BYU’s fall camp wound down on Tuesday as preparations for actual game play began to formulate this week. Head coach Kalani Sitake told reporters his squad looks as prepared as any he’s had and they are ready to go.
One of the groups that looks good coming out the locker room door is the receivers. They are big, tall and fast.
“We are going to use six to eight receivers and different tight end groups and even the running backs will touch the ball. We need them to block, but they will earn the right to touch the ball,” Sitake told reporters Monday.
Generally, the offense and defense have traded off having the upper hand in practice sessions and scrimmages, but according to many observers who have seen all the sessions, the offense has won more than it’s lost in fall camp. The reason? The elevation of Bear Bachmeier’s game.
Here are a few links to our Deseret News football camp work over the past week:
- Ranking BYU games in order of difficulty (Jay Drew)
- Matthias Dunn’s journey to be a Cougar (Jay Drew)
- Number of players who served Latter-day Saint missions (Jay Drew)
- Can BYU’s defense stop the run? (Jay Drew)
- What is biggest unknown for the Cougars (Jay Drew)
- How this SEC corner ended up in Provo (Jay Drew)
Question of the week
BYU could field one of the tallest receiver corps in recent memory. Your thoughts? And what could it mean, if anything, for the offense?
Jay Drew: Artificial intelligence tells me that the tallest collective group of receivers in BYU football history came in 2015, when the team quarterbacked by Taysom Hill (opener) and Tanner Mangum featured Mitch Mathews, Nick Kurtz, Tern Houk and Moroni Laulu-Pututau.
That was the year that the 6-foot-6 Mathews caught the Hail Mary from Mangum to beat Nebraska and the 6-5 Houk hugged the official in the end zone who was signaling touchdown. One of the most iconic moments in BYU football history. Kurtz, a junior college transfer, was 6-6 and Laulu-Pututau was 6-4.
So the similarities with that group and this group of Jojo Phillips, Kyler Kasper, Reggie Frischknecht and the transfer tight ends are there.
It’s a positive development for the offense in Bear Bachmeier’s second season, but I’m quite sure that sure-handed, experienced guys such as Chase Roberts, Parker Kingston and Carsen Ryan will still be missed. I would take a guy who can get off the line of scrimmage, run precise routes and get open consistently over a taller guy with untested skills any day of the week. v
So the jury is still out on this group, in my opinion.
Dick Harmon: I’ve seen some big pass catchers over the years at BYU and this crew may take the prize as the tallest. But tall doesn’t necessarily mean good; however, I think these guys might be pretty good.
When BYU goes to 12 personnel (two tight end formations), they’ll have a pair of P4-experienced transfers in Walker Lyons (USC) and Roger Saleapaga (Oregon), who are both 6-foot-5. They can line up two wide receivers in Oregon transfer Kyler Kasper (6-6 and a half), and Jojo Phillips at 6-5. They can put Reggie Frischknecht, who is 6-4, in the slot.
I don’t know about you, but that kind of size and speed going after 6-0 or even 6-2 corners and safeties is kind of a load. They’ll have some leverage on stretching for some passes placed in their catch radius, and some advantages in high-point balls, something they’ve been working on with QB Bear Bachmeier.
This is an unproven bunch in many regards, but it is an imposing sight to see on the field. If you talk to these guys and their teammates, they have every intention of imposing all they have on defenses and believe they will.
Cougar tales
BYU basketball coach landed a commitment from the top transfer portal post player available in Michigan State and American Fork native Jaxon Kohler. Here is my piece on why it matters for Young and his squad. Some have debated whether Kohler will be eligible to play with so many lawsuits, league rules and the NCAA positioning on the matter. Jackson Payne takes a look at Kohler’s eligibility here.
From the archives
From X-verse
Extra points
- Where BYU players are in NFL (KSLsports.com)
- Kirkland: He’s a whole new DL (Provo Daily Herald)
- BYU-Utah season predictions (Deseret News)
Fanalysts
Comments from Deseret News readers:
It’s mind-boggling to me why the NCAA is even fighting these federal or state stays. The NCAA already granted an extra year of eligibility to high school graduates from 2018, 2019, 2020 and some 2021 through a COVID exemption. And they are granting an extra year of eligibility to all 2023 graduates and beyond through the five in five program. Why are they making such a big deal, trying to exclude 2022 graduates from one extra year? The NCAA should grant an exemption to 2022 graduates who have only played four years and focus their legal fund on more important matters. — CougFaninTx
These preseason predictions are fun but almost never accurate. The heart of either team is impossible to predict, and it won’t show until a few games into the season. I think both teams (at a minimum) will have at least good seasons. I don’t see either laying an egg. Throw out the “little brother” nonsense. Both teams are formidable now. — Biftacular
Up next
- Aug. 28 | noon | women’s volleyball | @ Florida State
- Aug. 29 | 3 p.m. | women’s volleyball | @ Florida Gulf Coast
- Sept. 3 | 6:30 p.m. | women’s volleyball | Eastern Illinois
- Sept. 3| 7:30 p.m. | women’s soccer | Colorado State
- Sept. 4 | 10 a.m. | cross country | UVU Invitational
- Sept. 4 | 6:30 p.m. | women’s volleyball | Pittsburgh
- Sept. 5 | 2 p.m. | women’s soccer | Oklahoma
- Sept. 5 | 6 p.m. | football | Utah Tech