Spring game report

For those of us any reports.



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I liked the new pace and the placards were interesting of course most of the big names were not playing but I see a lot of potential and my kids and I did enjoy it. Good size crowd attended reported to be 12000 If I were guessing I think it was a little more.

Sorensen missed a PAT today. That's unacceptable......we can't have more of this crap next year

Good game, 12000+ fans made it out. Too many guys not playing to say that it has an real bearing on the future.



Each of the QBs that played looked good with Ammon Olsen looking the best until he got rolled up and left the game with an LCL strain. Stewart, Mangum, and Billy Green all looked good too. Every QB did a good job of spreading the ball around.



Lasike was the best RB after J Dub went out after the first series. No one else really stepped up.



WR looked okay. Ross Apo lost a fight for the ball with a defender, but otherwise looked good.



Defense had some nice moments getting to the QB and sacking each QB. Corners did a decent job staying with their guy for the most part, but there is still some need for the defense to come together as a unit.



There were a few offensive line breakdowns and poor snaps that rolled to the QB but knowing that they are a ragtag group right now explains that. Kicking problems continue to plague the Cougars.

About what you'd expect from a spring scrimmage where about everyone sat out.



Once they went to full contact, no Hill, Hoff or Friel. No Matthews. A few other Oline guys sat too. And on the D, no Manu, KVN, Hadley, Kafusi, Unga, etc.



The one thing I can tell you I noticed is the sound of pads popping. The Oline played the most physical I have seen in a few years. It was hte 2's and 3's, but they gt after it physically.



Also, the pass to the halfback is back. More than a few check downs, but also, they put the RB in the pattern. Hine ran a great circle route down the middle, Olson delivered the pass perfectly, easy score, but Hine dropped it. And he dropped a few. He needs to improve his hands, but otherwise looked strong running it, the few times he did. As mentioned, LAsike got the lions share of reps running it today. Oh, and AJ Moore looked quick.



It was a very vanilla scrimmage. BYU ran base set on D, and really did no stunting or tricks, and did not try to blitz much or disguise covergaes. That helped the O a lot. Iny ears passed, I recall the O eating the D up with that, then the D dominating when Bronco sicked his D on them.



BYU has 6 Oline guys coming in for the Fall, including Kearsley. I was told a couple might not be fully healthy, so could RS next year, but waiting to see until fall. But basically, the Oline we saw today might not include more than 1 starter.



What I can tell you though is that BYU has decent depth this year. Depth with athleticism that is better than normal for BYU. Not saying this is USC or Bama athleticism, but BYU has more guys who look the part and can play.

hawkwing wrote:
Good game, 12000+ fans made it out. Too many guys not playing to say that it has an real bearing on the future.



Each of the QBs that played looked good with Ammon Olsen looking the best until he got rolled up and left the game with an LCL strain. Stewart, Mangum, and Billy Green all looked good too. Every QB did a good job of spreading the ball around.



Lasike was the best RB after J Dub went out after the first series. No one else really stepped up.



WR looked okay. Ross Apo lost a fight for the ball with a defender, but otherwise looked good.



Defense had some nice moments getting to the QB and sacking each QB. Corners did a decent job staying with their guy for the most part, but there is still some need for the defense to come together as a unit.



There were a few offensive line breakdowns and poor snaps that rolled to the QB but knowing that they are a ragtag group right now explains that. Kicking problems continue to plague the Cougars.

I read that Olsen is done for Spring. I assume he will be fine for fall. Imagine that. A QB injury. Luckily, we have several healthy QBs. But AO had the most experience of the backups other than Munns who is also injured. And, of course, Hill is still recovering from injury. I am optimistic that all 3 injured QBs will be fully recovered before Fall camp.



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Hey Hawk-dawg and Lawboy - thanks for those detailed posts. For me (and my buddy that follow Coug football but live in So. Kalifornia), these reports mean a lot. You guys are our eyes. We're excited for this team & the offensive changes.



Thx!

My apologies in advance for repeating some of what others have already said but I'm an idiot when it comes to quoting parts of multiple peoples posts so I'm just going to add a few things and comment about some similar things.



Maybe someone on this board who was at last years spring skelly and this years scrimmage can help me out but I felt like last year the highlight of the day was a 21 or 22 yard scramble by Taysom when a play broke down and then of course a whistle tackle. I remember thinking our QB play looked horrible because we completed hardly anything that kept the chains moving and little if anything that was deep.



This year, however, I was quite impressed with the QB's...all of them. They looked quite poised standing in the pocket and finding their receivers even checking off a few times. They seemed to know when to run and where and when to slide or get out of bounds. Ammon's injury was a line breakdown and I think it began with a rolling snap from center.



RB's were meh, except a long run by Lasike and a few chain moving runs also by him. Hine got open downfield twice, one that would have likely resulted in a 45 or so yard TD completion but he missed both catches despite being open and being very catchable. I was glad to see the RB's downfield back in our offense instead of a shovel (shuffle?) pass being the only way they get it besides a handoff.



I did think Ammon looked the best among QB's. He threw a very nice spiral on short and long balls. He throws a dart of a pass when he needs to and had a nice touch pass that fell just out of reach of a receiver near the endzone. Tanner looked very good too on passes and runs. He has an effortless looking throw that he can put 40 yards downfield with seeming ease. (maybe I'm comparing him to Riley where it looked like a 15 yarder pushed him to the limit!) Tanner, IIRC, threw back across the field about a 15 yard downfield (25 in the air) that went for a nice gain.



The receivers were what others have said, good. Houk got open well. Apo looked a bit like Hoffman going up and challenging for everything thrown his way. After the scrimmage while I was in line to get a pic with Ross someone said, "Hey Ross, how did you like catching balls not thrown at your feet?" Ross smirked but didn't say anything.



In line with Ammon Olson someone said, "you looked great out there. It's nice to have a QB that can throw instead of Riley." Ammon looked uncomfortable and said, "hey man, He's a good guy."



Kickers need some work. Punts in warm ups looked good but in the scrimmage, without any pressure at all, there were shanks and short punts that didn't look good to me at all. Place kicking still is very shaky. Hopefully someone will step up and be the man.



Last thing, my wife commented after the scrimmage, "This whole thing is like a big bromance isn't it? You guys just come here and egg each other on by talking like you are all coaches and then act like little kids trying to get autographs from a bunch of college kids after and pretending like you're doing it for your children."



Guilty as charged!



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

Similar to what others have said, it was kind of vanilla but lots of fun. Lasike was a lot of fun and reminded me of Fui because he seems to like the contact. I like seeing Tanner get the extra reps simply to keep him happy after we fired his coach and the guy that recruited him and ran an offense the last few years that no number 1 qb would want to be in. I'm glad we get to send him off with a good taste in his mouth.

Hine did drop at least 2 wide open passes. Ross seemed to make a great play to get the ball that was ruled an interception but I was on the far side and couldn't see it. Olsen looked good and I'm glad to hear he may be ok because it didn't look good when he got hit. Stewart seemd to be the most prone to tuck and run.



My biggest takeaways from the game was to wear sunscreen to the spring game (Yes, I have the sunburn to prove it) and make sure your kid is highly trained going in to the Easter egg hunt. The 0-3 year old category was a mad house!

I would take any of our quarterback play in that scrimmage versus the quarterback play we had last year from anyone not named "Hill." For the first time in a couple years, I won't be looking at the other teams quarterback throwing while we are on D and thinking, "Man I wish we had that guy..." (And I have thought that, even against the Idaho State's and NMSU's of the world.





Substitutions looked good with the hurry up offense. No subsitiution or delay of games. Things won't be quite so simple in game day, but I liked that they looked smooth early.



The blocking and snapping was horrific. I understand that these guys are basically going to end up as 3rd teamers when everything shakes out, but that was bad. Almost 0 holes were opened up, and the quarterbacks where scrambling for most of the game (especially Stewart was. He must have had a worse line, or better defenders putting pressure on.) If this was a fall game I would put us down as not winning a game this year. But fortunately we have time, and are getting in some much needed talent.



Olson looked good. He gets us better qb play than Riley automatically.



Punts weren't deep, or didn't have hang time. If that is all we have to offer, we will lose some position battles this year. Kicking looked bad, but that can be attributed to bad snapping, as much as bad kicking. One of the missed PATs actually had the ball bounce once to the holder.



Hine looked okay, considering how poor the Oline did.



Apo had a good day, catching some very poorly thrown balls. I would have to see the "takeaway" that got "wrestled away" from him again. I think he was down before the ball got ripped away, but I was on the other side of the stadium. The officiating wasn't very good, as I am sure these guys were just volunteers or something. They called a 35 yard sideline catch as out on the west side, when the receiver clearly had a leg in and made a good play on the ball.

I had a great burger at JCWs following the game. And had a great afternoon making my lawn "Y" with Hawk, Mars and kjjson. I've got some photos I'll post when I'm done attaching my lights!

it was stewart that threw the long bomb into hine's hands over the middle that he dropped, not olsen.



i thought the qbs all looked good. olsen was scary accurate on his deep balls. I came away seriously impressed with him. I know hill was limited but i saw him throw two picks and his timing seemed a little off. Olsen looked best to me.



stewart was awesome as well. I was curious to know why mangum got three series? is he really going on his mission ina few months? it was wierd that he got just as many series as olsen did (granted olsen went down).



jamal is clearly our best running back. he had nowhere to go on his first run and still managed to juke two guys.



apo looked like a new person. he was really aggressive and seemed like he looked a little bigger to me. that ball they said comer wreslted from him was clearly a catch by him. he just let go of the ball once he aws on his back and had already caught it.



fua looked awesome.



mahina had a drop. hine had two really really bad drops. cody raymond looked good. some player number 49, i think egbert, was playing really well on d. sacks and rushed the qb a lot.



overall i just really happy to see how well our quarterbacks were throwing the ball. it was like a completely different team. really glad doman was let go.



i still don't get how they thinkt hey can run the pace any fast in a game for more than one quarter. am i the only one that thinks this goal is unrealistic?

jonnylingo wrote:
it was stewart that threw the long bomb into hine's hands over the middle that he dropped, not olsen.



i thought the qbs all looked good. olsen was scary accurate on his deep balls. I came away seriously impressed with him. I know hill was limited but i saw him throw two picks and his timing seemed a little off. Olsen looked best to me.



To clarify, Hill threw the two picks in 7 on 7 skellies before the scrimmage. And yes, that was a concern.



stewart was awesome as well. I was curious to know why mangum got three series? is he really going on his mission ina few months? it was wierd that he got just as many series as olsen did (granted olsen went down).



Yes, very curious. Is he not going?



jamal is clearly our best running back. he had nowhere to go on his first run and still managed to juke two guys.



apo looked like a new person. he was really aggressive and seemed like he looked a little bigger to me. that ball they said comer wreslted from him was clearly a catch by him. he just let go of the ball once he aws on his back and had already caught it.



I agree. Apo did need to finish the play, especially since he is suspect of not playing aggressive through hardly any plays in past. But a real ref crew probably calls that a reception for Apo. And, credit the DB.



fua looked awesome.



mahina had a drop. hine had two really really bad drops. cody raymond looked good. some player number 49, i think egbert, was playing really well on d. sacks and rushed the qb a lot.



Yes, Egbert, 49, looked good. He was slated for TE, as a walk-on. Bt he may break into two-deep LB. speedy and aggressive.





overall i just really happy to see how well our quarterbacks were throwing the ball. it was like a completely different team. really glad doman was let go.



..........and..........???? That Rley is gone?



i still don't get how they thinkt hey can run the pace any fast in a game for more than one quarter. am i the only one that thinks this goal is unrealistic?

Yes. I wonder about this. Especially over the entire season. Much like the Bball team. JW long can players keep up that pace of play? But, in Anae's pre-scrimmage sit-down interview with Wrubell, he said he even did not think an "effort-based"/"Go fast. Go hard" philosophy could work. But he learned it can, working with RichRod.

So, we'll see.

Cougs_Rule wrote:

it was stewart that threw the long bomb into hine's hands over the middle that he dropped, not olsen.



i thought the qbs all looked good. olsen was scary accurate on his deep balls. I came away seriously impressed with him. I know hill was limited but i saw him throw two picks and his timing seemed a little off. Olsen looked best to me.



To clarify, Hill threw the two picks in 7 on 7 skellies before the scrimmage. And yes, that was a concern.



stewart was awesome as well. I was curious to know why mangum got three series? is he really going on his mission ina few months? it was wierd that he got just as many series as olsen did (granted olsen went down).



Yes, very curious. Is he not going?



jamal is clearly our best running back. he had nowhere to go on his first run and still managed to juke two guys.



apo looked like a new person. he was really aggressive and seemed like he looked a little bigger to me. that ball they said comer wreslted from him was clearly a catch by him. he just let go of the ball once he aws on his back and had already caught it.



I agree. Apo did need to finish the play, especially since he is suspect of not playing aggressive through hardly any plays in past. But a real ref crew probably calls that a reception for Apo. And, credit the DB.



fua looked awesome.



mahina had a drop. hine had two really really bad drops. cody raymond looked good. some player number 49, i think egbert, was playing really well on d. sacks and rushed the qb a lot.



Yes, Egbert, 49, looked good. He was slated for TE, as a walk-on. Bt he may break into two-deep LB. speedy and aggressive.





overall i just really happy to see how well our quarterbacks were throwing the ball. it was like a completely different team. really glad doman was let go.



..........and..........???? That Rley is gone?



i still don't get how they thinkt hey can run the pace any fast in a game for more than one quarter. am i the only one that thinks this goal is unrealistic?

Yes. I wonder about this. Especially over the entire season. Much like the Bball team. JW long can players keep up that pace of play? But, in Anae's pre-scrimmage sit-down interview with Wrubell, he said he even did not think an "effort-based"/"Go fast. Go hard" philosophy could work. But he learned it can, working with RichRod.

So, we'll see.

Good points. And yes, we will see if this go fast go hard works. I sure hope so. either way it will certainly be more fun to watch then options to the short side.

One thing, if BYU can replicate it in the season is the pace at which they played.



The offense was routinely snapping ball before 15 seconds had elapsed off the 40-second play clock. That kind of tempo could really keep defenses in a base set and make the offense click.

jonnylingo wrote:

jonnylingo wrote:
it was stewart that threw the long bomb into hine's hands over the middle that he dropped, not olsen.



i thought the qbs all looked good. olsen was scary accurate on his deep balls. I came away seriously impressed with him. I know hill was limited but i saw him throw two picks and his timing seemed a little off. Olsen looked best to me.



To clarify, Hill threw the two picks in 7 on 7 skellies before the scrimmage. And yes, that was a concern.



stewart was awesome as well. I was curious to know why mangum got three series? is he really going on his mission ina few months? it was wierd that he got just as many series as olsen did (granted olsen went down).



Yes, very curious. Is he not going?



jamal is clearly our best running back. he had nowhere to go on his first run and still managed to juke two guys.



apo looked like a new person. he was really aggressive and seemed like he looked a little bigger to me. that ball they said comer wreslted from him was clearly a catch by him. he just let go of the ball once he aws on his back and had already caught it.



I agree. Apo did need to finish the play, especially since he is suspect of not playing aggressive through hardly any plays in past. But a real ref crew probably calls that a reception for Apo. And, credit the DB.



fua looked awesome.



mahina had a drop. hine had two really really bad drops. cody raymond looked good. some player number 49, i think egbert, was playing really well on d. sacks and rushed the qb a lot.



Yes, Egbert, 49, looked good. He was slated for TE, as a walk-on. Bt he may break into two-deep LB. speedy and aggressive.





overall i just really happy to see how well our quarterbacks were throwing the ball. it was like a completely different team. really glad doman was let go.



..........and..........???? That Rley is gone?



i still don't get how they thinkt hey can run the pace any fast in a game for more than one quarter. am i the only one that thinks this goal is unrealistic?

Yes. I wonder about this. Especially over the entire season. Much like the Bball team. JW long can players keep up that pace of play? But, in Anae's pre-scrimmage sit-down interview with Wrubell, he said he even did not think an "effort-based"/"Go fast. Go hard" philosophy could work. But he learned it can, working with RichRod.

So, we'll see.

Good points. And yes, we will see if this go fast go hard works. I sure hope so. either way it will certainly be more fun to watch then options to the short side.

Or Ross Apo (bubble?) screens with a DB in his grill.

SpiffCoug wrote:
One thing, if BYU can replicate it in the season is the pace at which they played.



The offense was routinely snapping ball before 15 seconds had elapsed off the 40-second play clock. That kind of tempo could really keep defenses in a base set and make the offense click.

If you can't beat em with Braun, dazzle em with dizziness. :D

SpiffCoug wrote:
One thing, if BYU can replicate it in the season is the pace at which they played.



The offense was routinely snapping ball before 15 seconds had elapsed off the 40-second play clock. That kind of tempo could really keep defenses in a base set and make the offense click.

If you can't beat em with Braun, dazzle em with dizziness. :D