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PROVO — BYU wrapped up its second week of fall camp with a scrimmage Thursday afternoon at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and the coaches promised the players a couple of days of a lighter load if they earned it.
The offense certainly earned its afternoon paintball game and annual float trip down the Provo River.
Through two scrimmages, the BYU offense has yet to throw an interception against the team’s defense — both on the first team and second team. Moreover, the Cougars went through the first scrimmage of about 120 plays without a turnover — and were it not for a lost fumble toward the end of the second, 100-play scrimmage, they would’ve been able to say the same thing Thursday afternoon.
"Turnovers usually happen when one side starts to press," BYU assistant head coach Ed Lamb said. "The defense got a few stops early, and the offense started to press a little more, get some long yardage situations, and that’s usually where turnovers occur.
"It’s good for the offense to recognize turnovers and where they happen."
Of course, the defense had its moments, even with several new faces. You can only take praise against the "other side" for so long before something happens, like forcing five to six sacks in the scrimmage, head coach Kalani Sitake said.
“I think the defense is fed up about hearing about the offense, and how great they are doing,” he said, only partially joking. “They wanted to do something about it — that’s kind of what happens in camp.”
But coaches and players alike are pleased with the offense’s execution two weeks into fall camp, especially when considering the brand-new system employed by first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes and four new position coaches on that side of the line of scrimmage.
“Coach Grimes preaches ball security every day, and coach Sitake, too,” quarterback Tanner Mangum said. “As quarterbacks, a lot of that falls on us. It’s up to us to make the best decision possible, and the fact that we are taking care of the ball is good. It gives us a chance to succeed. Anytime you can go through a game without turning the ball over, the odds are going to be in your favor most of the time.”
It wasn’t a perfect scrimmage, and the BYU offense has plenty to work on.
But Grimes is pleased with the lack of turnovers — even enough to admit no one will lose their job because of one lost fumble in practice.
“We haven’t had anyone who has been a habitual offender, so that’s a positive,” he said, before adding, “but everyone matters.”
The Cougars have installed Grimes’ new offense, which has been tricky to pin down both for its variation and its style of play. The sense from media-viewing portions of practice is that the Cougars will try to play fast, but will still huddle regularly with the quarterback in full command of the offensive structure.
Quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator Aaron Roderick has spent much of his previous career calling plays from a coaches’ box high above the stadium, including in his time as co-offensive coordinator at Utah, and Grimes seemed open to the idea when he sought a bird’s-eye view from the top of the stadium during the spring game. One of the only disadvantages of coaches calling plays from the box is the potential lack of direct communication on the sideline — but players who take ownership over an offense can remediate those disadvantages by themselves.
Both Mangum and freshman signal caller Zach Wilson, the two finalists for the starting job, seem to have that control.
“They didn’t throw any interceptions, so that’s good,” Sitake said of the neck-and-neck quarterback competition. “Our defense forced one turnover, but it was off of a fumble.”
Of course, a lack of turnovers — or takeaways, as the defense calls them — can be a double-edged sword in fall camp. Through the first week of fall camp, BYU coaches were none too pleased with the defense’s lack of push in the front seven and their inability to force a turnover.
As many are wont to do when called out, though, the Cougar defense responded.
“I think I saw a quote by Kalani that said if we can’t get pressure on the quarterback without having to blitz, then we need new guys in there,” defensive end Corbin Kaufusi said. “No one wants to be taken out, so we’re trying to get in there. We need that. You’ve got to always have pressure.”
That’s not to say the defensive secondary has forgotten how to jump routes or do anything else to make plays that lead toward interceptions and havoc plays. During the media-viewing portions of practice, Mangum, Wilson and freshman Jaren Hall have all been forced into decisions that led to turnovers — Isaiah Armstrong and Chris Wilcox have been seen making interceptions, for example.
Kaufusi added that his teammates on the defensive side of the ball have been trying to put a premium on ending the “no turnover” drought prior to Thursday’s scrimmage.
“Having no takeaways from the last one was eye-opening because we played 120 plays,” he said. “We might’ve done some other things well, but takeaways are huge. That’s a big part of the game for us.”
And that’s not to say that the defense isn’t improving — as every team in the country should be doing with barely two weeks left until the 2018 season begins.
“I thought the defense took it to heart,” said Lamb, who also coaches the Cougars’ linebackers. “It was one side of the ball scheming for the other side of the ball, and I’m pleased that has been happening in camp.”
With the offense installed and the final days of fall camp winding down, the Cougars will soon shift gears toward formally preparing to face Arizona.
One scrimmage remains, but after 200 live reps in the first two, Sitake said there’s a good chance the coaches will dial back the third training game and focus on building the depth chart and travel squad with the final look.
But the progression is what he wants to see as the Cougars try to rebound from last season’s 4-9 humiliation.
“I’m comfortable with where we are at,” Sitake said, “and we’ll evaluate how we do the next scrimmage.”
