Cougar Tracks: Spring Ball, Day 13

The final week of BYU's spring practice schedule started with a slightly-shorter-than-normal session at the indoor practice facility Monday afternoon.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall eliminated two scheduled 11-on-11 periods after a 20-minute "skelly" (no down linemen) series that featured the offense running an all-pass, no-huddle hurry-up against BYU's nickel defense.

Five quarterbacks combined to complete around 40 passes over eight series, with the coach saying that "with the offense going up-tempo the entire skelly period, that means we probably doubled the number of plays, so at that point, I thought we'd had enough."

BYU's 90-minute practice was conducted with helmets only, and Mendenhall says the team will not be in pads in either of the final two spring practices, Wednesday and Friday.

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The spring's final padded practice was Saturday's scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium; Mendenhall said a video breakdown showed that "we were pretty accurate with what we shared (in interviews) afterwards; maybe one other player I would have added (to the list of stand-outs) is offensive tackle Michael Yeck--did a couple things that I really liked. Chase Pendley might have been another player that helped himself in the secondary."

On whether Pendley could end up as a back-up to Daniel Sorensen at Kat safety, Mendenhall said "could be, and again, that scrimmage helped him...Jray Galea'i did some nice things as well (at Kat), so the depth at secondary was a positive that came out of (the scrimmage) at the safety spot."

Mendenhall says the scrimmage "just helped solidify what our two-deep will look like going into the fall, and getting a chance for players to be in the stadium, experience BYU Football and have some fun. That was really what we were hoping to accomplish."

The coach said that from a health and injury perspective, "we came out of it great, which is a real positive." Mendenhall said RB Adam Hine, who left the scrimmage after taking a hit to the head ("good hit," said Mendenhall) did not have a concussion, but Hine did sit out today's practice. LB Uani Unga had an arm in a sling today; Mendenhall said it was a bone bruise, "nothing significant, nothing serious."

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Monday's skelly session included a pair of touchdown tosses: Taysom Hill going 50 yards to Skyler Ridley, and Ammon Olsen finding Dallin Cutler with a 35-yard score, with Cutler out-battling O'Neill Chambers for the ball at the goal line. Ridley bobbled and dropped what would have been an earlier TD on a perfect long-distance strike from Riley Nelson.

Linebacker Spencer Hadley made an acrobatic turn in the air to pick off James Lark for the only turnover of the session.

There was no 11-on-11 work in Monday's practice, but we still have a depth chart (only players who practiced today are on today's two-deep):

Note: DE/LB Ziggy Ansah did not practice Monday due to a class schedule conflict.

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I was tweeting (@gregwrubell on Twitter) earlier today about the potential similarities between 2006 and 2012 at BYU's quarterback position. In '06, BYU had two senior QBs (John Beck, Jason Beck) who completed every pass attempted that season. Max Hall spent the '06 season on the scout team, as he was forced to sit out to satisy transfer requirements. In 2007, Hall then began his three-year tenure as BYU's starting quarterback.

In 2012, BYU has two seniors atop the QB depth chart (Riley Nelson and James Lark), with an ostensible heir apparent in Taysom Hill, a return missionary freshman. While Hill is not being forced to sit out this year, as Hall was in '06, a redshirt season taking everyday reps on the scout team could be considered a possibility for Hill.

I asked Mendenhall today if he sees any commonalities in the two situations, and whether a season as a scout team QB might help Hill, while BYU rides its two upperclassmen under center.

Mendenhall says says "the key question is: will we use Taysom in some form of 'direct-snap' (package)...we'll have to make that choice and weigh that against a year of development like Max (Hall) had, versus contribution right now, in some limited capacity. Haven't decided that yet."

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Asked about things he had learned in his first year as the coach of an independent program that might help him moving into year two, Mendenhall said "I probably underestimated the end of the season, in terms of if there's not a conference championship or a significant game right at the tail end, then there's kind of a lull as you get ready for your bowl game."

"My hope would be to always target and get a real nice matchup at the end of the season. Scheduling is difficult, but that's something I would probably do different. We had that in mind (with Hawaii in 2011), but that was as close to a real nice finish as we were hoping for. I think that's going to be an imperative part of the program going forward."

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Clearing the notebook:

BYU will have a day off on Tuesday, then return to practice Wednesday. Thursday will be the program's "pro day," then Friday will be "Alumni Day" at the stadium as the Cougars hold their final practice of the spring.

Former BYU running back J.J. DiLuigi attended Monday's practice, as did returned missionary Craig Bills, who will re-take the field this fall as a safety in a deep secondary.

Linebacker Kyle Van Noy is now out of his sling was and was walking his fellow LBs through some drills; other veteran players in their respective position groups were doing the same as the Cougars prepare to start running players-only workouts in the spring and summer.

You can hear post-practice interviews with Bronco Mendenhall and Riley Nelson in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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