Fall camp continues with third practice

PROVO, Utah – BYU football finished another practice on Monday morning at the Student Athlete Building fields. Check out the video highlights and read below what some of the coaches and athletes had to say following the third practice of fall camp.

Head coach Kalani Sitake | Video

Review of today
I was really impressed with the physical part of the game. I liked seeing the O-line and D-line battle on the line of scrimmage, and now we were able to see what real football’s going to look like with our offensive scheme and see how we can put it together and then test some of our guys on defense. Overall, it was a really good day. I was really pleased with today’s practice. Having a day off yesterday, you could tell legs were back and refreshed. We’re really excited about what we saw today, so we’re excited to see the film.

The first two days of camp vs. today in camp (with shoulder pads)
You’re running around and guys are excited (during the first few days of camp), but you have to go through that acclimation period. For us, it was needed because it was more of a mental thing and then getting our legs right. And once we were able to hit a little bit today, it was live at the line of scrimmage.

Today's takeaways
I’m glad we don’t have to teach the physical part too much because I think it’s ingrained in these young men. They want to hit. They want to play. It’s being able to consistently learn with the pads on and how to work together. For defense, learn where your help is and where you really can’t let someone pass you as far as leverage and spill. For our offense, being able to move people off the line of scrimmage and block people is huge for us. The next phase is to be able to tackle and break tackles. I’m pleased with the way the throw game is going. Obviously, the two quarterbacks are really experienced and the run game is looking really solid with the O-line. I was really impressed with them today and really impressed with the running backs as well. Defensively, we have some work to do. Defense won a fair share of theirs and offense did too. 

Relying on the other coaching staff's experience 
Ed (Lamb) knows what he’s doing. He’s done it for eight years in running a program. It’s huge for me to be able to lean on a coaching staff that has a lot of experience that way and has been around a lot of different, great coaches.

Assistant head coach and special teams & safeties coach Ed Lamb

On a place kicker
We need all of camp for sure. I feel really good about what we’re going to have, but not comfortable with announcing the depth chart. Right now, James Baird and Rhett Almond are the top two guys, but we also have some guys who aren’t in camp that have more powerful legs and are more consistent. Long field goal duties and kick off duties will certainly be up for grabs.

On the safety position
Right now, the depth chart has Kai Nacua and Micah Hannemann at the top. They have the most game experience. We need at least four that can give us a winning effort, particularly with the prevalence of tempo offenses and the chance to play 90 to 100 snaps of football multiple games in a row. The days are gone where two or three guys can carry us through.

On emerging safeties
There is Eric Takenaka and Zayne Anderson. Really, I feel like we have 11 guys in the safety room that could play on game day right now. There is a great group of safeties here. You can never count out Chris Badger and Matt Hadley. Those guys are very solid and very experienced in what they do. They are both good tacklers and have a lot of experience on special teams. We have a lot of options with that position right now.

On Micah Hannemann
Both Micah and Kai (Nacua) are doing an excellent job. Micah is a natural for that position. He has the skills to play corner but the physicality to play safety, and that’s exactly what we need out of a strong safety in the system that we’re running.

On Kai Nacua
It gives me a lot of confidence to know that he’s there and been through the battles. Micah as well. But I really need to see what kind of awareness they bring, how it pertains to our scheme and what kind of communication they are making, particularly to our corners and outside linebackers.

On freshman long snapper Britton Hogan
Matt (Foley) has got a temporary injury that’s going to hold him out for a few days. Right now, it looks like he’ll be back full speed before the end of training camp. Britton had a plan to sit out the semester and then leave on a mission and with that development, he’s coming in and giving us a competitive run at long snapper. He’s doing a good job. The only thing for him is confidence, and that’s coming daily, trying to ease it back in there to the holder. He needs to understand that these guys are experienced guys that can handle a full speed snap. When we turned him loose today, he took a big step forward.

Senior RB Algernon Brown

On the physicality of the running back group
I put on a little bit of weight and so did some of the other guys and I think it will help against some of the bigger teams that we’re playing this year if we’re big as well.

On chemistry between the running backs
It’s great being in the meeting rooms together. Someone will make a comment and everyone will pitch in and soon it becomes a big joke—it’s fun. They’re all really good guys and I feel comfortable seeing any of them out there playing.

On this year’s fall camp in comparison to previous camps
It’s been a little more relaxed but still pretty intense. You really have to make sure that you know what you’re doing. You can be relaxed but if you don’t know what you’re doing it ruins the whole thing. It’s been pretty comfortable and everyone’s pretty relaxed so they can go out and play that they want to. We’re still easing into the contact but looking forward to it the next couple of practices.

On playing with teammate Jamaal Williams
He’s a fun guy. He’s a leader and he’ll love you if you just talk to him and get to know him. One of my goals is to help him get the record this year and I feel it’s somewhat of my responsibility to help him achieve that.

Junior DB Micah Hannemann

On making the switch from cornerback to safety
Safety is what I played growing up in Pop Warner and high school and last year was my first year playing at corner, but it’s been a lot of fun and I’ve loved being back at safety. When you play corner, it’s pretty much the same thing every play and you have to really be dialed in against the guy you cover but at safety there’s more movement. I feel very comfortable at safety and I’m really excited to play there. It motivates me to work harder everyday on the field and watching film.

On playing with Kai Nacua
He has lots of energy and he’s a great leader on the field as a safety. We have to communicate every play and he helps me out a lot. It’s fun to play with him and there are a lot of things I can learn from him.

On difference between this year and last year’s secondary
There’s a difference in the speed and the man-on-man coverage where it’s just you and the man across from you that you’re in charge of covering the whole game. Last year there was a lot more disguising and switching around, but this year it’s just straight up man coverage. It’s nice and easy to learn. The scheme this year is a lot simpler than it has been in the past, so it’s easier to get down.

On fall camp
It’s been a lot different from past fall camps but in a good way for me. We’ve had more rest between practices, and during practice there’s more teaching because we’re all learning the new defense. Every rep has been 100 percent. The coaches are a lot of fun and easy to talk to and easy to play for.