Camp Cougar, Day 10


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Not quite halfway through four weeks of preparation for BYU's season opener at UConn, head coach Bronco Mendenhall on Tuesday said "man, it seems like camp has gone on forever, already."

Pronouncing the team "relatively healthy, and progressing, peaking towards scrimmage Friday night," Mendenhall said that "I feel good about where we are," but acknowledged again the grind of the preseason--a preseason he has said before could be a week shorter without sacrificing any readiness for opening day.

Asked if there might ever come a time when a coach voluntarily opts not to use the maximum of NCAA-allotted preseason practice periods, Mendenhall said "(I'm) tempted to (shorten camp), because I know of a lot of coaches right now that don't use their double-days when they have them."

"I know a lot of coaches who skip a practice or two for some kind of team activity. They're not doing those things because they feel like they don't have enough time (to prepare). It could happen.

"Maybe I'll have the players report a week later next year, and see how that goes," Mendenhall said, tongue only slightly in cheek.

Mendenhall's comments were perhaps also an indication that camp has reached the 'dog days,' when bodies begin to drag a bit and players are in need of a refresher.

"Today was one of those," said Mendenhall when asked about when he usually anticipates the arrival of the dog days. "It's a doldrum day."

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The media-observation segment concluding the full-pads practice included some 6-on-8 "skelly" work from the 20-yard line; the pass-only red-zone period saw the offense score touchdowns on seven of eight series.

Taysom Hill threw TD passes on all four of his series, while backup Christian Stewart got the offense into the end zone three times with TD tosses.

Scoring throws were made to seven different receivers: Devin Mahina, Colby Pearson, Terenn Houk, Ross Apo, Jordan Leslie, Keanu Nelson and David Kessler.

Mendenhall said that in 11-on-11 red-zone work not seen by the media, "the defense was very strong. Once we went to pass-skelly, the offense looked very strong."

"We have a lot of work to do in 11-on-11 offensively; the pass defense, secondary-wise needs quite a bit of work."

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During 11-on-11 work observed by the media, highlights were turned in by:

Michael Davis, who intercepted Hill and turned the play into a long pick-six,

Trey Dye, who stretched out to haul in a Stewart touchdown pass,

and Algie Brown, who took a short pass from Hill and turned it into a long TD.

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Kickoff return tandems on Tuesday were Adam Hine/Paul Lasike, Devon Blackmon/Jordan Leslie and Michael Davis/Mitchell Juergens.

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Mendenhall was asked for comment on Blackmon's apparent social-media acknowledgment of a pending punishment over rules violations.

The Monday tweets (since deleted) implied a suspension for the UConn game, but Mendenhall declined comment, reiterating that "any of the matters with our team, discipline-wise, will be internal."

"It seems like this generation likes to have their own press conferences through selfies, etc., but I'm not going to do that."

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Among players sitting out on Tuesday was offensive lineman Brayden Kearsley, who had been seeing regular time with the first-string at right guard. In his place, Brock Stringham and Terrance Alletto rotated at RG. Alletto also played first-team center, while freshman center Tejan Koroma got in for reps with the ones. Edward Fusi remained in the mix, getting what were second-string center snaps during the media-observation segment.

The six-foot, 280-pound rookie from Allen, Texas has looked more and more comfortable as camp has progressed. Mendenhall said Koroma has gone from "overwhelmed, behind and confused to begin with...(to) currently running with out number ones at center."

"He's doing a really nice job; rapid growth, rapid progress, and is really handling (his first college training camp) well.

"Our strongest player is probably Brock Stringham, and Tejan was his training partner (in preseason workouts). He can handle anything Brock can handle, as a true freshman."

Koroma is one of a number of offensive lineman who should be new additions to BYU's 'top ten' up front. The 2014 roster already includes ten offensive linemen who started games last season, but Mendenhall said "having ten starters is different than ten that had to start."

"I would say we had ten (linemen) that had to start...(and) I don't intend to have ten that 'have to start' this year.

"(There are) places we thought were completely solid and already established, (but) at center there are changes through competition; same thing is happening at guard and at tackle. I like it."

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Competition in the secondary has been intense, with rotations at cornerback changing day to day.

Two of the corners in the running for major reps are Trent Trammell and Jordan Johnson, both of whom missed last season with ACL injuries.

Mendenhall said on Tuesday that Trammell "has had four really good days in a row, after a pretty slow start."

The coach said "I think most of the slow start was (Trammell wondering) 'can I trust my knee?' Jordan is probably a week behind Trent as far as that goes, just trusting it...(wondering) can he break and will it hold, can he drive off of it?"

Trammell is not short on confidence as he assesses the strength of the cornerback group, claiming on Tuesday that "there's never too (much) pressure on us; we're the best athletes on the field."

"Everybody wants to start, everybody wants to play," said Blackmon of the competition at corner. "When you go out there you want to make a play and put your best foot out there so coach can see, and put you out there when it's time to play."

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Mendenhall said freshman Harvey Langi will play middle linebacker this season, and with Zac Stout remaining out (hamstring), Langi was running with the ones on Tuesday.

The coach said freshmen outside linebackers Troy Hinds, Tyler Cook and Fred Warner will all play this season.

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Friday's stadium scrimmage will allow the coaching staff to solidify some positional assessments, but Mendenhall said after practice that "there are not many evaluations that need to be made that haven't been made already."

"It will be one more chance for guys to play without the coaches standing right behind them telling them what to do. It will be more of an assignment and readiness check that way than (check of) ability--we have a pretty good idea of who we're going to play now."

The scrimmage is scheduled for 6:00 pm at LaVell Edwards Stadium and is open to the public. Gates open at 5:00.

Wednesday is a no-media day at camp; observation and interviews will return on Thursday.

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Greg Wrubell

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