BYU football: DiLuigi shines at Blue-White scrimmage

PROVO — For BYU running back J.J. DiLuigi, Saturday's Blue-White scrimmage was a big deal.

Playing for the first time in front of a crowd at LaVell Edwards Stadium, the redshirt freshman gave the Cougar coaching staff and the 16,700 fans who turned out on a warm, sunny afternoon a glimpse of his potential. DiLuigi rushed four times for 27 yards and caught a pair of passes for 28 yards in a scrimmage devoid of starters, whom coach Bronco Mendenhall held out in order to protect them from possible injury.

"It felt great. The atmosphere was wonderful," said DiLuigi, who suffered a broken foot during fall camp last year and was sidelined for the 2007 season. "I was just trying to come out and show the coaches that they can have confidence in me and my ability when I go out on the field, that they can trust me to put me in. I'm hoping I did that today for them."

If nothing else, DiLuigi certainly captured Mendenhall's attention.

"J.J., through the spring, has been progressing," Mendenhall said. "I think today was his best day of spring practice. He had more touches and showed some versatility. Quite frankly, Wayne Latu, to this point, had been ahead of J.J. (on the depth chart). Wayne has had an outstanding spring. Today, J.J. showed the race is tighter for that next running-back spot between he and Wayne. He closed that gap. He had a chance, and I think he made the most of it."

Of course, the Cougars have a stable-full of other running backs at their disposal — Harvey Unga, Fui Vakapuna and Manase Tonga. But the 5-foot-9, 196-pound DiLuigi displayed what he can bring to the BYU offense.

Other inexperienced players received an opportunity to shine, too, during the 40-play scrimmage.

"Everybody came out to play," said DiLuigi. "This was a real game for us, too. The first guys sat down and let us play our game and show the coaches what we can do. It was a good day for all of us."

"A lot of guys stood out to me," said starting wide receiver Austin Collie. "J.J. did an exceptional job. He's a great runner. He's shifty and can make people miss. (Wide receiver) Spencer (Hafoka) had a couple of great grabs and runs. It's promising to see the twos do so well and realize that we do have depth and realize that we have a lot of talented guys on the team. I think that's what we found out today."

Mendenhall declared the scrimmage a success.

"I think the format was exactly right. That was the most positive thing of the day," he said.