Brigham Young University camp notes

Ups and downs

When pointing to freshman DL Ian Dulan, the youngest player on the team at age 17, and offensive lineman Braden Hansen as two new players that have been very impressive in the first practices, Bronco Mendenhall said he didn't want to overlook the play of receiver McKay Jacobson, who hauled in an impressive pass from John Beck during team drills on Thursday. "I just don't consider him (Jacobson) a true freshman. I don't like to single people out, but they have made an impression so far." Jacobson enrolled in school last January following a career on USA Today's No. 1 ranked high school team, Texas 5A champion Southlake Carroll. The day after receiving the news JC long snapper Matt Johnson would not be eligible to enroll, the special teams squad had a snap over the head of a punter and a blocked kick. Mendenhall said the blocked kick was because he set up the play with a 12-man rush to "create stress."

Quarterback Sam Doman and defensive lineman Brett Denney, both freshmen, have been working as deep snappers. "We like the protection personnel," Mendenhall said. "The two punts that were blocked last year were due to operation time, not protection." Mendenhall expects starters like Curtis Brown and Cameron Jensen to play special teams with other frontliners this fall."

Most competition?

The position with the most heated chase for starting positions may be the young defensive line, according to Mendenhall. "The secondary is competitive but is becoming more apparent in its two-deep, but the defensive line is the one that is most wide open." The coach said he has young players who are performing well and "some newcomers are outperforming some of the returning players. That is where I believe most of the shake-up will be."

The first D-line Thursday was Judd Anderton, Halo Paonga and Jan Jorgenson. They are being pushed by freshmen Ian Dulan and Romney Fuga, as well as transfer Mosese Foketi. Saturday's scrimmage will be closed to the public, but Monday and Wednesday's 10 a.m. practices next week are the first of four open sessions. The others are Aug. 18 and Aug. 21 morning practices.

Hague watch

Utah's unanimous Class 5A player of the year Mike Hague didn't know he'd switch from safety to running back until Mendenhall invited him into his office Thursday morning. "I want to do what is best for the team and the coaching staff knows what its doing and I'm OK with that," Hague said. A 2,000-yard rusher for 28 TDs his senior year at Brighton, Hague returned three kickoffs for touchdowns last year. "I only had eight kickoffs to me all season, I wish I'd had more kicked my way."

That he'll have the ball in his hands and challenge leading receiver Nate Meikle and Bryce Mahuika suits him fine. He has been returning kicks and playing on the special team cover squad. Thursday he ran plays out of the H-back slot position. "I like playing offense better than defense, but I will do whatever I'm asked to help the team, that's my attitude. This offense is unbelievable. There are so many ways to attack a defense, we have so many weapons ,and it's designed to be unstoppable, hard to defend. I'm excited."