’s happy, however, with the effort. Any uncertainty the coaching staff has is to be expected with the team’s youth and inexperience.
“I know they’ll try hard, and I know they want to play well, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be a finished product by the time we play. We’ll see.”
Mendenhall said there’s nothing new in the quarterback battle. Also, the tight end starting job is still wide open and any one of those vying for the job is capable of getting the opening-day nod.
“I haven’t seen anyone really emerge . . . and that’s a little unsettling. But right now we’re pushing the pace as fast as we can and trying to influence it as much as we can as coaches, but the bottom line is it takes time.”
The receiver spots are solid. McKay Jacobson, Ashworth and Chambers will be interchangeable, and Cody Hoffman should also get plenty of playing time. As far as other receivers, Mendenhall said nothing going on there worthy of comment yet.
Bryan Kariya and DiLuigi are firming up their spots in the backfield, and Zed Mendenhall is emerging at fullback. Algernon Brown saw action at fullback today and Vic So’oto might see some time at fullback on goal-line situations.
Only five injured players remain on “muscle beach” and stayed inside during practice – Drew Phillips, Matt Santos, Jordan Atkinson, David Foote and Garrett Eskelsen. Mike Muehlmann, Bryan Sampson, Jadon Wagner and Mitch Payne all were back and participating in drills.
Payne, sideline for a week with an ankle sprain, was successful on his only PAT attempt. Trainers are limiting his kicks each day, and believe he’ll return to full strength quickly.