BYU Defense Outshines Offense In Day 10 Of Camp

PROVO, Utah – It’s officially the “dog days” of BYU football fall camp as the Cougars are in their third week of practice.

Preparations for their first opponent South Florida is set to begin next week.

Who was the BYU football player of the day?

Jacob Conover looked fantastic during the portions of practice that were visible to the media.

While running the second team offense, he completed nice passes to Kody Epps on a deep out route and connected with Brayden Cosper on several passes as well. More on that later.

Jacob Conover was impressive during the media available portion of practice.

He showed pinpoint accuracy on several intermediate passes. @kslsports #BYUFootball #BYU

— Matthew Baiamonte (@baiamontematt) August 16, 2022

Offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick has noted on several occasions that Conover has looked good this camp, and it was obvious today that he has a firm grasp on the backup quarterback position.

Late in practice, the first team offense was pulled mid-series in 11-on-11 action in favor of the second team, led by Conover.

What was the play of the day?

Jacob Conover threw the pass of the day (shown to media) to Brayden Cosper for a touchdown.

In the final drill of the day, the first and second team offense faced off against the defense in red-zone situations.

After the first defense shut down the first team offense, Conover took over on the second series.

On the first play of that drive, Conover delivered a laser to Cosper on a post route for a score.

Cosper beat freshman Korbyn Green to the middle of the field and Conover found him with a timely throw over the middle.

Most interesting thing seen at practice?

Good news: there haven’t been any season ending injuries through camp so far.

Bad news: another practice came and went with Dallin Holker not participating.

He made a brief appearance after practice on the jugs machine, however.

#BYU football fall camp report with @Mitch_Harper & @baiamontematt.

BYU's defense won the day during the media observation portion of practice.#BYUFootball #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/ACrXGLszov

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 16, 2022

Kalani Sitake didn’t address the media, so there wasn’t an official update on his status.

In his place on the two deep, in the final drills of practice, was Lane Lunt.

Isaac Rex was a full participant as well.

The battle for the third tight end position continues with Carter Wheat, Lunt, and freshman Ethan Erickson vying for that spot.

On this day, it was Lunt who got reps at the end of practice in team drills.

What needs to be cleaned up in the next practice?

The first team offense struggled to move the football against the first team defense in the final drill of practice.

Jaren Hall, and the offense, had roughly eight attempts to get the ball in the end zone on the first series, but the defense held firm.

Scoring in the red zone is high on the priority list for Roderick and the offensive staff.

The schedule is loaded with four teams on the ranked in the preseason AP poll. 

𝗠𝗜𝗖'𝗗 𝗨𝗣 🎙: @AsapPuka pic.twitter.com/VWdedwof04

— BYU FOOTBALL (@BYUfootball) August 16, 2022

Hall was complimentary of the defense after the first scrimmage, and they backed up those commentstoday.

Perhaps it’s just the difficulty of playing the same defense for days on end in camp.

Either way, the Cougars need to be sharp in the red zone this season.

You can hear Matt Baiamonte every Saturday on KSL Newsradio for Cougar Sports Saturday from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. or you can find him on Twitter here.