BYU update-It looks like the Field Corner position is a battle between two blacks, one of which didn't play in the scrimmage today because of a concussion received yesterday. The Boundary Corner position might be Scott Johnson's. Coach Bronco Mendenhall will be making a lot of depth chart decisions this weekend. Here are a couple of articles about yesterday's practice and today's scrimmage.
http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=10992
PROVO, Utah (August 15, 2008) - The offense and defense took turns dominating team drills on Friday, with the defense forcing field goal attempts during the morning practice, and the offense scoring three times in the afternoon.
During morning team drills, kicker
Mitch Payne made 33 and 37-yard field goals after the first-team offense was unable to score. Freshman kicker
Justin Sorensen also had a field goal attempt, but missed the 43-yarder during an overtime situation. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall says the two kickers will continue to compete for the starting role until the week leading up to the season opener against Northern Iowa.
"We're trying to create as many pressure situations as possible," he said. "Mitch is more confident and more consistent day-in and day-out. I think the competition has helped that. It may very well be Mitch from short to mid field goal range, and Justin as a kickoff and long field goal guy, based on how the numbers play out. We have options within there."
Junior defensive back
Scott Johnson made several plays during the drills, including a forced third-and-10 situation. With the ball on the offense's own 31-yard line, Johnson's coverage on wide receiver
Michael Reed resulted in an incomplete pass. Johnson is one of several players competing for a starting position on BYU's young defense.
"We're competing with each other, not against each other, to try and make the whole secondary the best it can possibly be," he said. "Execution and position mastery is how this defense works, knowing where you're supposed to be and trusting your teammate to be where he's supposed to be."
The offense came back strong during 11-on-11 evening drills.
Max Hall threw for a perfect 6-of-6 for 100 yards. His first drive consisted of back-to-back five-yard passes to
Harvey Unga and
Luke Ashworth, followed by a deep 40-yard throw to freshman receiver O'Neill Chambers.
Hall's second drive was highlighted when senior
Fui Vakapuna caught a short pass up the middle and ran for a 25-yard gain. Ashworth hauled in a 19-yard pass which set up Hall's second touchdown pass of the night, a five-yard toss to
Andrew George.
Sophomore
Kurt McEuen started the final drive of the day, and connected with freshman tight end
Braden Brown for a 50-yard touchdown.
With the team's second scrimmage set for Saturday morning, Mendenhall has pinpointed several areas that require immediate attention. The team's first priority will be giving Hall the appropriate number of snaps determined by coach Doman and coach Anae. The coaches will follow by giving both McEuen and
Brenden Gaskins an equal number of snaps and allowing both quarterbacks to show where they stand.
"Saturday will be a great chance to break some of the ties among the players," said Mendenhall. "It's not just about the quarterbacks, but several of the other positions. Any of the positions that are relatively close right now, the scrimmage will hopefully make that lean one way or another."
http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=10993
PROVO, Utah (August 16, 2008) - Head coach Bronco Mendenhall will use the film from Saturday's scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium as he and his staff try to solidify the depth charts as they enter the third week of Fall Camp.
"With two weeks to play, a lot of those personnel decisions will be made over the weekend," said Mendenhall. "I'll have to look more specifically at what happened today. We have a couple hours of film work to do and hopefully that will help sort out the depth. I'd like to have it solidified by Monday."
Mendenhall will have plenty to look at over the weekendâ€â€offensively, defensively and on special teams.
Brenden Gaskins and
Kurt McEuen continued their battle for the backup quarterback position, receiving equal reps throughout the scrimmage, while kickers
Mitch Payne and
Justin Sorensen alternated on kickoffs and extra point attempts.
Sorensen's opening kickoff sailed into the endzone, setting the offense up on the 20-yard line. Quarterback
Max Hall led the first-team offense to the first score of the game, a five-yard touchdown pass to O'Neill Chambers. On the drive, Hall was five-for-five for 52 yards.
"Finally we're getting to a point where I'm in a rhythm with our receivers," said Hall. "I know where they're going to be and it feels a lot more smooth. Now we just have to work on being more consistent. We can't have a nice long drive, go down and score, and then go three-and-out on the next drive."
Hall's second drive of the day ended after he was sacked by
Shawn Doman on third-down. The defense racked up five sacks on the day.
Punter C.J. Santiago was kept busy during the next several series, with the defense forcing multiple three-and-out situations.
Hall led the team's second scoring drive, finding
Kaneakua Friel,
Fui Vakapuna and
Andrew George for big gains as the offense marched down the field. The drive ended with junior running back
Wayne Latu stumbling into the endzone on a three-yard rush.
Freshman quarterback
Stephen Covey came in to lead a predominantly run-oriented offense for the final series of the day. Covey racked up 19 yards on three carries and had several hand-offs to running back
Bryan Kariya for a combined 31 yards.
"Covey did a nice job today," said Hall. "He came out today and battled. He's just a good player and I think he had fun today. No matter who's on the field, I'm rooting for them. It's nice to know you have guys behind you who are playmakers."
Hall recorded a team-high 130 yards passing and completing 10-of-14 passes.
Midway through the scrimmage, junior linebacker
Dan Van Sweden was carted off the field after suffering what has been initially diagnosed as a fractured fibula.
The team will resume practice on Monday, holding practice in both the morning and evening.
http://www.sltrib.com/collegesports/ci_10224275
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<TD =articleTitle>Reserve linebacker breaks leg in BYU football scrimmage</TD></TR>
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<TD =articleByline>By Jay Drew
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune</TD></TR>
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<TD =article>Posted: 3:17 PM- PROVO - Coaches held some of the big-name stars out of BYU's scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday morning to avoid getting them injured, but saw a seldom-used linebacker go down with a season-ending injury anyway.
Junior linebacker Dan Van Sweden, a third-teamer from Northridge High in Layton, suffered a fractured fibula just a few plays into the scrimmage, coach Bronco Mendenhall said.
There were a few other minor injuries. Backup cornerback G Pittman did not play because he suffered a mild concussion in Friday's practice, and probable starters David Tafuna (safety), Austin Collie (receiver) and Matt Ah You (linebacker) also sat with injuries suffered before or during camp.
Mendenhall called the 68-play scrimmage "dead-even" between the offense and defense.
Running back Harvey Unga did not play for the offense, and linebacker David Nixon did not play for the defense. Tight end Dennis Pitta and defensive end Jan Jorgensen got in on only a few plays.
Max Hall led the offense on both its scoring drives, throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to freshman O'Neill Chambers on the first possession of the day. Later, Wayne Latu capped a drive with a short TD run.
"It's not bad," said Hall, who was 10-for-14 for 130 yards and a touchdown in leading the offense to two TDs in four possessions. "I wanted to get it in every time. And I was just saying, we got to be more consistent. We have to have a nice drive every time we step on the field."
Mendenhall said he won't know which players lost or earned places on the depth chart until he watches the film, but clearly sophomore kicker Mitch Payne moved ahead of freshman Justin Sorensen in the race to be the field goal kicker.
Payne made a 55-yarder and a pair of 43-yarders in pre-scrimmage drills, while Sorensen missed all three of his tries from the same lengths.
The Cougars will take Sunday off and resume practice on Monday with sessions at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Mendenhall said he has not decided yet if he will conduct another scrimmage before the end of fall camp.</TD></TR></T></TABLE>
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