BYU football: Enthusiasm dissipates during second practice session

PROVO — A lot of the enthusiasm shown forth by the BYU football team dissipated during today's second session. The extended first practice session noticeably took its toll on the team, according to head coach Bronco Mendenhall.

"I think our team was not as excited to practice as they were on Saturday," he said. "We went long on Saturday and it took a little bit to get their attention at the start of practice. I think at the end that we finished with some more consistency than we did on Saturday, but the energy was high."

One area where the energy was very high was the matchup between outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy and left tackle Matt Reynolds. Two days into fall camp, this is shaping up to be the marquee matchup day-in and day-out.

"I know that when I go against Matt Reynolds, that I'm going against the best, so that's my mentality," said Van Noy. "They tell us that me and JP (Jordan Pendleton) are two of the best in the country at speed-rushing, so we give him some problems there which is good."

The matchup has featured some give and take on both ends, but both players are thankful for the competition.

"We go as hard as we can whenever we go against each other," said Reynolds.

"I know that I'm going to get his best and he knows that he's going to get mine, and a lot of the times we end up on the ground. From my end, I'm not trying to pick a fight with him, I'm just trying to make him make me better."

Van Noy has been able to get the better of Reynolds some of the time through the first two days.

"We've done well, me and JP," he said. "I like it, because you can see him getting more ready to stop me, and I get it all from him, which it is all about during practice. I know that if I can go up against Matt Reynolds and do well, then I can go up against anyone in the country."

PRACTICE NOTES

Jake Heaps finished the day going 4-for-5 for 31 yards during team drills.

James Lark went 5-for-5 for 36 yards, which included a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dalin Cutler.

Mike Hague had the defensive highlight of the day, picking off a pass thrown by Riley Nelson. Other defensive highlights included sacks recorded by Ezekial Ansah, Mike Muehlmann and Skye Povey.

Marco Thorson got looks at left guard with the No. 1s today while Joe Sampson saw reps with the second-team defense at cornerback.

Tight end Marcus Mathews left practice early with an apparent stinger injury to his shoulder.

Corbin Kaufusi attended practice today. He's grey-shirting in the fall and will participate in spring practices before leaving for a mission. He's grown quite a bit since high school, reporting that he's now 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds.

Kicker Justin Sorensen connected on a 45-yard field goal during live drills.

email: bgurney@desnews.com

Twitter: @BrandonCGurney