BYU backup QB Jacob Conover, shown her during spring camp, is one of the players who has taken “a huge leap” alongside wide receiver Chase Roberts, et al., during the first two weeks of fall camp, coaches and players say. (Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo)
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PROVO — BYU football wrapped up its second scrimmage of training camp Saturday by moving the “game” portion up an hour and playing in front of a largely empty LaVell Edwards Stadium that included an unnamed Cosmo watching from a parachute as he descended on the field.
What did head coach Kalani Sitake see from his bird’s eye view of what may be the final scrimmage of camp for most of the starters?
“We had some good work today. I’m happy with our team,” Sitake told the media after his team’s closed-door scrimmage played through a handful of scattered showers in the Provo area. “There’s obviously some things to fix since things never go perfect. I like the effort from our guys.
“The key for us is getting our team ready, getting our depth chart formed and syncing the reps for the guys we think are going to be helpful for our depth going into the first game. We’ll officially end camp with Tuesday’s practice and then move onto our first opponent.”
The Cougars ran 80 plays during the scrimmage, and unlike last week — when the defense clearly (but not openly) won the majority of the reps — it was the offense that stood out.
Particularly, the reserve offense, which includes several new faces.
“Honestly, for the newcomers that are here, I feel really happy with their talent and the skill level that they have,” Sitake said. “If I’ve been surprised about anything, it’s that they are more ready than I thought they would be. I thought (newcomers) would probably need a little more development, but they’re further ahead than I expected.
“The comfort that we have is that they aren’t needed to be thrust onto the field right now. We feel comfortable being able to redshirt people and then utilize the four games that we can play them and get ready for next year.”
Sitake said a “good amount” of first-team players were held out — “I can’t name them all,” he quipped, while also adding that starting quarterback Jaren Hall was under center for 30-35 plays.
Among the standouts were Chase Roberts, the wide receiver from American Fork who is working his way back from an injury suffered last year as a returned missionary freshman; and Miles Davis, the Las Vegas-bred speedster who is now a full-time running back and also contending for a starting job at kick returner.
“A big thing we wanted to see was how those in our two deep step up,” said wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake, Sitake’s cousin and passing game coordinator. “Up to this point in camp, there have been a lot of moments where we have been stagnant as a second group. Today, I thought they took a huge jump and felt like they were the highlight of the day. They were efficient at moving The ball, made plays and executed, and played clean football. They really answered the call today and that was promising to see.”
The Cougars ranked No. 6 nationally in passing plays of over 40 yards a year ago, and were top 20 in passing yards per attempt (8.8) and total offense (542.2 yards per game). The hope is to improve on that number after Neil Pau’u and Samson Nacua left to the NFL — by the leap of several young and/or previously injured players like Roberts, Brayden Cosper and Kody Epps, among others.
Of the group, though, Roberts stands out as the most gained.
“Chase brings a lot of energy,” said Fesi Sitake, noting that Roberts returned from his two-year church mission to Calgary, Alberta “similar to Tanner Wall,” who offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick described as the most improved player of fall camp. “He is one of the most optimistic guys I have in my group and shows up with the same energy every day.
“Even if he has a practice that might be a little worse than his expectations, he doesn’t waver and is super mature. He is going to be a really good player and is going to have a great career here.”
And then there’s the name on every fan’s mind: the backup quarterback. But after playing sparingly as a freshman in 2021, the former four-star recruit from Chandler, Arizona, has been more poised and confident in the pocket as he secures his spot behind Hall and fellow backups Cade Fennegan, Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters and Nick Billoups.
BYU running back Miles Davis runs through a hole during a scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Aug. 20, 2022 in Provo. (Photo: Jaren Wilkey, BYU Photo)
“From spring ball to now, his level of confidence has grown,” said Roberts, who has known Conover since high school. “I’ve always trusted in Jacob and his play, but this fall he’s really stepped it up and solidified that No. 2 quarterback spot. We’re confident that if he comes in during a game, that he will perform and do his job All the quarterbacks are looking amazing, but Jacob has really stood out.
“He’s always had that confidence and swag,” Roberts added, “but I think he stepped it up to another level this fall. Guys look at him differently now… and it comes from making plays. We trust him a lot.”
The Cougars will wrap up fall camp Tuesday with another scrimmage, though past seasons and hints from the coaching staff indicate it will likely involve mostly reserves as the coaching staff works to fill out the depth chart and traveling roster before the Sept. 3 opener at South Florida.
BYU will formally begin preparing for the Bulls, who recently named Baylor transfer Gerry Bohanon as the new starting quarterback, after Tuesday. But players and coaches have openly admitted that preseason scouting and prep has already begun.
With two weeks until kickoff, it just gets more real — and there’s a lot of work still to do.
“Competitively, we are ready to get started. But truthfully, we need another week,” Fesi Sitake said. “We will break up into scout teams and do a lot more South Florida preparation emphasis and try to replicate what they do in all three phases of the game this week. But there’s a new wave of energy that I think our guys will feed from as they realize two weeks from today, we will be kicking off Week 1.”
With two days left of the formal fall camp (BYU does not practice Sundays), there is plenty of concern for Kalani Sitake — health being chief among them still, after last year’s injury woes. But there’s also optimism for the Cougars’ final season as an FBS independent.
“There’s a lot that concerns me,” the sixth-year head coach said. “But I think we have the ability to get our team ready to roll; that’s the goal. Going into it, we knew and we were positioning ourselves to be in this position with two weeks to go until the game. I feel like we’ right on point.
“We knew some guys would be a bit banged up and missing practices, but we were strategic, trying to get our guys in the right spot.”
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A proud graduate of Syracuse University, Sean Walker has covered BYU for KSL.com since 2015, while also mixing in prep sports, education, and anything else his editors assign him to do.
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