Collie throws TD pass to Reed

Austin Collie isn’t messing around. Neither are his coaches.

Collie looked very good in taking a set of limited plays against a scout team, throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to receiver Michael Reed in Saturday’s only practice.

Is he going to get a ton of plays at QB? No.

Is he capable? He looked pretty good.

Is this something BYU is serious about? Yes.

Why?

Collie can make plays. If Max Hall goes down, a very effective combination of Hall to Collie that has been forged the past year and a half would end. Is Brenden Gaskins or Kurt McEuen capable of replacing Hall? Kind of, but they’ll have to show more.

That’s why BYU coaches want to prepare Collie, both for situational appearances at that QB spot, and for contingencies. If I were to bet, it would be more for situational work and sets, instead of a real backup spot, but I could be wrong. It also helps send a message to Gaskins and McEuen that they have to elevate themselves and their game.

Bronco Mendenhall said his staff is looking for ways to get Collie the ball and keep him on the field for as many situations as possible.

More on this in a future take.

For all they hype that has been created in camp this fall over O’Neil Chambers, much of it is deserved. He ran a lot of plays with the first unit today and made some nice catches. But for those who believe he’s now orbiting the planet wearing a cape, Saturday’s session will bring it all back to terra firma.

Chambers dropped two of the easiest passes a receiver can have today. Simply bungled them. If Norm Chow had been at this practice, Chambers would have received an earful.

Both Justin Sorensen and Mitch Payne converted a series of field goals, including a pair from the boundary of the north practice field that stretched at least 45 yards.

Reed White and O’Neil Chambers took reps as primary punt returners and Michael Reed had a blocked punt during a drill the No. 1 punt cover (Reed) went up against the No. 2 punt squad. C.J. Santiago continued to boom some nice punts down field and in the few tries Justin Sorensen punted, he too, showed impressive distance and hang time.

Wayne Latu, missed Friday practice due to his wife giving premature birth, practiced on Saturday. He left the field immediately after the morning session, headed for Primary Children’s hospital to see his daughter, who has already had several procedures this week. Senior linebacker David Nixon missed his second practice, presumably to attend a family wedding.

One of the funniest shows I’ve seen at practice in years took place before the Saturday morning session took place as players were hanging around the locker room door and managers were setting up orange cones on the practice field. A dog, which looked like a juvenile lab, jogged around the field and followed some of the managers around, playing and innocently looking for fun. The stray, which had a collar, kept picking up the cones in its mouth and running away with them. After managers would catch and restore the cones to position, the stray would strike again, obviously loving the game.

Perhaps the dog came from the adjacent west parking lot were RVs for Education Week have been parked all week, but when another dog showed up, players started cracking jokes about the canines being meat for nearby Legend’s Grill. “Marinated by 1 p.m.,” said one. “Crockpot,” said another.

The managers finally got the dogs to go to the gate and the portal was guarded while practice began. Somebody said BYU Security had been called and arrived on the scene.