BYU football: Bronco Mendenhall pleased with progress so far

PROVO — The Cougars got in just short of 50 reps for the team in their first scrimmage of the fall practice session. Fans from all over gathered to come out and support their team.

Ive never seen an opening scrimmage with this much support, said head coach Bronco Mendenhall. When I was driving over and saw all the cars, I thought that something else was going on as well on campus. It was pretty neat.

The scrimmage got off to a rough start as emerging fullback, Iona Pritchard was left on the ground after the opening kickoff. He was carted off the field with a fractured fibula and a bone dislocation in his lower leg and will miss a minimum of six weeks.

Pritchards role was starting to expand, according to Mendenhall, and he was beginning to remind coaches of Manase Tonga with his play.

There will have to be some adjustment now, but fortunately were deep at running back, Mendenhall said.

First Series

The first set of reps saw quarterback Jake Heaps march the first team offense down the field with 5-for-5 passing for 49 yards. He capped off the drive by hitting McKay Jacobson in the end zone from 15-yards out.

Its huge. It sets the tone for the rest of the game, said Heaps about scoring on the opening drive. It deflates another team when youre able to put drives together like that. Not just me, but our run game with our running backs getting four, five or six yards a pop.

Bryan Kariya had two runs for a combined 11 yards during the first set with JJ Di Luigi contributing another run of six yards.

The opening play of the drive had Heaps attempting a long pass to Ross Apo, who had man-on-man coverage. Although the pass wasnt complete, Corby Eason, who was in coverage, was flagged for pass interference.

Its kind of a no-brainer type of thing, said Heaps about recognizing Apo in man-coverage down the field. Ross is a special player. Hes such a vertical threat that if hes not catching the ball that youre going to have to PI (pass interfere) him. Hes so good that its really the only decision that a DB (defensive back) has. They can let him catch the ball or they can get a penalty.

Second Series

Riley Nelson got the second set of reps, going live with a blue jersey. The second drive ended with a pass that was dropped by tight end Richard Wilson and summarily picked off by Carter Mees. Nelson ended going 1-for-3 with a completed pass of 11 yards to Di Luigi.

Third Series

Heaps took the field again for the third set and threw his only pass incomplete after Di Luigi started the drive off with a 22-yard run. A sack by Eathyn Manumaleuna helped hold the offense short of the end zone.

I think the offensive line was perhaps the most cohesive group; that stood out the most, said Mendenhall on his impressions of the scrimmage and in opening holes that allowed for big-gainers by Di Luigi and others. I liked how physical they were today, and without sending a lot of pressure in terms of one-on-one battles, the offensive line (played well) and the running backs ran hard.

Riley Stephenson let go of a punt for 50 yards to end the set. The punt featured the swinging gate formation consisting of Romney Fuga, Walter Kahaialii and Braden Brown as the last line of the defense right in front of the punter.

Fourth Series

James Lark saw the field for the first time during the fourth set and went 2-for-3 for seven yards on a completion to David Foote.

Fifth Series

Heaps then took the field and went 2-for-4 for 44 yards with both of his completions going to Marcus Mathews.