BYU football notebook: Placekicking suddenly a concern for Cougs

PROVO — After watching junior placekicker Mitch Payne miss three short field goal attempts during Tuesday's practice, coach Bronco Mendenhall was asked if he is concerned about that aspect of the kicking game.

"You bet," he said.

During fall camp, Payne has been errant on numerous field goal attempts and has had a few others blocked.

"We're concerned not only in our protection but in our accuracy," Mendenhall said, who explained that his team is doing a lot more "live" work this year than in recent years. He said he's not sure if that has something to do with kicking problems to this point.

Meanwhile, freshman Riley Stephenson, who is the Cougars' punter and backup placekicker, could get a shot at auditioning for Payne's job if Payne doesn't turn things around soon, Mendenhall said.

Stephenson, a recently returned missionary, has impressed his teammates and coaches with his booming punts during fall camp.

"Our punting game, watching the ball sail, is what our fans will look at and say, 'Wow, that's really good,' " Mendenhall said.

ON THE CORNERS: Corby Eason, who is battling for a starting cornerback job, had an interception Tuesday, but he's had his struggles during camp covering wide receiver McKay Jacobson.

Overall, Mendenhall is encouraged by what he's seen from his field corners, including Eason and Brian Logan, who are both junior college transfers, and Robbie Buckner, who for now is regarded as the starter at field corner, though he has been sidelined for the past week with a hamstring injury.

"We have a good situation there," he said.

At boundary corner, Brandon Bradley continues to run with the first-team, with JC transfer Lee Aguirre backing him up.

NICKEL AND DIME: Sophomore safety Shiloah Te'o was seeing playing time with the linebackers on Tuesday.

"It's basically to take a look at possible nickel or dime package with so many spread teams in our league," Mendenhall said. "We'll probably experiment with a number of guys but we really like the way (Te'o) is playing at kat (safety). He has a really good feel there. If we can put more speed and athleticism on the field, then that could possibly help us versus the number of offenses that spread the field."