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The first day of spring football at BYU was accompanied by what head coach Bronco Mendenhall called a "surprising" intensity that translated into a pair of multi-player donnybrooks inside the team's indoor practice facility in Provo.
The scraps were otherwise inconsequential, but Mendenhall said the opening day spirit was "surprising, for the first day--no pads...I think the team wants to be good."
"There were a couple of battles, a couple of confrontations," said safety Mike Hague. "It's football. Whether it's football in March or football in August, it's football. If we don't approach it (in March) the way we approach it in August, we won't get any better."
Hague said "people don't understand; we're used to running around and flying around, and it's a little foreign at first, when we get back first day. There's bound to be a few confrontations and a few inadvertent hits. Of course we don't want to get anybody hurt."
It was a helmets-only, no-pads workout on the first day of drills, with Mendenhall leading his team through a 22-period, two-hour practice, followed by another 10-15 minutes of conditioning. Practices will be held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday for the first two weeks of workouts.
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A number of front-line players are being held out of spring ball with injury/surgery-related concerns; linebacker Kyle Van Noy, cornerback Preston Hadley, TEs Richard Wilson, Austin Holt and Devin Mahina, RB David Foote, PK Justin Sorensen, DL Russell Tialavea, and OLs Braden Hansen, Braden Brown and Houston Reynolds were among those absent, or present but not taking part in full-speed drills and/or practice.
Among the players going full speed, I was most pleased to see FB Iona Pritchard back in action. Following his ankle dislocation/fracture in the first scrimmage of 2011's fall camp, it has been a long road back for the 6'0", 240 lb. bruiser, but he looked good today; he made a difficult catch out of the backfield and took it confidently down the sideline, like he had never left.
A pair of BYU rugby cross-overs were a part of opening day: RB Paul Lasike, and nose tackle Ray Forrester. Mendenhall is once again working with the nose tackles, and it was fun to observe his instruction and Forrester's performance among the more veteran players at the position. Lasike is certainly intriguing, at 6'0", 225 lbs.
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While first day depth charts may be an exercise in folly, here's a look at the two-or-three deep that took shape Monday:
OFFENSE
QB: Riley Nelson, James Lark, Taysom Hill
LT: Solomone Kafu, Corbin Kaufusi
LG: Manaaki Vaitai, Walter Kahaiali'i
C: Blair Tushaus, Terrance Alletto (Manaaki Vaitai)
RG: Brock Stringham, Terrance Motley
RT: Michael Yeck, Quinn Lawlor
TE: Kaneakua Friel, Trevor Brown
WR/TE: Marcus Mathews
WR-X: Cody Hoffman, Jordan Smith, Mitch Mathews
WR-Z: Ross Apo, Dallin Cutler, Terrenn Houk
WR-H: J.D Falslev (did not practice)
RB: Michael Alisa, Zed Mendenhall, Austen Jorgensen, Iona Pritchard
RB: Juice Quezada, Adam Hine, Paul Lasike
Note: RB depth will have a certain variance, as certain backs will be used primarily as tailbacks (Quezada), while others will be primarily fullbacks (Mendenhall) and others will perform as combo backs (Alisa).
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DEFENSE
LE: Eathyn Manumaleuna, Mike Muehlmann, Michael Doman
NT: Romney Fuga, Marques Johnson, Ray Forrester
RE: Ian Dulan, Moses Kaumatule, Simote Vea
SLB: Alani Fua and Spencer Hadley, Seth Probert
MLB: Uona Kaveinga, Zac Stout, Manoa Pikula
BLB: Brandon Ogletree, Tyler Beck, Riley Bushman
WLB: Ezekiel Ansah and Kevan Bills, Tanner Cox and Connell Hess
FC: Jordan Johnson, Cameron Comer
KAT: Daniel Sorensen, Chase Pendley, Jray Galea'i
FS: Mike Hague, Joe Sampson, Skye Po'vey
BC: Robbie Buckner, DeQuann Everett
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Of note, Mike Hague also took some snaps at boundary corner, playing alongside free safety Joe Sampson. You can gear Hague talk about the free safety position battle in his "Cougar Cuts" interview, above left. You can also hear post-practice interviews with Bronco Mendenhall, Riley Nelson, James Lark and Ross Apo.
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The 11-on-11 "team" portion of practice to end opening day consisted of five series; two each led by Riley Nelson and James Lark, with the fifth and final series directed by Taysom Hill. Nelson's two drives were unremarkable, while Lark saw the most productive drive of the day end with a field goal (Lark was the holder, by the way, with Riley Stephenson filling in for Justin Sorensen). Nothing much happened on Hill's lone drive.
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Among the jersey number changes or new jersey numbers to note this spring:
WR Ross Apo from #11 to #1
DB Joe Sampson from #5 to #1
LB Alani Fua from #36 to #5
LB Zac Stout is #10
DB O'Neill Chambers is #62
QB Jason Munns from #12 to #11
WR Brett Thompson from #85 to #19
WR Jordan Smith from #29 to #23
DL Jordan Richardson from #94 to #36
DL Ian Dulan from #65 to #39
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