BYU football: Cougars patched holes effectively but not perfectly

PROVO — BYU faced big questions at two key positions, on the offensive line and at cornerback, entering the 2009 season.

The O-line was breaking in four new starters and the only returning starter missed much of fall camp with a broken hand.

The group of corners was comprised of a junior with only three career starts, a redshirt freshman who had recently returned from a mission, and three junior college transfers.

While both positions underwent plenty of scrutiny prior to the season, maybe the fact they haven't received much scrutiny since is a testament to their collective performance.

Five games into the season, there have been ups and downs for both the O-linemen and corners, but they haven't been the liability some projected they might be for the No. 18 Cougars.

First, the offensive line. Left tackle Matt Reynolds, who started last season as a freshman, overcame a broken hand while the line also had to deal with the loss of projected left guard Jason Speredon to a season-ending rotator cuff injury and backup lineman Houston Reynolds to a season-ending knee-injury.

Yet Matt Reynolds, senior center R.J. Willing, sophomore right guard Terence Brown, freshman left guard Braden Hansen and junior right tackle Nick Alletto have acquitted themselves well.

"I think they're the surprise of the team right now. No one expected those guys to come in and play how they're playing," said quarterback Max Hall. "Not only protecting me, but also in the running game. They're very physical and they get after people and they have fun doing it. I love being behind those guys. I feel 100 percent confident in their calls. They have a competition every week to see who can get the most knockdowns. They're just a fun group to be around and I think their play is showing for it."

"I think the offensive line is probably the best indicator of the program's maturity," said coach Bronco Mendenhall. "(Offensive line) coach (Mark) Weber has done a nice job with them. It hasn't been easy but I think they're handling it well. You did see some offsides and some procedure penalties (in last Friday's 35-17 win over Utah State) and some things we need to clean up. But overall, I think they're playing probably better than any of us expected."