Running backs show depth

PROVO — Curtis Brown, BYU's leading rusher last season, is getting light work in spring practice — by design.

Coaches want to see what Ray Hudson, Fui Vakapuna, Manase Tonga and Wayne Latu can do when given the plays. So far, it has been impressive.

Vakapuna, a 6-foot-1, 225-pound sophomore fresh off an LDS mission, busted through the line in a scrimmage Monday and put a stiff-arm on linebacker Gary Lovely that lifted the defender up like a fork lift as he crashed past for a few more yards. That was just one week after head coach Bronco Mendenhall praised the former East High star as the most impressive athlete he's seen coming off a mission since being at BYU.

Meanwhile, Hudson, a sophomore, has shown speed moves with the ball, and Tonga has shown a blend of power running, blocking and pass catching. Latu, a sophomore, is simply the fastest back on the team.

Blend them with Brown and one wonders how running backs coach Lance Reynolds can keep them all happy next fall.

"I don't know," Tonga said. "But it's a good problem to have."

Reynolds said he will use spring to evaluate the strength of all the backs, see what they do in different situations and then determine who will get roles with Brown, a proven 1,000-yard rusher who returns for his senior season.

Also at Monday's scrimmage, freshman cornerback Brandon Howard knocked down goal-line passes from John Beck to Zac Collie and Michael Reed at the end of Monday's team portion of practice, much to the delight of an unsung defense trying to learn a new scheme. Both John Beck and Jason Beck threw long touchdown passes in the shortened scrimmage.

Mendenhall cut down his spring practices due to lack of depth on both the defensive and offensive lines. Monday, the practice lasted 17 segments instead of 24.

The team portion, which is 11 against 11, was cut by 75 percent, a trend Mendenhall said he will follow for the remainder of spring drills.

On Monday, BYU's offensive line numbers got thinner when sophomore tackle Dallas Reynolds, who has been working out at center replacing his older brother Lance, underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum he'd tweaked against New Mexico. He will be out of action for at least three months.