Estimated read time: 4-5 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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
PROVO, Utah -- After giving up 580 yards of total offense and three touchdowns in last week's scrimmage, the BYU defense looked more like the 14th ranked defense of a year ago during Tuesday's 90-play scrimmage, disrupting the offense, forcing turnovers and making key stops.
"I thought the defense looked good today," BYU Head Coach Gary Crowton said. "They were flying around out there. They took the tempo away from the offense. Offensively, we needed to get going, but the defense did a good job of disrupting that today. The offense has had it for most of Fall camp, but I didn't feel like we had it there today."
The first-team defense allowed just 124 yards passing in three different series, while the second team gave up just 94 yards passing in its three series. Combined, the defense held the offensive running game to just 81 yards on 22 carries.
"We played a lot better than we did in our last scrimmage," senior defensive end Shaun Nua said. "We came out flat last week. Coach Mendenhall said the energy was there today. Assignment wise, we'll have to look at the film. Energy is a big thing."
All totaled the defense racked up 10 tackles for a combined loss of 46 yards, including sacks from Nua, John Denney, Jon Burbidge, Michael Marquardt, Gary Lovely, Dan Bates and Aaron Wagner. The front line also applied pressure on the Cougar QB's, batting down three different pass attempts. The secondary was also credited with solid play, recording four pass break-ups and three interceptions.
"The drills Coach Mendenhall makes us do are so hard, but we know they'll make us better," Nua added. "We know when we go into game situations, it's so much easier -- so much more fun to fly around than to do pursuit drills. But we know pursuit drills will make us better."
Linebacker Markell Staffieri, who was credited with a three-yard tackle for loss, a pass deflection and two fumble recoveries, said the defense is coming together at the right time.
"Our intensity wasn't quite where it needed to be last week," Staffieri said. "We still had guys learning assignments; but right now, it's starting to come together. It's getting closer to game time and guys are getting more excited and enthusiastic about what's going on."
In the first series, the defense held the first-team offensive unit scoreless over 20 plays. Not until a John Beck three-yard scramble 18 plays into the series did the offense cross midfield.
In fact, the offense reached the endzone only twice during the scrimmage. Matt Berry hooked up with freshman Austin Collie on the first play of the second series for a 70-yard touchdown completion. Later, facing third-and-15 from the 30-yard line, Beck found Todd Watkins for a 60-yard touchdown. Twice more the offense got within striking distance, but were eventually denied both times. Craig North picked off Jason Beck at the goal line to end a 50-yard drive and was credited with an 18-yard return. On an almost identical play five series later, North nearly picked off Jason Beck for a second straight time, ending another 50-yard drive.
On the afternoon, Beck was 12-for-22 for 124 yards. Berry was credited with six completions on 12 attempts for 94 yards. Jackson Brown recorded 99 yards on 8-of-15 completions. Jason Beck was 7-of-12 for 77 yards.
With Fahu Tahi sitting out today's scrimmage, and Curtis Brown seeing action in only the first few plays, newcomer Ray Hudson handled the bulk of the running back duties throughout the scrimmage. Hudson had nine carries for a net total of 13 yards, while Nathan Meikle had 22 yards on five carries.
Watkins again led all receivers with 71 yards on four receptions, while Austin Collie totaled 70 yards on just one reception. Running with the third-team offense, Matt Smith led the roster with seven receptions for 53 yards. All totaled 13 different receivers were credited with at least one reception.
Tuesday's practice--which was attended by 510 spectators--was the final practice open to the public. During Fall camp, an average of nearly 400 people attended daily practice sessions.
"It was great to have the fans out," Crowton said. "I think the fans saw some things to get excited about. They got to see the new guys like Todd Watkins and Austin Collie. I think there were some guys on defense that the fans got excited about as well. I think it was good for the players as well; they like to hear the fans cheering once and a while. We have such great fans."
The Cougars will participate in their final double-day practice scheduled on Wednesday. Crowton said after taking it easy for the next couple days, the team will start getting ready for Notre Dame on Friday.
"We'll have a couple short practices on Wednesday, a walk-through on Thursday, then Friday, we'll start getting into a little bit of our Notre Dame preparations. We're going to go hard Monday and Tuesday. We will be focusing hard on Notre Dame at that point."
On the injury front, Crowton reported today safety K.C. Bills may be out for the season.
"It looks like K.C. is going to have surgery," Crowton said. "He might be out for the year. There's a possibility that he could have continued to play with his reoccurring injury, but we thought it wasn't in his best interest to keep playing."
Written by BYU Athletics Media Relations
