BYU Football Completes First ‘Give And Take’ Scrimmage Of Spring
Mar 17, 2025, 10:50 PM
PROVO, Utah – BYU football wrapped up its first scrimmage of spring practices on Monday afternoon.
The close scrimmage took place inside LaVell Edwards Stadium. According to 10th-year head coach Kalani Sitake, the scrimmage had around 90 plays.
“I thought it was back and forth,” Sitake said on Monday’s scrimmage. “The offense had its moments, and defense had their moments. So, kind of balance in the overall performance. I think we had 90 plays or so. So that was good.
“We were able to see some guys compete. That was the main thing. We wanted to get kind of used to the overall feeling of a game with refs and getting calls in from the booth.”
Latest on BYU Football backup QB battle
One of the big storylines throughout spring continues to be the backup quarterback spot. Sitake noted that redshirt sophomore McCae Hillstead and redshirt junior Treyson Bourguet split the second and third-team reps evenly. Then, starter Jake Retzlaff took all of the snaps with the first-team offense.
“Right now, we have a situation where we can kind of keep it balanced, but eventually, we’re going to have to pick one that’s going to give us a chance to replace if anything happens to Jake. We’re still working through that.
“But I think you look at it, the entirety of the spring ball and all 15 practices, it can’t just be one scrimmage or one practice. But we’re seeing them consistently get better. So it’s hard when everyone’s getting better.”
During media observations of spring practice, Hillstead has shown off his playmaking ability with his feet. Two weeks ago, he broke free down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run.
Bourguet has shown glimpses of his arm strength with deep pass attempts.
Despite the flashes of big plays, it hasn’t been consistent enough for Sitake to say someone has emerged as the No. 2 signal-caller behind Retzlaff.
“Really, the truth will come down to who’s going to get the valuable backup reps when we get to fall camp because that’s going to be the guy that’s going to step in the game,” said Sitake. “I think you can always have a package for the third-string guy if you need. But that’s what the competition is going to be. It’s going to carry into fall camp. It probably will have to be settled really quickly. If we feel like there’s a clear winner out of spring, then we’ll get that done, too.”
“Give and take” spring scrimmage
As for Monday’s scrimmage, Sitake was pleased with what he saw from his team, which is entering the year as a potential preseason Top 25 squad.
“I thought the guys did a great job. Honestly, I think we’re further ahead than we’ve been,” Sitake said. “That being said, there’s still some room for improvement, but I really like the way the guys are working together. The team, the players, and the coaches.”
Sitake later added, “I think it was give and take overall. I think we’ve been in these sometimes where it’s just one side wins the day. That’s always frustrating. But at the same time, you know where your deficiencies are, and you can make up the difference. If I’m looking at it, it’s balanced out. That should be a good sign for us, especially with the amount of snaps that we got and the guys that were out there on the field.”
BYU football continues spring practices until March 29.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
