Estimated read time: 9-10 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Day two of preseason camp featured only one trip into the end zone as former players and current players' family members watched from the sidelines on a warm afternoon in Provo.
Today was the last day that those two particular spectator groups will be allowed to observe otherwise closed practices; with the exception of the four public practices, all remaining sessions will be closed to all but media observers.
*******
The only touchdown scored in the "team" sessions of practice came on a 60-yard connection from Riley Nelson to J.J. DiLuigi, who ran open down the seam and took it the distance, with most of the yards coming after the catch.
That TD was part of a third-down "situational" session, during which I had both Jake Heaps' and Riley Nelson's units converting two of six third-down attempts.
*******
#heaps_oline
The practice-ending "team" session consisted of four full series; two of which went to Nelson, with Heaps and Jason Munns each getting one set of snaps. Heaps got the first series (3rd down incompletion--see below), after which Nelson's first series was aborted on a first-down fumble (so I am not counting it as a "series"). Nelson remained on the field for back-to-back series, one each with the first and second string. Both of his series ended on third-down sacks, one from Kyle Van Noy, and the second coming as Nelson stumbled under group pressure.
*******
Heaps had reason to feel hard-done by on his one "team" series. On a 3rd-down-and-14, Heaps threaded the needle 20 yards downfield to O'Neill Chambers, who dropped the perfectly thrown ball (a well-lofted strike that settled in between defenders at the sideline).
Heaps clapped his hands, McKay Jacobson encouraged Chambers to make those kinds of plays, and Heaps' day was done.
*******
In Nelson's final "team" series, he had Chambers in the end zone, and while the ball was underthrown, Chambers got his hands underneath the ball, but let it touch the ground--incomplete; on the next play, Nelson fell down under pressure, and his series was over. An unsuccessful fake field goal followed.
*******
"Team" stats (including 3rd down "situational" and full-field series):
Heaps: 6/9, 47 yds, 0 int
Nelson: 10/17, 139 yds, TD, 0 int; 3 rushes, 17 yds
DiLuigi: 3 rec, 77 yds, TD
Kyle Van Noy: 2 (whistle) sacks
*******
You can hear post-practice interviews with head coach Bronco Mendenhall and offensive coordinator Robert Anae in the "Cougar Cuts" box above. As Anae is the inside receivers coach, a lot of talk is about the tight end position.
Among other things, he makes a good point in response to a question I asked about the "H" receiver. Since Nate Meikle, the "small H" has not been a feature of the BYU offense, with Anae opting for a steady diet of double-tight end sets. Anae reminds us that the second tight end is an "H," albeit a big one. One tight end is a "Y," the other inside receiver (in the slot) is the "H," whether he's a tight end or a McKay Jacobson/Matt Marshall type.
*******
Anae and Mendenhall say nothing is set at TE. According to Bronco, it's "way early," adding "that's going to be a long (competition)." He did say Mike Muehlmann "probably has the early lead," because he went through spring practice and "knows what to do." Mendenhall said with seven tight ends on the roster, the coaching staff considered some position changes, but will instead let the competition play itself out.
Anae, likewise, says the tight end competition is "is still in the 'sort' phase; it's wide open...like NASCAR, everybody starting together."
*******
About freshman/return missionary tight end Austin Holt and the need to shake off the rust, Anae said "an athlete's an athlete; I'm sure the mission president didn't coach him the way I'm coaching him; he had plenty of that (mission life), now it's time for some of this."
On the early top-two TE duo of Muehlmann and Devin Mahina: "They're 'steady Freddie' kind of guys; shoot, before I knew much about Andrew (George) and Dennis (Pitta), they were in that kind of mold."
*******
Personnel notes:
LB Jadon Wagner (left knee) did not practice; out ten days to two weeks.
LB Jordan Atkinson (personal) expected to practice tomorrow.
DL Matt Putnam (academics) expected to practice on Thursday.
DL Tayo Fabululje (summer school commitment) did not practice.
LB Zac Stout (summer school commitment) missed most of practice.
TE Bryan Sampson (hamstring) did not practice.
RB Drew Phillips (NCAA Clearinghouse) did not practice; expected tomorrow.
OL Manu Mulitalo (NCAA Clearinghouse) was cleared and practiced.
*******
Day 2 Depth Chart
OFFENSE
QB: Jake Heaps OR Riley Nelson, James Lark OR Jason Munns
TB: J.J. DiLuigi, Josh Quezada, A.J. Moore OR Drew Phillips
FB: Zed Mendenhall, Algernon Brown OR Ryan Folsom
Combo: Bryan Kariya, Mike Hague, David Foote
TE: Mike Muehlmann, Devin Mahina, Marcus Mathews OR Austin Holt OR Richard Wilson, Bryan Sampson (injured), Matt Edwards
WR-H: McKay Jacobson, Matt Marshall, Dallin Cutler OR D.J. Doman
WR-Z: Luke Ashworth, Ross Apo OR Rhen Brown
WR-X: O'Neill Chambers, Spencer Hafoka OR Cody Hoffman OR B.J Peterson, J.D. Falslev
LT: Matt Reynolds, Jordan Black, Cole Jones OR Matt Jensen
LG: Braden Hansen, Ryan Freeman OR Austin Nielsen, Manu Mulitalo
C: Terence Brown, Houston Reynolds, Ryan Freeman OR Blair Tushau
RG: Jason Speredon OR Nick Alletto (not "live"; tweaked quad), Marco Thorson, Clayton Gruber
RT: Braden Brown, Walter Kahaiali'i, Quinn Lawlor
--
DEFENSE
LE: Eathyn Manumaleuna, Graham Rowley, Josh Marquardt OR Tayo Fabuluje
NT: Romney Fuga, Jordan Richardson, Travis Tuiloma
RE: Vic So'oto, Thomas Bryson, Matt Peterson
SLB: Jordan Pendleton, Zeke Mendenhall, Connell Hess
MLB: Shane Hunter, Austen Jorgensen, Zac Stout
BLB: Brandon Ogletree, Aveni Leung-Wai OR Collin Keoshian OR A.J Van Valkenburg
WLB: Jameson Frazier, Kyle Van Noy, Sae Tautu OR Alani Fua (Jadon Wagner injured)
FC: Brian Logan, Robbie Buckner or DeQuan Everett, Dalin Tollestrup
BC: Brandon Bradley, Corby Eason, Jordan Johnson
Kat: Andrew Rich, Jray Galea'i, Carter Mees
FS: Steve Thomas, Travis Uale, Landon Jaussi
--
*******
You will note that Kyle Van Noy was backing up on the weakside after playing at strongside on Saturday. I forgot to ask Coach Mendenhall about his plans for Van Noy in today's interview session; I'll try to do that tomorrow.
Eight-man football product Collin Keoshian saw some time with the "twos" at Buck linebacker this afternoon.
I did not notice LB Alani Fua out there for much of practice; he could very well have been one of the summer school players with a class commitment.
CB Robbie Buckner got most of the second-string snaps at the field corner spot today; he and DeQuan Everett have rotated behind Brian Logan.
*******
Hitting the notebook--
A ton of guys were back to field punts today: DiLuigi, Chambers, Jacobson, Hafoka, Falslev, Hoffman, Thomas, Tollestrup, Logan.
LB Brandon Ogletree is playing with a soft cast on one of his hands.
The always popular "pursuit" drill gave the #2 defense a hard time today; they had to do it three times before nailing it and giving way to the third-teamers. "Pursuit" rule: everyone does the drill right, or everyone does it again.
Speaking of drills, Mendenhall has devised a somewhat diabolical gauntlet-type exercise for the players on the kickoff-cover unit. "A head coach with too much time on his hands," he said, in explaining the drill.
Former BYU RB Curtis Brown was among the many ex-players in attendance today.
My former KSL broadcast colleague Nate Meikle was also on hand; he leaves for Stanford Law School next week.
*******
Mendenhall filled us in on defensive end Ezekiel Ansah, a 6'6", 254-pounder from Accra, Ghana.
According to the coach: "Ezekiel wandered through our office one day; I think our players kind of directed him, seeing he's 6-foot-whatever he is. He runs a 21.9 200-meters, but we had to help him put his (football) stuff on; he'd never put gear on before. He's a work in progress, but he wanted to give it a try. He showed up this summer, the players loved him; he wouldn't go away... even though he wasn't prepared, he showed up for workouts. He kind of grew on (the players) and they came to me and said 'make sure you bring him in the 105.' He doesn't know anything (about playing defensive end), but when he decides to run fast, he runs fast, and he's big."
*******
For players who have already gotten two practices under their belt, tomorrow will be the first day in "shells"--helmets and shoulder pads.
All players must go through two practices in helmets only, then two practices in shells, before being allowed to put on full pads in practice #5. So, for the first week or so, a handful of players (like Atkinson, Phillips, etc.) will be a few workouts behind their teammates and held out of certain segments of practice (those that require hitting, primarily) as a result.
*******
Tomorrow's schedule calls for the first morning practice of camp; every day from here on out will start with a 10:15am session; a 5:05pm practice will also be scheduled on days of two-a-days.
Tomorrow night will include a "Reunion Dinner" for upwards of 200 people (honorees and their families) who have been involved in BYU Football's "Thursday's Hero" program over the last number of years.
Each week during the season (and during camp), players help to identify and honor people in need due to hardships both physical and otherwise. The weekly honorees are brought to Thursday's practice, they meet the team afterward and receive mementos from the players and Coach Mendenhall.
Many honorees travel considerable distances, and events like last week's "Date Night" will help raise funds to make sure the "Thursday's Hero" program can continue to operate and meet the needs of those who come to Provo, regardless of their location.
Tomorrow night's dinner will take place on the practice field and bring back many of the people who have been honored as "Thursday's Heroes" in the past.
*******
You say you're not following me on Twitter? Fix that by going to twitter.com, signing up and then finding me under username gregwrubell.
Then, sit back and let the updates start rolling in. It's fun for the whole family.
*******
"TRUE BLUE NEVER FADES. BYU FOOTBALL ON KSL."
