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Two weeks to the day after his players reported for training camp, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall approached the halfway-point of camp by saying "I like where we are now," looking to Friday night's stadium scrimmage as "basically a little navigational guide" to help him determine what needs the most attention before the seaon opener at Connecticut.
Speaking after a two-hour practice at the outdoor practice fields, Mendenhall said "we'll scrimmage everybody," presumably meaning that no one will be held out except for health reasons.
"I would like to see really clean execution offensively," said Mendenhall, ticking off the objectives for Friday night. "I'd like to see physical defense, and I'd like to see good tackling."
"I'd like to see us protect the quarterback well, throw and catch the ball well, and be able to then assess what the personnel is any maybe sort out definitively what the two-deep will actually look like. I'd like to see where our kicking might be. That will then frame the amount of work and what needs to be done from that point until our opener."
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On Thursday morning, a number of players projected for the two-deep were out either due to final summer-class exams or minor injuries.
Among the front-line players absent were Alani Fua, Harvey Langi, Trey Dye, Tyler Cook, Brayden Kearlsey, Jordan Johnson, Michael Alisa and Ross Apo.
The group of top-level players in uniform but not participating fully in practice included Bronson Kaufusi, Tuni Kanuch, Devon Blackmon, Rob Daniel and Ryker Mathews.
Linebacker Manoa Pikula has joined camp after resolving his academic issues; while his teammates were in full pads, Pikula was in helmet-only mode as he catches up with the rest of the team and goes through his acclimatization period.
"Hard to say," said Mendenhall when asked how Pikula looks since his return. "I haven't seen enough in just the two practices to know. He's just starting (camp), and there are a lot of good players at inside linebacker, so he has his work cut out for him."
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Indeed, competition for playing time at multiple positions will be a major theme heading into the Friday scrimmage and in the last two weeks of prep before the UConn opener. There are very few positions on the field with clear-cut starters and second-stringers, and Mendenhall seems to like it that way.
"We not only have enough players, we have enough depth to where if a player isn't ready on any given day, guys go by him," Mendenhall said. "I'm actually looking forward to the scrimmage tomorrow to be able to solidify some of those things, and to make a few more decisions as to who gets more of the reps."
"I'm trying to find the best players in the best spots and the right depth before we play UConn. It could be in the secondary, it could be at inside backer, could be at outside backer, could be at running back, could be at offensive line, could be at defensive line.
"There are all kinds of combinations right now, which is great, so hopefully tomorrow adds some clarity to it."
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Among the combinations explored on Thursday was a new outside-tandem look on the offensive line. DeOndre Wesley and Ului Lapuaho, who have been playing let and right tackle to this point in camp, flip-flopped to the opposite side of the line.
Jheremmya Leuta-Douyere, who had been playing inside linebacker, lined up outside, while Zac Stout and Austin Heder, who were seen as 1-2 at Mike linebacker when camp began, today played alongside each other at inside backer.
In the secondary, combinations and rotations continue to change on almost a daily basis, with former wide receiver Michael Davis getting perhaps the most reps with the first string in recent days.
"We have a lot of depth and there are different combinations we could be playing (in the secondary)," said Mendenhall on Thursday, "and possibly even a position change or two to get the best four on the field."
"There's quite a bit that will have to be determined tomorrow. Most of what I'm trying to sort out is competition and some of the position battles."
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Mendenhall said that "at offensive line, we're still three deep; at defensive line, we're still three deep. At receiver, we're three deep, and at inside linebacker we're three deep. What that's doing is facilitating guys trying hard every day in competition."
On the defensive front, Remington Peck is a projected starter who echoes the coach's assessment of depth.
"Last year, if you think about it, there were four guys that played," said Peck. "This year, (DL) Coach (Steve) Kaufusi plans on traveling nine--that's a big difference."
"It's been nice as far as knowing there are people behind you that can do the job, but then knowing that you can go as hard as you can while you're out there and then you're going to get a break."
"As a (defensive) lineman, when you're hitting every single play...it's pounding every single play. I think (depth) will be a big difference."
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With so many defensive players either out or limited on Thursday, it wasn't a great say to assess defensive depth; BYU's package alignments also had some different guys in different spots.
The offensive line continues to be an interesting group to track; today, the depth looked like this:
LT: Ului Lapuaho/Brad Wilcox
LG: Kyle Johnson/Chase Larson/Parker Dawe or Manu Mulitalo
C: Terrance Alletto or Tejan Koroma or Edward Fusi
RG: Brock Stringham or Terrance Alletto (also LG)/Chase Larson/Manu Mulitalo
RT: DeOndre Wesley/Quinn Lawlor
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Thursday's 11-on-11 work was highlighted by a 60-yard touchdown connection from Taysom Hill to Mitch Mathews.
Trent Trammell picked off Hill earlier in the session.
In a special-teams portion of practice observed by the media, punt returners were Keanu Nelson, Devon Blackmon, Michael Shelton and Mitchell Juergens. Nelson, Blackmon and Shelton were the returners in last Saturday's scrimmage.
Friday night's scrimmage will start at 6:00 pm at LaVell Edwards Stadium. Gates open at 5:00.
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BYU Football Director of Operations Zach Nyborg also doubles as the daily music director at camp (some call him DJ Borgs); his daily playlists have been oft-discussed but not frequently documented.
During the roughly 40 minutes of practice that the media observed on Thursday, here were the songs played over the practice-field speakers:
"Irreplaceable" - Beyoncé; "Wide Awake" - Katy Perry; "Who Can It Be Now?" - Men At Work (only 20 seconds' worth); "Always Something There to Remind Me" - Naked Eyes; "Boom Clap" - Charli XCX; "Break Free" - Ariana Grande; "Royals" - Lorde; "This is How We Roll" - Florida Georgia Line; "Come and Get It" - Selena Gomez; "Mirrors" - Justin Timberlake; "Can't Hold Us" - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis; "Daylight" - Maroon 5
Fans attending Friday night's scrimmage may want to pay as much attention the playlist as the play selection; Nyborg's taste in music always proves eclectic.
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