BYU football: Chambers has no shortage of confidence

PROVO — It's too soon to know how much impact O'Neill Chambers will have on BYU's offense this season.

But one thing's certain. The confident freshman wide receiver wants to make an impact as soon as possible.

With returning starter Austin Collie out since the start of fall camp with a stress fracture in his leg and Bryce Mahuika also sidelined with an injury, Chambers has been getting playing time with the first-team offense.

"I'm trying to learn the plays, get them down," said Chambers. "I just want to work hard, get bigger and faster and be able to get on the field."

He showed a glimpse of his abilities during last Saturday's scrimmage. The 6-foot-3, 208-pounder from Harmony, Fla., raced past the defensive secondary on a stop-and-go route, caught a 40-yard pass from quarterback Max Hall along the sidelines and would have scored had he been able to stay in-bounds.

But Chambers doesn't feel he's proven anything to this point.

"Not yet," he said. "It's just a scrimmage. This doesn't mean nothing, really. Game day will tell."

Reality is, Chambers, who arrived in Provo just three weeks ago, is just a couple of months removed from high school and he is still learning the offense. When he's not practicing, he's constantly studying the playbook. Asked what he needs to do to play this season, he replied, "My plays and my route-running. That's what I need to work on. I've got the speed and I've got the strength. I've got to learn my plays — sleep with my (playbook) if I have to."

Chambers has relied on teammates like Collie and Michael Reed to assist him in making the transition to college football. "I look up to Mike Reed because he's helping me every step of the way. Collie as well," he said.

While Hall has plenty of weapons at his disposal, he likes the new one he has in Chambers.

"O'Neill kind of has a little bit of Mike Reed and Austin Collie in him. He's got a lot of raw talent," he said. "He just has to get better at his routes. He has to be crisper. But he catches the ball nicely, he's really good with his feet and he makes great moves with the ball. He just needs to learn the offense. From what the receivers have told me, he's a quick learner and he's picking things up well. Now, it's about sharpening things up. He's a freshman and he's only been here a few days. He'll have four weeks to get ready and hopefully he'll be a guy that helps us out. He's a guy who can be in the rotation and make plays for us."