Live Analysis From BYU Football’s Spring Scrimmage
Mar 31, 2023, 2:42 PM | Updated: Apr 3, 2023, 12:48 pm
PROVO, Utah – BYU Football is holding an open spring scrimmage for fans at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The event will also be televised on BYUtv.
“The hard part is that it’s going to be on TV. It’s gonna be televised to everybody. It’s open to everyone to see, so there’s a sense of not letting people know what we’re gonna do completely on defense and even on offense. So I think we have to kind of dumb it down or water it down and water it down a little bit. But I think that’s OK,” said BYU head coach Kalani Sitake to KSL Sports.
KSL Sports is on location at LES for the spring event that will kick off the 2023 season. BYU’s first as a member of the Big 12 Conference.
Scenic backdrop for some #BYU Football 🏔️ #BYUFootball pic.twitter.com/B8ggtrtcmp
— Mitch Harper (@Mitch_Harper) March 31, 2023
Throughout the day, we will provide analysis and insight during the BYU football scrimmage.
BYU Football Scrimmage Notes/Analysis
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- Arrived at LES at 2 p.m. (MT). Some fans braved the cold weather and were here at the stadium the moment the gates opened.
- BYU was hosting a corporate sponsor event at “Club 22” on the west side of the stadium.
- BYU players began taking the field around 2:10 p.m. The first group was the specialists practicing field goals.
- Some players that are banged up sat on the benches during pre-scrimmage warmups. Those players included cornerbacks Quenton Rice and Marcus McKenzie.
- Today’s festivities also include Alumni Day; a notable alum here in attendance to watch warmups is former BYU OL James Empey.
- BYU going through a standard practice with position drills.
- The first team units were limited to around 25 plays in team portion of practice. Kedon Slovis was the only quarterback in a no-contact green jersey.
- The first completion of the game from Kedon Slovis was to wide receiver Chase Roberts. They’ve put together a strong connection since Slovis arrived on campus.
- Jakob Robinson got an interception on QB Kedon Slovis.
- BYU’s defense is winning the day thus far. You’re seeing the pressure up front in the defensive line that BYU has wanted to see in the past from the defense.
- BYU defensive end Aisea Moa had a sack on QB Cade Fennegan.
- QB Jake Retzlaff manufactured BYU’s first touchdown drive of the day and connected with WR Hobbs Nyberg in the red zone. Retzlaff the number one JUCO QB in the country for the 2023 recruiting cycle, saw the second-string reps at QB on the day.
- Running back Nukuluve Helu took made a nice play in the backfield.
- Helu’s big play set up a quarterback keeper for Nick Billoups to take off for a touchdown run of his own. Billoups made a highlight play that cleared the offense’s bench as he trucked safety Ty Burke on his way to a score.
- BYU running back Morgan Pyper fumbled the football on a handoff.
- Quarterback Ryder Burton took the fourth team reps.
Keep checking back throughout the afternoon; we will have more updates.
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU moving to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.
