Mendenhall calls scrimmage "dead even."
A 70-play scrimmage on Saturday in LaVell Edwards Stadium ended up fairly even and it pleased Bronco Mendenhall.
Max Hall completed 10 of 14 passes for 130 yards and 1 touchdown in a series of possessions that featured a mixture of first team offensive players going against a combination of second and third team defenders.
Hall hit freshman O’Neil Chambers for a touchdown strike inside the 10-yard line on the first possession of the day. Chambers made a one-handed catch while getting hit by two defenders on the play. That score capped a long drive that featured runs and catches by J.J. Diluigi. The offense looked crisp and fluid and it took place against the second defensive front.
Chambers almost arrived late for the scrimmage. Some team members left him and he was seen hoofing it up Canyon Road to the stadium. Some fans saw him and gave him a ride to the stadium. Chambers is getting a hard look by the offensive staff, using him in a myriad of situations and giving him and Luke Ashworth a lot of looks.
Diluigi’s number got called four consecutive times on that first drive and he responded with a nice dip and run to the outside for a 15-yard gain. He then had a five-yard catch. After getting caught at the line for no gain, he picked up a couple of yards to advance the ball deep into defensive territory. A nice reception by Andrew George moved the ball inside the 10 where Chambers made his impressive catch.
The other score came later in the scrimmage when the No. 1 offense drove down to the goal line and Mendenhall ordered his first defense on the field for a goal line set. Wayne Latu scored on a dive from about two yards out.
DiLuigi, Latu and Bryan Kariya got a lot of work on the day as Harvey Unga sat out. Fui Vakapuna had a few carries and looked strong. “I was mad because I thought I could have broke one of those for a big play,” said Vakapuna, of one of his catch/run plays.
“We have some of the competitions to be sorted out and with the repetitions, I’m sure that got done. The assessments will come later,” said Mendenhall.
I’d say the most impressive thing on the day was the play of the offensive line, even going against a mixture of second and third-team players. That line looked dominating and controlled the pocket and were very astute with the blocking schemes.
Mitch Payne booted a 55-yard field goal and C.J. Santiago booted a punt that traveled 57 yards. Chambers broke loose for an impressive 20-yard punt return. While he’s not a tremendous sprinter but his size and strength, coupled with some nice moves, allowed him to shake off some hits and advance the ball.
“I liked the special team component. We got more work than we have to this point in fall camp and it was cleaner and I thought the execution was better. We were not only able to get a look at our kickoffs and cover, but some of our returners and I thought it was very positive.”
Mendenhall called the day “dead even.” He said there were positives on both sides of the ball. I think Max was driving and led the team to two touchdowns and the defense had some critical stops on third downs.”
Stephen Covey took the last reps and ran some option plays, his specialty on Timpview High’s 4A championship team. Mendenhall said he liked Covey in that role because it will prove valuable for what BYU’s defense faces and he hinted it could become a part of the offense at some point down the line.
Mendenhall refused to make a call on the competitions going on for depth chart positioning. “It’s too early to make a call,” he said.
JC defensive end Bernard Afutiti, who came late to camp, made his initial appearance in a scrimmage and showed his speed on a defensive set that required him to drop back into coverage from his defensive end position. On that play, Afutiti got his hands on a pass down field from Kurt McEuen just before it got to the intended target.
Linebacker Dan Vansweden got hurt in the scrimmage. An x-ray showed he suffered a broken right leg, according to spokesman Jeff Reynolds.