BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick was in no mood to divulge a lot of information regarding his offense after the Cougars wrapped up 2022 preseason training camp with a closed, no-tackling scrimmage Tuesday at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” Roderick said. “We are nowhere near ready to play a game yet. But we will be ready a week from Saturday (when BYU plays at South Florida on Sept. 3).”
The Cougars broke camp Tuesday and took Wednesday off for some team activities — such as floating down the Provo River, an almost annual August tradition. They were scheduled Thursday to jump headfirst into preparation for the Bulls in Tampa, Florida, but in reality they’ve been getting in work on USF here and there all summer.
As for Roderick’s lack of confidence in his offense’s readiness level, don’t panic, Cougar fans. Making bold and brash predictions of success is not his way, although he did conclude after being asked for an assessment of the offense’s performance in the scrimmage that “we are making progress and we are going to be good on offense.”
Pressed to elaborate on his “chief concern” for his offense, he declined. After all, one of his mentors is one of the most tight-lipped coaches in all of college football, Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
“Sorry, just for strategic reasons I don’t want to say what those things are,” Roderick said.
“They are proven guys who have played a lot of football. So we are trying to give them the right amount of work to stay sharp, but not overuse them. … Those guys are playing a minimal role at times, a smaller role than they will play in the games. I mean, everyone is available and ready to go.” — BYU offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick
If there is a mild concern, it is that guys such as tight ends Dallin Holker and Isaac Rex, fullback Masen Wake and receivers Gunner Romney and Puka Nacua didn’t get a lot of contact work in the 15 practices and/or scrimmages, for reasons mostly related to the desire to keep them healthy for a long season in which the No. 25 Cougars will go 10 straight games before a bye week.
Running back Chris Brooks, the transfer from Cal, received some reps Tuesday, after not doing much the previous two scrimmages.
“They are proven guys who have played a lot of football,” Roderick said of the aforementioned. “So we are trying to give them the right amount of work to stay sharp, but not overuse them. … Those guys are playing a minimal role at times, a smaller role than they will play in the games. I mean, everyone is available and ready to go.”
With a lot of the big guns resting, some lesser-known offensive players got more reps than usual, and some showed that they might be able to flourish in the bright lights. Backup quarterback Jacob Conover, backup running back Miles Davis, receiver Chase Roberts, redshirt freshman tight end Ethan Erickson and new offensive Ben Ward, a converted tight end, were singled out by various coaches for displaying marked improvement.
“I like what I saw from the other quarterbacks (not named Jaren Hall), too, in that position group,” head coach Kalani Sitake said.
Boise State transfer Cade Fennegan, dual threat QB Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters and walk-on Nick Billoups are the others in the quarterbacks room.
Davis, a former receiver, is pushing sixth-year senior Lopini Katoa for RB2 duties behind Brooks. Jackson McChesney and Hinckley Ropati are also in the mix.
“Some things need work, but I am confident that we will be there and we will be ready for Game 1,” Katoa said. “We are trying not to believe (the hype). We know we have a lot of returning talent and a lot of people are trying to tell us we are going to be great, but we are treating that as poison right now and just working to prove it this year.”
What about the offensive line?
Sophomore Connor Pay, who seemingly has edged ahead of fifth-year senior Joe Tukuafu for the starting center spot, said the offensive line “got better together” as camp progressed but still is not satisfied.
“When we first came into camp, we had an amazing first couple of practices. Then it started to taper off,” Pay said. “We have steadily been getting better and better as camp has gone on. Hopefully, we are prepared to play our best ball vs. South Florida and then for each week after that.”
As for the huge expectations being placed on the O-line, Pay said anything coming from outside the building is falling on deaf ears.
“If the expectation comes from the media, we don’t really care. We care about the expectations inside the room, the people in the building,” he said. “We are setting goals together, and that is what we are focused on. The expectations we care about come from ourselves.”
Hall told the Deseret News Tuesday that the offense got off to a bit of a slow start in camp, due in part to some heavy installation the first week, but hit its stride the last week.
“We are starting to feel good about everything,” Hall said. “We made some big strides as camp progressed.”
Sitake said offensive, defensive and special teams depth charts will be released Monday. Pay said the offensive linemen haven’t been told if there’s a clearcut starting five or not, but “I would say the picture is becoming a little bit clearer.”
Four of the O-line starters seem certain: Blake Freeland at left tackle, Clark Barrington at left guard, Pay at center and Oregon transfer Kingsley Suamataia at right tackle. Tukuafu, sophomore Campbell Barrington and junior Harris LaChance have gotten reps with the ones at right guard; That’s the biggest mystery entering game week.
“Yeah, there are a lot of battles, and they are ongoing. That O-line thing, that might be a season-long thing,” Roderick said, noting that he is not opposed to rotating up to eight or nine offensive linemen into games. “There are some good players there that no matter what we do, there are going to be a couple good guys standing on the sidelines at times.”
