I had thought to bring my camera and shoot a few photos to install here, but thought better of it mostly because I don't like carrying a camera around and partly because Jeff Reynolds and the BYU Sports Information staff have done such a great job of providing us with good photos (and more) of this year's camp.
One photo taken by Jeff Rey-nolds was taken right below where my friend Justin and I were standing on the Student Athlete Center balcony. We were literally "looking over Bronco's shoulder" at this point of the practice.
Once I got to the field, I also would have been deterred by the signs asking people to not take any photos or video or to post anything on the internet. I know I'm technically violating that last item, but I know little enough about the terminology, nitty-gritty, etc. of football plays and playbooks that I'm no threat to giving anything away. (Just in case that's not really true, I have a quick message for all of you Ute coaches out there reading this - Max Hall has been converted into an option QB and BYU now runs all of its sets out of the wishbone. So prepare for the triple option wishbone attack. Got it?)
The tradition of opening practice to the public began in 2004 when Gary Crowton needed to throw a bone to the Cougar fans. This was right on the heels of two losing seasons and the now-infamous freshman "party" at University Villa. Crowton tried to win some fans back by inviting them to practice.
The excitement has grown each year since (it's not a coincidence that the team has improved each year since). Last year there were four open practices, with attendance ranging between about 500 and 1,200 at each one. I'll bet close to 3,000 folks watched practice last year.
This year the team officials were very hush-hush about the open practice. Other than Greg Wrubell's brief mention in a couple of blog posts, I never saw anything about open practice. And I consistently and diligently checked the new-and-improved byucougars.com website for the past few days. Nevertheless, I attended, just as I have every other year (except 2006 when I couldn't make it down from my job in Salt Lake). Here are a few observations:
- The defense that everyone is worrying about looked pretty good. Even the DB's. The cornerbacks had a number of nice plays.
- The offense only scored once and it was basically against the 3rd string defense. The 3rd team played until the offense had the ball inside the 10 yard line. Then they put the 1st string in, but they couldn't prevent a Max Hall-to-Harvey Unga TD pass.
- Max Hall is a pretty fiery competitor. The loudest yell towards another player came from him - not from any coach (who all seem to be well-endowed in the vocal chord department).
- Justin Sorensen had some nice kicks, but none of the jaw-dropping kind he's been fabled to have.
- New center Dallas Reynolds (just moved there in the absence of injured Tom Sorensen) had a few miscues snapping the ball. Hopefully he and Max spend a lot of time practicing that shotgun to be in a good rythm come the first game.
- Michael Reed is quietly one of BYU's best players. With Austin Collie catching only tennis balls while he rehabs a stress fracture, Reed is by far the best wide receiver out there. He blocks, catches, and runs real well.
- The coaches really rely on their upperclassmen to teach. In one instance where a second-string linebacker missed an assignment, Coach Lamb shouted over to David Nixon (who was watching from the sideline with the 1st team) to make sure he went over the missed assignment with that LB. Collie, Reed, and Jan Jorgensen were all observed doing a similar thing.
- Look for Bronco to actually be out there playing on the punt coverage team. During that drill, he was the only one running down toward the player catching the punt.
- Luke Ashworth (WR) and J.J. DiLuigi (RB) both stood out today, despite on easy drop each. Ashworth is just off a mission and he got the biggest cheer of the day as he made a diving catch right in front of the fans.
- Defensive players that stood out include Scott Johnson (DB), Brandon Bradley (DB), and Shawn Doman (LB).
- Ty Detmer was on hand at the practice.
- Cosmo was also out there looking like he was in midseason form as his "fall camp" consisted of getting some video footage shot out on the practice field (presumably for his next "Cosmo Reloaded" series).
All in all, it was just good to get back out and see some football again. It was fun to watch and sure beat being at work for the hour and a half. This one practice will have to hold us over from now until kickoff in 22.5 days.
1 comment:
Speaking of "Cosmo Reloaded" or "Cosmo's Quest" or whatever it's going to be this year, do you want to put a p.s. on all your game reports telling us what happened in the story that week?
Post a Comment