PROVO — BYU has a full cupboard of promising and proven running backs, but Saturday's spring scrimmage featured just a little of what new position coach Reno Mahe has in his arsenal.
The bulk of the carries during live action were handled by sophomore Squally Canada, junior Trey Dye and freshman KJ Hall. Proven rushers, such as seniors Jamaal Williams and Algernon Brown watched from the sidelines throughout the scrimmage while their younger teammates showed relatively well.
"I think they looked good," Williams observed. "They did what they've been doing this whole time in spring and I'm just proud of them. ...it was a great day for them."
Canada was perhaps the most impressive with his five carries for 45 yards. The sophomore looked instinctive and aggressive in his first extended action playing at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"I had a great time and playing here has been a long time coming," Canada said. "Credit to my offensive line for whatever good things I was able to do. I couldn't do anything without them or without the receivers down the field blocking. It's always a team effort."
Dye had a team-leading 10 carries for 41 yards while Hall had seven touches for 27 yards. Overall Mahe was pleased with his group's performance while seeing continued need for improvement in key areas.
"It was okay. We had a fumble at the end, and some other mental things we need to get better, but we saw a lot of good things," Mahe said. "We want to get good film on the younger guys, so we'll go back and look at what they did, but yeah, I feel we did pretty good out there today."
The offense was severely limited by design, something necessary according to coaches, but still a bit frustrating.
"These fans understand what we can and can't do at this stage, even though you'd always love to show everything you have," Mahe said. "At the end of the day, it matters what we're showing in August and September, not in March or even in April. I think the fans we have appreciate that."
As for Williams, it wasn't easy to sit out yet again after missing all of last season but he understands the reasons he was held out of live drills.
"I'm always ready to play, but I got to listen to the coaches because they know what's best for me," Williams said. "I'm ready to play at any time. No one got to question me on my ability to play, but sometimes you got to just do what's best for the team and let the others get their shots."
Email: bgurney@desnews.com
Twitter: @BrandonCGurney