BYU football coaches were surprisingly blunt about what took place when a veteran defense squared off against a young offense in their first scrimmage of preseason training camp Saturday — a 100-plus play exercise held behind closed doors at LaVell Edwards Stadium — but remained mostly vague on the starting quarterback competition.
As expected, the defense won the day, acknowledged head coach Kalani Sitake and offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick, while defensive coordinator Jay Hill took a more political approach and said that the defense should be ahead at this juncture of camp.
“I think defense usually in the first scrimmage (is better),” Sitake said. “That’s how it works. Defense got the better of the offense today. … but offense took care of the football. I think overall the defense was able to pretty much come out ahead.”
Sitake said having no turnovers was a victory for the offense, but noted that he was “concerned” a bit because of how the defense made getting interceptions one of its calling cards last year.
“So it was a good thing that the offense took care of the football, but I don’t know if we would have taken more chances, taken more risks” if there wasn’t a quarterback battle taking place.
Speaking of that, Sitake said coaches will “possibly” begin paring down the starting QB derby, perhaps as soon as the beginning of next week.
“On Monday, we will let you guys know,” he said.
Sitake and Roderick both said the three quarterbacks in the race to be the starter on August 30 against Portland State — Bear Bachmeier, McCae Hillstead and Treyson Bourguet — got equal reps on Saturday.
“I need to watch the film is a true statement,” Roderick said when asked if any of the three QBs stood out on Saturday. “I need to watch the tape, but what I will say is it is not going to be (us giving) equal reps forever.”
Roderick wouldn’t say exactly when the whittling process will begin.
“But there’s going to be a time pretty soon where we’re going to have to start establishing a pecking order and getting somebody more reps with the ones and the twos, and maybe somebody is going to get a little bit less,” he said.
““If we keep going the way we’re going forever, then nobody will be ready to play in our first game, so that move will be happening soon.”
All three coaches who spoke to reporters via Zoom on Saturday said that part of the reason why the offense struggled was due to penalties and procedural errors. Roderick said they played conservatively when they were behind the chains, or settled for field goals rather than throw into drop-eight coverage.
“Yeah, I think those guys took good care of the ball,” Roderick said. “Overall we had a few turnovers in the first couple of practices, but I think the last week or so, all three quarterbacks have done a good job of not giving it to the other team.”
Overall, Roderick called the offense “a little bit sloppy,” which was disappointing to the coordinator because the unit had been “playing well in practice and having a good amount of success.”
A couple hours after the scrimmage, BYU released some highlights from the day, including a touchdown toss from Bachmeier to Cody Hagen and a deep throw from Bourguet to freshman receiver LaMason Waller.
“I thought today was not our best football, but it is part of the process of getting there,” Roderick said. “You have to have this type of scrimmage and learn those lessons, and the next time we scrimmage, hopefully next week sometime, we will be better and keep taking steps toward being ready to play a game.”
Roderick said BYU is “still waiting” to see if sixth-year running back Hinckley Ropati will be granted an additional year by the NCAA. Every healthy player saw live action, including RB1 LJ Martin and RB2 Sione Moa, but Roderick said the running game didn’t click like he hoped it would. Part of that is because Hill has said stopping the run is a big emphasis for the defense this season.
“Our run game is going to be good,” Roderick said. “I am telling you, we are going to be able to run the football. I like our offensive line a lot. Our tight ends are tough and physical, and LJ Martin and Sione Moa are really good players. We have some other backs, too, that I think we will be able to count on.”
Sitake said a couple of players got dinged up, which is to be expected. Hill said sophomore cornerback Tre Alexander was held out with a minor shoulder injury, “but will be back soon” and had been playing “very good” in practice.