BYU NewsNet - Football Ends Fall Camp

The BYU football team wrapped up the 2008 fall camp Wednesday with a scrimmage featuring back-up players in key positions and a lot of third-string performances.

"The intent was to allow every two, three or four on our team to play and show exactly where they stand, and I was disappointed," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "Knowledge of assignment, execution of position mastery and effort overall wasn't there. I was hoping to be able to take someone in and move up a player, but what I saw was a lack of readiness. Offensively, defensively and even on the special teams, there was a drop-off."

Newly appointed back-up quarterback Brenden Gaskins took over the "first team" offense, while third-string quarterback Kurt McEuen saw action with the "second team." In Gaskin's first drive of the day, he went three-and-out, forcing punter C.J. Santiago to enter the game early.

But Santiago's first punt was blocked by the defense and quickly booted out of the back of the end zone for a safety. On the second try, the senior from Honolulu booted a 45-yard punt to set-up the McEuen's first drive.

But the action didn't stop there. A few plays later, including a "sack" on McEuen by sophomore Rick Wolfley, saw Santiago trot out to the field for his third kick.

The routine was simple, but the inexperienced Cougar line didn't hold and Santiago's punt was blocked by Landon Jaussi, temporarily playing in the defensive secondary. Mendenhall blew the whistle quickly and signaled for Santiago to punt again.

But Jaussi, accompanied by freshman linebacker Jefferson Court, struck again. Following another do-over that failed to lift off the ground, Mendenhall blew his whistle a final time and ended Santiago's punt attempts for the day.

"It's disappointing, especially since those are our back-ups," Mendenhall said. "If a player goes down and one of those players was in the game, you certainly wouldn't want to see it on game day. The best thing is that we saw it today, with a week and a half to go."

But the mishap may have opened Mendenhall's eyes to a few position changes.

"Either it's the wrong player in the wrong spot or it's the right player blocking it that we haven't considered yet," Mendenhall said. "If the scrimmage uncovered a punt blocker, a running back or a receiver or another defensive back, then it was worth the format today. There might be some positive to come out of it."

Mendehall, however, was quick to praise the defense. He even compared them to last year's defense, which included the New York Giants' Bryan Kehl, hailing the 2008 team.

"I don't see any significant difference from this defense to last year's or the year before," Mendenhall said. "It's logical to say they are inexperienced and young, and that it will take them a while. It might, but when you look at the leadership of [Kellen] Fowler, [Matt] Bauman, [David] Nixon and [Jan] Jorgensen, I think it will end up being another good defense. I don't think it will take as long as most expect. I think we're on track."

The defense registered sacks against Gaskins and McEuen, led by defensive lineman Rick Wolfley, linebacker Shane Hunter, linebacker Jefferson Court and defensive lineman Brock Richardson.

On one of the later drives, Victor Unga, a freshman defensive lineman and younger brother of running back Harvey Unga, tipped a pass that fell into the wide open arms of junior Tevita Hola, who ran the ball towards the end zone until a coach's whistle called him back.

However, Mendenhall did see a spark of something better from the offensive when freshman quarterback Stephen Covey slipped into the field, minus the green quarterback jersey, on the final drive of the game. After dodging defender after defender on numerous option runs down the field, Covey hooked up with redshirt freshman J.J. Di Luigi for a 52-yard pass. After Covey punched the ball in the final four yards, kicker Mitch Payne added the PAT for BYU's only touchdown of the game.

"It was a good way to end," Covey said. "I thought that they wouldn't let me get in. But they put me in and took off the green jersey, which means I'm live. I just had the attitude of 'nothing to lose,' so on second down I went deep, then on third down I thought, 'I have to complete this, or the scrimmage is over.' In my mind, I just wanted to get it done."