BYU Spring Football, Day 13


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The BYU Cougars practiced outside on Monday as they began their final week of spring football.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall said the team's effort during Monday's practice was "strong." He also mentioned that the offensive execution was farther ahead at this point that he thought it would be.

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The big topic at practice was the injury status of quarterback Ammon Olsen. Olsen injured his knee during the Blue and White game on Saturday.

The official diagnosis is that Olsen injured his PCL and suffered a bone contusion. The PCL injury will not require surgery, and Ammon is expected to recover in four weeks.

"On Saturday, the doctor kind of made it sound like it would be good news," Olsen said. "He just wanted to make sure this morning; got the MRI back, no tears, just an injured PCL and bone contusion -- four weeks and I'll be ready to go."

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Mendenhall has stated several times that while Taysom Hill is in the lead to be the Cougars' starting quarterback, Ammon Olsen is not far behind. Olsen's injury may lead people to think he will drop back in the QB race since he can't practice during the final week of spring. Mendenhall said that won't be the case.

"Whatever decision we'll make, we'll just kind of default to right where it was when he got hurt," Mendenhall said on Monday. "The decision will be reflective of that."

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After having a couple of days to look over the scrimmage, Mendenhall singled out two players that game themselves a boost through their play.

"Defensively, a couple players emerged depth-wise," Bronco said. "Tyler Beck at buck linebacker (and) Alani Fua at the Sam linebacker spot -- those two primarily would be the ones that kind of helped themselves by how they played on Saturday."

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With much more focus being put on the offensive line, spring practice has been very important for guys like Michael Yeck to get a jump-start on the new offense. With four JC transfers joining the team in the fall, Yeck, who has been the right tackle on the first-team offense, believes the guys that are already participating should have a leg-up when it comes to landing a spot on the offensive line.

"All the people that are doing the spring right now, like myself, we have an advantage over them, because we have 15 practices at this offense under our belt," Yeck said. "I'm just trying to work my hardest right now to be the best that I can be right now, without worrying too much about what's to come -- just focusing on the present."

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Former rugby player Paul Lasike has been one of the bright spots of spring football. Coach Mendenhall has praised Paul several times, talking about how far he's come since beginning football last season. Lasike has been pleased with this year's spring -- referring to it as his one-year anniversary.

Paul showed the fans who attended last Saturday's Blue and White game just how far he's come when he broke several tackles on his way to a 32-yard touchdown.

"I've come a long way," said Lasike. "It was a bit shaky last year but now it's a little better."

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The BYU kicking game has been a sore subject for fans and coaches alike. After a below-average year last season, expectations were higher due to the fact the kicker Justin Sorensen was almost 100% healthy.

After a shaky performance during Saturday's scrimmage, Bronco was asked if he has a contingency plan if things don't get better. Very quickly, Bronco responded, "We're going to go for it a lot more on fourth (down)."

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You can listen to post-game interviews with Bronco, Michael Yeck, Paul Lasike and Ammon Olsen by clicking on the links in "Cougar Cuts," above left.

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Jason Shepherd

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