Fall camp marches on into third week

PROVO, Utah – The Cougars started their third week of fall football camp with a practice on Monday morning. 

BYU graduated three of its main contributors in the wide receiver room following the 2019 season. However, the Cougars will return three junior wideouts with considerable experience in Gunner Romney, Neil Pau'u and Dax Milne. 

Romney finished his sophomore year playing in all 13 games with 31 receptions for 377 yards and two touchdowns. Milne also played in all 13 games during the 2019 season posting 21 receptions for 285 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Pau'u missed the 2019 season but racked up 216 yards on 18 catches and one touchdown during his sophomore season in 2018. 

BYU added junior college prospect Chris Jackson, a junior, and have a sophomore in Brayden Cosper healthy. The Cougars total 11 freshmen including redshirt freshmen, Luc Andrada, Javelle Brown, Talmage Gunther, Keanu Hill and Tevita Ika with true freshman Miles Davis, Kody Epps, Terence Fall, Kade Moore, Joe Nelson and Hobbs Nyberg. 

The following quotes are from Monday's post-practice media availability. 

Offensive line coach Eric Mateos
Full interview here
On the health of the offensive line
We are healthy. In training camp, you are going to have some nicks and bumps on the offensive line. Our guys are going every day and we are going full speed every day. You are going to have some bumps and bruises. Right now we are still in that time frame to get after it and build some toughness. So we are healthy, but being banged up is normal in our world. 

On wanting to have a big and physical offensive line
I think it is just the desire – to hit people and run through blocks and not stop your feet on contact. When you play offensive line and you play with your back to the ball, it’s the only position in all sports where you play with your back to the ball, so the natural reaction when you make contact with somebody is to stop or stop your feet a little bit. I think the desire to play physically is being able to run through blocks and to finish. I think we are better in training camp so far with that but I think we still have a long way to go to get it to be at the 300 knockdown level in a season. That is really what you are looking for, so to get that you have to have every guy getting his far share every game. 

On having an offensive line with a lot of leaders
Right now, I am standing 15 feet behind them shouting out random reminders but there are a lot of moments where I am not out there. I think that is the advantage that they have to lead each other. I will take all the blame for bad performance and they get all the credit for good performances and that’s the way it’s going to be but they have to want that on their shoulders. I always tell them that the best players play their best in the biggest moments. I want to see how we play in big moments – obvious pass situations, big crowds situations, the defense knows it's a pass situation. I want to see how we play on third and short. Those are the things that you have to attack to improve and having that many guys as leaders – they know what I am going to say. They have been with me now for a minute – they know what I am going to say so I barely have to say anything. 

Running back Tyler Allgeier
Full interview here 
On the preparation of the offensive line
They are the ones that start things. If they bring the juice, we are going to bring the juice right behind them especially when we are running the ball. So if you see them on the field you know we are going to give them all we have. We for sure have a lot of leaders on the offensive line. I am very grateful for them. 

On the offense during the scrimmages
We have really been focusing on our craft and really moving the ball. We are more powerful through the line, the quarterback and the running backs. We have had some really good success with the scrimmages. So, it is good to have all that happening. 

On shifting from linebacker to running back
Once our running backs started to go down last year, they switched me back from linebacker. Being in the running back room for my first year to half of last year, I already knew most of the plays and I just needed to change up a few of the wrinkles and then learning the new stuff that is happening right now. 

Wide Receiver Gunner Romney
Full interview here
On the wide receiver group from last year to this year
We did lose a lot of experience last year but I think we filled that in with a lot of new talent. We have a lot of different guys that fill a lot of different roles. One of the things I would say about this receiving group is that we are diverse. We have a lot of guys that can make big plays down the field. We have a lot of big bodies that like to make those tough catches and really bully defensive backs. We have a lot of bodies that are really quick that are in and out of breaks for the short routes and the possession guys. I think we are a really diverse group all around and we have a lot of people that can fit into a lot of different places so that makes us really dangerous. It is going to be hard to game plan against us and a lot of different things like that because you have to know your matchups and you have to know where the open players are. It’s going to be fun and I’m looking forward to the season with these wideouts. 

On what returning with an experienced offense means 
We do have a lot of experience returning and I think it gives the coaches a lot more confidence in us. We already have the confidence, we have already been on the field, we have already done our thing. It really gives the coaches confidence in us so we can start expanding the playbook, throwing in tweaks to our offense that we couldn’t do in the past if we were trying to figure out our plays book or figure out defenses. Now that everyone has a lot of game experience, and everyone has been there before, it helps with game speed and knowing the ins and outs of defenses. So, it’s going to be fun this year we have a lot of guys that have shown that they can do a lot of things at this level so we are just taking more steps this year. 

On being the go-to guy as a wide receiver this year
We had the trio of senior receivers last year that really dominated and they all left. So, it left a huge opening for me to step up. I have been here for a couple of years and have made contributions to the offense but this year it’s my opportunity to be that guy – to really be that guy and be the number one player on the outside. For me personally, it’s a big opportunity. I already have that confidence and experience from the last couple of years so it's fun and I’m really looking forward to it. It is helping me with motivation to go out there and work harder and just be prepared because I know that my number is going to be called a lot this year.