Camp Cougar, Day 9

Having hit the halfway mark, Cougar camp heads "downhill" now, after an "upbeat" day for the offense--so upbeat that Defensive Coordinator Jaime Hill preferred that his players not talk to the media after practice, feeling they failed to "earn" the privilege today.

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Head coach Bronco Mendenhall preferred to applaud the work of the offense, which was successful getting into the end zone in "Blue Zone" and "goal line" work to end practice.

The first blue zone series culminated with Max Hall finding Michael Reed with a 15-yard scoring toss on 3rd and goal--Reed making the grab in front of Brandon Howard.

Kurt McEuen led the next series from the 20-yard line, with Wayne Latu rumbling in for a touchdown only a handful of plays into the series.

Hall returned and it was two quick plays for Harvey Unga--a 7-yard run and a 10-yard reception. Running three straight plays from the "Jumbo" formation, Hall found Kaneakua Friel with a perfect scoring toss. Friel dropped the ball, but it was counted as a touchdown, with Mitch Payne on to record the PAT.

Brenden Gaskins threw to Matt Marshall for a 2-yard touchdown on the ensuing series, after which Bronco called for "Goal Line"--with two plays run from the 3-yard line and one play from the 1. First play was a play-action scoring toss to Andrew George; the next play was an Unga TD run, and the last was a fade TD to Dennis Pitta. And that was it for today.

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Players missing due to injury today:

WR Austin Collie (stress fracture, leg)

MLB Matt Ah You (bruised sternum/chest contusion)

WR Bryce Mahuika (quads)

DL Kyle Luekenga (hamstring)

S David Tafuna (concussion)

CB Garrett Nicholson (hamstring)

WR Tyler Kozlowski (quad)

Bronco talks about the injury list and wondered aloud about the correlation between off-season conditioning (or lack thereof) and the various strains and pulls being observed after the opening week.

I interviewed Austin Collie about the recovery from his stress fracture, and I'd be surprised if he's not playing in the season opener. As he put it, if the game were today, he'd play. Not that he wouldn't be sore and not that he wouldn't prefer to let the leg heal more fully, but the "gamer" in Collie says if he had to play today, he would find a way.

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I also talked with WR Luke Ashworth, sporting a nasty gash under his right eye after tangling with a fellow former Timpview T-Bird this morning.

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Lavell Edwards was present for practice today, and he shared a few words with Bronco, before settling in to watch from a handy golf cart. He was walking with a cane after some recent foot surgery, but looked great, and everyone with whom he talked was left smiling.

Lavell was accompanied by grandson and Woods Cross grad Matthew Edwards (son of John), who plans to walk on as an inside receiver or outside linebacker once school starts.

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Early special teams work featured Justin Sorensen drilling a pair of 55-yard field goals, and Bronco hinted that Sorensen will at the very least be a long field goal/kickoff specialist, with the chance to unseat Mitch Payne as a kicker on shorter FG attempts and PATs. It's too soon to conclude anything because the competition continues, but Sorensen has clearly established himself from long distance.

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Payne kicked off twice and kicked to the 12- and 5-yard line, while Sorensen kicked to the 4 on his lone attempt.

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According to Bronco, the kickoff/punt return pool will be composed of Austin Collie, Michael Reed and Luke Ashworth in some combination, with O'Neill Chambers being developed in that area. Notably absent from that group is Bryce Mahuika, who is missing substantial reps as a receiver, holder and returner. Reed White is also a punt return option.

Harvey Unga was back receiving kicks today, but only as a "body," and not as a primary return candidate. Cougar fans, you can exhale now.

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Speaking of big backs, Fui Vakapuna was involved in essentially every practice activity today, and looked okay. His recovery from that hamstring strain continues, and hopefully, the worst is behind him.

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C Tom Sorenson was sighted in pads, but did not practice today.

With Matt Ah You out today and Matt Bauman seeing full contact for the first time in camp, the first-string middle backers were Bauman and Doman, backed up by Pritchard and Hadley.

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As was the case yesterday, David Tafuna was once again replaced by Jordan Pendleton with the "ones" at Kat safety, with Andrew Rich continuing to get free safety reps behind Kellen Fowler. If Tafuna were to remain out or go down in a game, there's every reason to expect that Rich would get the nod at Kat, but for now, Rich's backup reps at Free are more important than starter's reps at Kat.

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With Kyle Luekenga out and nursing a hamstring, Solomone Kafu took his spot at third-string left end today. Rick Wolfley is playing with the "threes" at nose tackle, with Tialavea backed up by Foketi in the two-deep.

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The #1 offensive line unit is now composed of the "Super Six," with M. Reynolds, Feinga, D. Reynolds, Bright and Oswald joined by "utility man" R.J. Willing, who has played with the "ones" at tackle, guard and center. Garrett Reden sees most of his time with the second-string, at center and tackle. The lone newcomer cracking the the offensive line's primary two-deep has been JC transfer Jesse Taufi.

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Another special teams note: Last week, I mentioned the "swinging gate" punt-protect formation and the players forming the 3-man "wall." In place-kick formations, the protection players on the "edge" are Dennis Pitta and Garrett Reden on the kicker's left, with Andrew George and Nick Aletto on the kicker's right. Primary "edge" kick-blockers have been the starting cornerbacks.

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Programming note: if you get the mtn. network, I'll be on the next airing of "Around the Mountain." We tape this afternoon, and the show is scheduled to air at 7:30pm tonight.

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