I attended a BYU football scrimmage on Saturday. No, I wasn't sporting any Nebraska gear as I was a guest of the athletic program. I've been attending pre-season scrimmages for several years and follow them pretty closely living here in Utah. Nothing top secret, but a few notes and observations that might answer a few questions I see floating around on the board recently.
A couple of observations:
1) The team scrimmaged about 50 plays. About 50/50 run/pass. Lots of dink-and-dump, timing passes and zone read.
2) The first team offense was without their sophomore center Tejan Koroma, who appears will be suspended for the game. He was running with the third team. He will be missed. He's up for some preseason watch lists. His replacement is Parker Dawe, a 6-3, 285 lb. Jr. who was a *** in the Rivals system (2014). Looked okay.
3) Mitch Matthews. Only participated in a couple of plays. He's been recovering from a hernia operation and appears to be going slower than anticipated. No passes thrown to him, but wasn't noticeably slower or hobbled. Probably just taking it slow so he's ready for the opener. He's listed at 6-6 215 lbs and he looked all of that. He's an impressive receiver.
4) Since Matthews was out, the star of the scrimmage was another WR, Nick Kurtz. Nick was injured in the preseason last year and didn't play a down all year. He was a 2014 **** from a CC in CA. He's listed as 6-6, 205, great hands and fast. He caught two nice TD passes and a beautiful 40 yard sideline fade from Taysom. They seem to have really nice chemistry going. Between Mitch and Nick, the NU DBs will have their HANDS FULL. He was impressive.
5) Taysom Hill. Led the only three scoring drives of the scrimmage (1s vs 1s). Wearing green jersey and no brace on either leg. Ran several bootleg rollouts and even took a few upfield (before referees quickly whistled the play dead before defenders could get within five yards of him). He wasn't going 100 percent, but there was still plenty of speed there. If the pocket broke down on pass plays, as usual, he would pull it down and take off (not much receiver progression). Plenty of quickness through the LOS. I think NU is going to see a Taysom Hill capable of what he did to UT in 2014 and 2015. He wants to run. It will be interesting to see if the coaches allow him too. If Taysom runs over 20 times again NU the entire BYU season will be in serious jeopardy. The backup, Tanner Mangum (6-3 195) is two months returned from his mission. Looked pretty good in practice with a nice touch. Decent mobility. On a side note, FR Koy Detmer Jr. (listed at a generous 5-10 185) looked pretty good in the series he was in. He's got a ways to go before he will be mistaken for his dad, but he lobbed a couple great passes into coverage for receptions and was running for his life on a couple others.
6) The rest of the OL looked good, with excellent size and mostly veterans (men). RT Sr. Ryker Matthews (6-6 320), RG Jr. Manu Mulitalo (6-2 373), LG So. Ului Lapuaho (6-7 333) and LT Jr. Brad Wilcox (6-7 305). The second string looked pretty good too - fair amount of youth though.
7) Jamaal Williams was obviously not a the scrimmage and BYU is going to miss him BIG TIME. I hope that JW lands on his feet because he's a great running back and a heck of a good guy. His replacement is Sr. Adam Hine (HEE-nae) 6-1 208. He was a *** in 2009(!). He's a decent RB but without the top end speed of Jamaal. He did score a TD on a 40-yard run right through the middle of the defense (defense was blitzing). He didn't catch any passes out of the backfield. His backup is Sr. Nate Carter (5-9 185). A decent running back, but not a big play maker. There were two RB fumbles during the scrimmage.
8) BYU runs a 3-4 defense. The starting DL was 90 Sr. Bronson Kaufusi (6-7 265) 94 So. Kensi Tausinga (6-1 308) and 62 Sr. Logan Taele (6-2 280). Kaufusi was an outside linebacker last year and was moved to LRE this year. He is the man in this defense. They liked to overload his side and blitz from the left during the scrimmage. It really gave the OL fits. As usual, the DBs are average, but can tackle and like to hit.
9) The special teams weren't that special. The kickers were rotating through and made 4/6 from the 25. NU has the advantage in the punting game because I saw several shanks and many short punts yesterday. They were best punting out of the rugby style. NU might consider putting two returners back?
I was able to talk to Bronco and many of the players after practice. They are all very excited about playing in Memorial Stadium and familiar with history of NU football. Please show the BYU players and fans why NU has the greatest fans period. Regardless of the outcome, this is a good group of guys who are taught daily that football is only a means in which to become a better man. Bronco and many players stayed for three hours after the scrimmage to sign autographs and talk with fans.
See you September 5 DONU!
A couple of observations:
1) The team scrimmaged about 50 plays. About 50/50 run/pass. Lots of dink-and-dump, timing passes and zone read.
2) The first team offense was without their sophomore center Tejan Koroma, who appears will be suspended for the game. He was running with the third team. He will be missed. He's up for some preseason watch lists. His replacement is Parker Dawe, a 6-3, 285 lb. Jr. who was a *** in the Rivals system (2014). Looked okay.
3) Mitch Matthews. Only participated in a couple of plays. He's been recovering from a hernia operation and appears to be going slower than anticipated. No passes thrown to him, but wasn't noticeably slower or hobbled. Probably just taking it slow so he's ready for the opener. He's listed at 6-6 215 lbs and he looked all of that. He's an impressive receiver.
4) Since Matthews was out, the star of the scrimmage was another WR, Nick Kurtz. Nick was injured in the preseason last year and didn't play a down all year. He was a 2014 **** from a CC in CA. He's listed as 6-6, 205, great hands and fast. He caught two nice TD passes and a beautiful 40 yard sideline fade from Taysom. They seem to have really nice chemistry going. Between Mitch and Nick, the NU DBs will have their HANDS FULL. He was impressive.
5) Taysom Hill. Led the only three scoring drives of the scrimmage (1s vs 1s). Wearing green jersey and no brace on either leg. Ran several bootleg rollouts and even took a few upfield (before referees quickly whistled the play dead before defenders could get within five yards of him). He wasn't going 100 percent, but there was still plenty of speed there. If the pocket broke down on pass plays, as usual, he would pull it down and take off (not much receiver progression). Plenty of quickness through the LOS. I think NU is going to see a Taysom Hill capable of what he did to UT in 2014 and 2015. He wants to run. It will be interesting to see if the coaches allow him too. If Taysom runs over 20 times again NU the entire BYU season will be in serious jeopardy. The backup, Tanner Mangum (6-3 195) is two months returned from his mission. Looked pretty good in practice with a nice touch. Decent mobility. On a side note, FR Koy Detmer Jr. (listed at a generous 5-10 185) looked pretty good in the series he was in. He's got a ways to go before he will be mistaken for his dad, but he lobbed a couple great passes into coverage for receptions and was running for his life on a couple others.
6) The rest of the OL looked good, with excellent size and mostly veterans (men). RT Sr. Ryker Matthews (6-6 320), RG Jr. Manu Mulitalo (6-2 373), LG So. Ului Lapuaho (6-7 333) and LT Jr. Brad Wilcox (6-7 305). The second string looked pretty good too - fair amount of youth though.
7) Jamaal Williams was obviously not a the scrimmage and BYU is going to miss him BIG TIME. I hope that JW lands on his feet because he's a great running back and a heck of a good guy. His replacement is Sr. Adam Hine (HEE-nae) 6-1 208. He was a *** in 2009(!). He's a decent RB but without the top end speed of Jamaal. He did score a TD on a 40-yard run right through the middle of the defense (defense was blitzing). He didn't catch any passes out of the backfield. His backup is Sr. Nate Carter (5-9 185). A decent running back, but not a big play maker. There were two RB fumbles during the scrimmage.
8) BYU runs a 3-4 defense. The starting DL was 90 Sr. Bronson Kaufusi (6-7 265) 94 So. Kensi Tausinga (6-1 308) and 62 Sr. Logan Taele (6-2 280). Kaufusi was an outside linebacker last year and was moved to LRE this year. He is the man in this defense. They liked to overload his side and blitz from the left during the scrimmage. It really gave the OL fits. As usual, the DBs are average, but can tackle and like to hit.
9) The special teams weren't that special. The kickers were rotating through and made 4/6 from the 25. NU has the advantage in the punting game because I saw several shanks and many short punts yesterday. They were best punting out of the rugby style. NU might consider putting two returners back?
I was able to talk to Bronco and many of the players after practice. They are all very excited about playing in Memorial Stadium and familiar with history of NU football. Please show the BYU players and fans why NU has the greatest fans period. Regardless of the outcome, this is a good group of guys who are taught daily that football is only a means in which to become a better man. Bronco and many players stayed for three hours after the scrimmage to sign autographs and talk with fans.
See you September 5 DONU!
