There’s no question that BYU’s reimagined defense is going to miss star safety Micah Harper, who is out for the season with an ACL tear suffered in last week’s scrimmage.
But after watching the second scrimmage of preseason training camp — held Saturday in front of about 2,000 boosters at LaVell Edwards Stadium — head coach Kalani Sitake said he’s confident the group headed by new defensive coordinator Jay Hill can adequately adjust.
“Yeah, I definitely think we made improvements from the previous week. There are still some things we need to clean up, including myself — just communicating as a whole and making sure we are on the same page.” — New BYU linebacker AJ Vongphachanh on the defense in Saturday’s scrimmage.
Media members were allowed to watch the last 15-20 minutes of the scrimmage, when the few starters and second-stringers who did participate were relaxing on the bench, having given way to third- and fourth-teamers and scout team players.
“Yeah, we got a bunch of guys that can play (safety),” Sitake said. “That group was already deep from the beginning. But you are going to see a bunch of those guys that probably, we will see if they can separate themselves between now and (the opener on Sept. 2 against Sam Houston).”
Veteran Malik Moore seemingly has one starting safety spot nailed down; Those in line to get Harper’s reps are sophomore Talan Alfrey, freshman Raider Damuni, redshirt freshman Chika Ebunoha and Utah State transfer Crew Wakley.
“Really, there is not a lot of time left (to find a starter),” Sitake said. “Jay Hill could probably tell you a little bit more about who he is comfortable with. But there is a lot of talent there. There are four or five guys that could definitely replace him. It is just a matter of who is going to earn the one and two spots.”
Linebacker AJ Vongphachanh, the graduate transfer from Utah State, said Harper will be missed, but if Saturday’s scrimmage was any indication, others are ready to fill the void.
“It is definitely tough to lose a playmaker like that. But the guys have stepped up. We are just trying to be the best we can without him,” Vongphachanh said.
‘Under the weather’ Slovis stays sharp
Starting quarterback Kedon Slovis was also missing during the last half of the scrimmage, but not after getting the first three series and directing two scoring drives. Slovis left the stadium because he was not feeling well, Sitake said.
“Yeah, he is fine,” Sitake said. “Just feeling a little bit under the weather. Other than that he is good.”
Tight end Isaac Rex, who also played sparingly, said the highlight of the day for the tight ends were touchdown catches by Mason Fakahua and Mata’ave Ta’ase, a transfer from Southern Utah.
“Ta’ase made a great play going up to get one in the end zone,” Rex said. “I mean, we did a goal line situation, and I feel like we scored every time. So that’s huge. Whenever you can get touchdowns near the goal line or red zone, that’s a huge advantage for us. I feel like the offense played really well today.”
Rex said there’s a night and day difference between how he feels this year and last, after he came back last year from a devastating ankle injury suffered at the end of the 2021 season against USC.
“I feel a lot healthier. Last year at this point I was really struggling day to day. Right now I barely feel any pain in my ankle and I have been playing well and moving around,” Rex said. “Yeah, I have to attribute a lot of thanks to my doctors and physical trainers. They have really helped me out. It is a long time coming, but I feel good.”
Sounds like a stand-off
After the first scrimmage, veteran linebacker Ben Bywater freely admitted that the offense got the upper hand on the defense, which was to be expected considering the defense has been reorganized by Hill.
Bywater had an interception Saturday on a deflected pass, Vongphachanh said, but he couldn’t remember any other forced turnovers.
“Yeah, I definitely think we made improvements from the previous week,” Vongphachanh said. “There are still some things we need to clean up, including myself — just communicating as a whole and making sure we are on the same page.”
Vongphachanh and returners Bywater and Max Tooley will likely be the opening day starters at linebacker, but the USU transfer said to keep an eye on safety-turned-linebacker Isaiah Glasker.
“Glasker has been a dude,” he said. “We have seen his steady progression week to week, day by day.”
Told that Bywater said the offense won the day in the first scrimmage, Rex said the second scrimmage was closer to a stand off.
“It was kind of back and forth,” Rex said. “They were throwing a lot of stuff at us that we hadn’t seen before. … I feel like it was a fairly equal day for both sides of the ball.”
Kicking game coming along
Much of the last 15-20 minutes of the scrimmage was spent working on special teams. Matthias Dunn, a walk-on kicker from Wasatch High, handled the kickoffs and guys such as freshman LJ Martin, sophomore Parker Kingston and UConn transfer Keelan Marion returned the kickoffs.
“Kicking was really good,” Sitake said when he was asked for the highlight of the day. “I don’t know exactly, but I think Will (Ferrin) was 100 percent. So that is a good sign for us.”
Ferrin, Dunn and walk-on Jared Kapisi of Hawaii have been battling throughout camp for the starting placekicker duties.