BYU football: Freshman RB Jamaal Williams becomes a fan favorite at scrimmage

"Every one of those guys need reps. They all need experience," he said. "We have a lot of ability and a lot of talent, but the overall game reps, they don't have. We've got to learn fast and grow fast. We can't be doing it throughout the first couple of games. It needs to happen now so we can go out and execute our assignments come August 30."

No doubt, DuPaix liked the mentality and attitude the running backs brought to the scrimmage.

"We have some physical players, and they like contact. That's another reason why I love them," he said. "That's a BYU football player. That's a BYU running back. You've got to be physical, you've got to like the contact. You've got to play with fanatical effort each and every rep. I felt like our guys came out and did that today. Now, assignment-wise, we weren't 100 percent. But they came out with the right attitude, and that's a big thing I was looking for today."

COUGARS CAMP REPORT

Day 7: The Cougars completed their first week of fall camp with a 70-play scrimmage Thursday at LaVell Edwards Stadium. It consisted mostly of second-stringers and third-stringers. It marked the first time BYU has donned full pads.

Standouts: Freshman running back Jamaal Williams had six carries for 34 yards and a touchdown. David Foote rushed six times for 34 yards and Adam Hine rushed five times for 29 yards. Quarterback Riley Nelson completed 6-of-10 passes for 76 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown pass to JD Falslev.

Injuries: Offensive lineman Brock Stringham re-injured his ankle. Placekicker Justin Sorensen will receive a nerve-blocking injection in his back. He is day-to-day.

Overheard: "It was really good to get more plays than I anticipated. So our depth held up well enough on both sides. We got about 70 plays, which was great." — BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall

email: jeffc@desnews.com