BYU Fall Camp: Day One

Football season is underway in Provo!

The Brigham Young Cougars kicked things off with a two-and-a-half hour practice session Saturday, that after the team’s annual morning race to the “Y” overlooking the BYU campus.

As the Bronco Mendenhall Era enters its sixth season, the Cougars are a team that are upgraded in talent but lack experience and leadership in key areas.

That lack of experience have led some to wonder if the program’s streak of four straight 10-plus win season will come to an end.

The fact that the Cougars linger just outside the Top 25 in the coaches poll to start the 2010 season after losing 11 starters from last year's team is a testament to the program and its coach.

Mendenhall addressed the media following Saturdays practice.

Observations from day one of practice:

Even though the competition for the starting quarterback has been “opened up” to four players, it is clear that this race is between Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson. James Lark only attempted one pass (incomplete) in 11-on-11 drills and Jason Munns did not see action.

Generally the quarterbacks struggled early on before putting together scoring drives. In fact, in early drills the ball slipped out of Nelson's hands three times, twice the ball spun end-over-end above his head before hitting the ground behind him. Meanwhile, Heaps had several passes batted down throughout the day.

Heaps did lead the way in 11-on-11 team play by completing 8-of-13 (62 percent) passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. His first strike came on a 1-yard pass to Matt Marshall. His second touchdown came on the final play of the day, a 44-yard bomb to McKay Jacobson.

Nelson finished the day 5-of-8 (63 percent) for 49 yards. Riley also ran twice for 13 yards and a score. His rushing touchdown came after a questionable call by the referee (Mendenhall) on a pass from Riley to Luke Ashworth that appeared to be completed for a touchdown.

While, as Mendenhall mentioned in his interview with the press, execution was spotty on day one – there was an obvious increase in the level of athletic prowess as the Cougars took the field on Saturday.

It was interesting to note how many plays were made by the newcomers on defense. Defensive end Thomas Bryson had a couple of sacks as did Alani Fua who starts his BYU career as a linebacker, while defensive end Tayo Fabuluje and cornerback DeQuan Everett both knocked down passes. At first blush, Everett looks like he will contribute in the secondary.

Travis Tuiloma looks like a beast. He spent time Saturday going one-on-one with Romney Fuga and he more than held his own. The coaches may well get their wish, which is that Travis can play a role in the nose tackle rotation this year. It’s uncanny how well this staff has recruited young nose tackles that come in from high school and step right onto the field and produce.

The luxury of being able to move Eathyn Manumaleuna out to defensive end would be huge for this team. Rotating Eathyn and Matt Putnam (not practicing until next week) gives the Cougars some interesting options.

McKay Jacobson and O’Neill Chambers really look good. Both of them have rededicated themselves over the offseason and taken their preparations to the next level. Each of them appeared to have really changed their bodies in the weight room as well.

Chambers looks leaner and faster than in 2009. As expected, it looks like Jacobson will be utilized a lot as an inside receiver. He will be able to create serious mismatch problems for teams.

With youth at tight end this is the year, the receivers should shine.

Speaking of tight ends, Devin Mahina saw a lot of reps with the ones at tight end. He appears to have a decent shot at locking down the starting tight end spot. He’s almost assuredly going to be in the rotation. By the way, don’t expect to see a lot of double tight end sets this year.

Austin Holt certainly passed the eyeball test and you would never guess just by looking at him that he just returned from a mission. It will be interesting to see how the coaches handle things with so many freshmen tight ends on the roster. Somebody is going to redshirt.

The offensive line may be one of the best and deepest at BYU in a long time. If you're going to break in a new college quarterback, this is the group of guys you want in front of him.

Offensive tackle Brandon Brown is a very impressive athlete. The roster lists him at just 250 pounds, but he looks to be pushing a good 280. He came with a lot of emotion on Saturday. His play over the last several months has pushed Nick Alletto to starting guard.

It was disappointing not to see running back/kick returner Drew Phillips on the field. Hopefully he can get his academic clearance taken care of quickly. Phillips was on the sideline today sporting a low-profile mohawk and looking thinner that expected. The team roster lists him at just 175 pounds.

Running back/fullback Alge Brown is another guy that passes the eyeball test. He is a very impressive looking athlete at 6-foot-1, 226 pounds. Have to wonder if he will not see the field at fullback this season.