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PROVO — Finally, real football.
Well, sort of.
BYU players put on full pads for the first time in fall camp Thursday, and the increased aggression and physicality was exactly what new coach Kalani Sitake hoped to see.
“We’re getting some really good battles at the line of scrimmage,” Sitake said after practice. “Depending on matchups, the O-line and D-line is getting the push. It’s really good competition.”
In the first round of “real football,” the defense won out — even according to the offense’s stars.
“The defense definitely had the upper hand today,” running back Algie Brown said. “We did a lot of situational stuff, and they were more ready to be full-go. It was good to be back and getting more contact in, and have guys hitting me. I feel like I’m trying to still ease into it.”
Sitake and new defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki won’t ask the defense to back down as the Cougars prepare for their first scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning.
“We put our offense in some bad situations, making it hard on them. But they’ll get used to it,” Sitake said. “We aren’t going to let off the pressure with our defense. We’ll keep bringing it, and I think that’s how we’ll get the offense most ready.”
Saturday’s scrimmage will be closed to the public and media. Until then, the offensive players hope they can even the edge the defense took a week into training camp workouts.
“We just need to execute better and know our assignments,” Brown said. “We just need to practice what we are doing more."
