After more than two months of the offseason and four days of noncontact drills, the BYU football team enjoyed its first opportunity to hit - even if it meant hitting each other - in an intrasquad scrimmage Friday.
And did they hit in the first such scrimmage of spring practice.A total of four scuffles were featured on the card, with the main event being a spirited bout between receiver Eric Drage and linebacker Todd Herget. And the winner was . . . head coach LaVell Edwards, who got in the last word in post- practice chats with both players.
Need more hitting? Defensive lineman Randy Brock earned a temporary ejection for crashing twice into quarterback John Walsh. Contact with the quarterbacks is a no-no in controlled scrimmages.
"Overall, I thought our attitude was good and our execution at times was good," said Edwards, whose team survived its first week of spring drills without any major injury or mishap.
Several starter-type players didn't even suit up for the first scrimmage of spring drills, while the Cougars talented backfield tandem of Kalin Hall and Jamal Willis made cameo-type appearances. Hall, who is nursing a hamstring injury, rushed four times for 22 yards, with the highlight being a 16-yard zig- zag effort. Willis jetted for a 20-yard sweep but lost yardage on his two other carries.
Offensively, the few small question marks include tight end and quarterback - you remember the latter as the revolving-door position of '92, when BYU was forced to go four deep at QB.
Walsh, who was tabbed as the Cougars' '92 starter before redshirting following an early season shoulder injury, completed 11 of 15 attempts - including two touchdown passes to Drage - for 193 yards in his four dozen-play series. Junior Tom Young, who finished '92 as the BYU starter in the Aloha Bowl, had 12 completions in 23 tries for 85 yards and no TDs. Even redshirt freshman Paul Shoemaker got in a little action before his expected departure on an LDS Church mission on 3-of-6 passing for 28 yards.
Steve Clements is still recovering from a shoulder injury and is participating in noncontact drills only, while a knee injury is precluding Ryan Hancock from spring practice. Hancock may recover in time to see some baseball action.
Banging his way for 42 yards on a pair of rumbling receptions, backup tight end Todd Jorgensen was one of a dozen different Cougars who caught passes, with Drage leading with four receptions for 68 yards. Bryce Doman and Micah Matsuzaki snagged three passes each.
Drage's two touchdown receptions were the only TDs of the afternoon scrimmage, comprised of 10 series of about a dozen plays each possession. While there were numerous substitutions and rotations, the format had the first-team offense and defense squaring off and then the second units following suit.
The other scoring of the afternoon came on a 30-yard field goal by Joe Herrick, who missed a 38-yard attempt.
Besides having to replace departed starters in placekicking and punting, BYU is facing vacancies in the middle of the defense - at middle linebacker and at both safety spots. Royal Chamberlain and Brian Hughes rotated at MLB during key first-team series, while Casey Mazzotta and Frank Christianson have moved up from their reserve roles at safety to lead Cory Cook and Jack Damuni, a pair of junior college recruits who are being converted from their cornerback spots.
The Cougars will continue their spring drills and scrimmages, concluding with a final scrimmage at Cougar Stadium on Saturday, March 27.