Crowton: We're Looking Forward to the Season

PROVO -- Prior to Saturday's Blue-White scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium, BYU head coach Gary Crowton addressed local media. Following are Crowton's comments regarding everything from his evaluations of spring ball to next season's schedule:

ON SPRING PRACTICES:

"We've had a pretty good spring, relatively injury free. It's been exciting. We've been going early in the mornings, and we feel like that has been a good thing for our program. Guys have had to get up early, come to practice, and then head off to class. We've had a lot of success in that regard.

"It's been nice to get started with the 2003 season. I feel like we're getting in to it now. We have a little better idea of our personnel, we have new coaches, new energy and some good chemistry. With the tough schedule that we have, hopefully all this excitement will carry over to the regular season."

ON THE DEFENSE:

"Defensively, we have a lot of guys back. Some of those guys didn't practice because of some injuries. We're pretty solid in the secondary. They are quick and strong and have all done a nice job this spring. Along the defensive line, we have moved several guys around because of some injuries. Overall, I think we have a good nucleus on the defense. If we can just stay healthy, we'll be in good shape. I do think we are a little thin in the secondary behind our first and second team guys, but again, once some of the injuries are taken care of, we should be in good shape. Hopefully things with Walt Williams will work out and we can get him in there."

ON THE OFFENSE

"Offensively, Matt Berry has made a lot of progress. John Beck has really done well in some of the scrimmages as well. He has mostly gone with the second team, but he's getting them in the endzone. Todd Mortensen is also getting better and is always ready to go. He's a hard worker and is always prepared. Lance Pendleton broke his finger a week or so ago, and hasn't played this past week. He's doing well. He's athletic enough, and a smart enough player that we may look at moving him to receiver of defensive back. We haven't decided anything yet, so we'll have to wait and see. Overall, I think we have a pretty good group of quarterbacks.

"Last year Scott Jackson was a little gimpy going in to the season, being only eight months after having ACL surgery. This year he is real solid, and has been strong and looks like he's ready to go. Hanale Vincent has done a great job and is giving us some depth at center.

"Jake Kuresa is a redshirt freshman who will be starting at guard. Another freshman, Eddie Keele is starting at left tackle. Brandon Stephens, who we moved over to offensive line last season after Ben Archibald went down is doing a nice job at the other tackle position. At left guard, we've moved Scott Young over from the defensive tackle. I was hoping to redshirt him, but he's getting ready to play. I think he's doing a good job. That is the position Ofa Mohetau will be competing for when he comes here in the fall. Quinn Christensen has been starting at that position, and has been doing a nice job as well. We have some youth along the offensive line with two freshmen, but I think we are going to be deeper. Last year, we just didn't have the depth.

"At receiver, Toby Christensen has had a good spring and is a sure-handed receiver. He has a lot of experience, and we'll be counting on him this year. I think Rod Wilkerson has had a pretty good spring, but the guy I have been most excited about is Chris Hale. Chris has very good speed and he is a home-run ball waiting to happen, along with Rod. He's not as big as Rod, but he a little quicker and is giving us some more outside speed. David Christensen was doing very well inside, but dislocated his shoulder and had to have some surgery. He should be ready to go by fall camp. Ryan Slater has also done well at receiver. He's very physical, and has shown some good things. Bristol Olomua is a very big receiver and has done some nice things this spring. I think we are solid and very disciplined at receiver. We need guys to make some plays once they catch the ball.

"At running back, Marcus is back. Marcus is a solid player. He showed some good things last year, and I think will have an even better season this year. Curtis Brown, who did a nice job for us last year, will probably redshirt the season. Fahu Tahi is back from his mission and playing well. He's in shape and playing very well. Fui Vakapuna is playing very well also. He's very physical and has been playing the fullback spot. Hopefully we'll be able to do some more things with that position. He's good at catching the ball out of the backfield, and is a good blocker. We're looking at doing more things with the fullback position instead of using the three tightends. Thomas Stancil and Rey Brathwaite are both really fast. I've been impressed with them this spring. We'll be using them as situational players.

"At tight end, we lost two good players in Gabe Reid and Spencer Nead. I don't think it is a big surprise, but Daniel Coates has been doing a great job. He blocks well and has done a nice job learning the tight end position. Justin Jory, who redshirted last season, is doing a nice job at tightend as well. Isaac Aiono returns as well. He was one of the three tightends we used a lot last year. He'll bring some experience to the position. I feel very confident with him in there. He's real solid and has good hands.

"Just looking at the overall group, with two freshman starting on the offensive line, we're pretty youthful. As long as we can stay healthy, I think we will be all right. The running back position is a pretty solid spot for us. At tight end, I think we are youthful, but I am very, very encouraged by what I have seen this spring. Our receivers are a little more solid, and we have more speed on the outside. We are going to miss Reno, but we'll have to find someone who can step up and make plays like he did. At quarterback, we have some experience there, except for John. John has been home for a few months, and has had some time to get in shape, whereas Matt Berry came straight home from a mission and didn't have that luxury.

"I feel like Ofa Mohetau is good enough to come in and play as a true freshman, but we'll have to see how quickly he can adapt to the new environment, the team, the offense, the speed of the game, and if the other guys are playing well, with good chemistry, we may not have to play him right away. But, that won't be determined until probably the end of fall camp. This year, even though we have younger players, we'll have some depth along the offensive line and have more guys to choose from.

ON THE NEW DEFENSIVE SYSTEM:

"The guys are adjusting well to the new defensive system. They have done a nice job in learning to get to the football. That has been something that has been taught throughout spring ball. It has been emphasized over and over, and the players are doing a nice job with that. As far as the scheme, the players are getting to the gaps, but the technique is a process that will take us right up to fall camp. The big concern Bronco and I have is that there are guys that will be playing that haven't played during the spring because of injuries. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes with those guys. I have been very encouraged by the energy brought forth, however. The scheme itself is confusing, more to the other side of the ball. The way the defense is designed, as an offensive player you don't know where guys will be coming from and it causes havoc. It's coming along. I'm excited about it. We're not there yet, but I'm excited about it.

ON LAST SEASON:

"I've had a lot of time to think about last season. I didn't like sitting at home during the bowl season and watching all the other teams playing. To me, not going to a bowl game is unacceptable. There were a lot of factors that came in to play with last year. Some of it, I take responsibility for, but we had to battle some key injuries, some youth, and inexperience.

"It was a different situation for me last year. After the 2001 season, we lost our quarterback, Brandon Doman. When we started the 2002 season, we really didn't have anyone with any experience in running the offense. Bret Engemann went down in 2000, LaVell's last year, with a shoulder injury and spent the entire year (2001) rehabbing. While he was rehabbing and learning what he could, he still wasn't able to compete at the level needed to gain a grasp of the offensive system. Even though Bret had played some in 2000, because of his shoulder, it was like starting a new guy last year. With Matt coming right off a mission, none of the other guys had any experience. It was very unique for me. If I had it to do over again, I would have probably done things a little differently. It was not a great situation. It was one of the hardest situations I have ever been in. There was also pressure to play Ben Olson. It reminded me of when I was with the Chicago Bears. There was a lot of pressure to play a rookie quarterback, when I knew he wasn't ready to play. That was the same situation with Ben. Even though he is a very talented quarterback and has a very bright future, I didn't want to put him in that situation until he was ready.

"This year is a lot different situation. Now, even though you have a pretty good player coming off a mission in John Beck, the other guys have all played, including Matt Berry, Lance Pendleton and Todd Mortensen. We obviously have some more experience there. I have been pleased with Matt's progress, but John Beck has been putting a big push on him. I'm looking at Beck, and with the second team, he has been moving the ball. That's where I was hoping we would have been last year.

"The good thing about football, is that last season is over. It's gone. It's over. I can sit back and reflect upon it, and learn from it. This will be a completely different year. I'm going in to the season thinking Matt Berry as the starter, and working to get the next guy ready to go. We have some more options, and a little more room then we did last year.

"Coming off last season, I was very disappointed. I think the players were getting better and more experienced, but we just weren't getting the job done. After the season, we were able to make some changes in the coaching staff with Coach Schmidt retiring and Coach Borich going to Arizona. Once that happened, I felt like we needed to bring some guys in here who could generate some excitement, some energy. Once that all came together, it was a load off my mind. I really like where we are at this point. I like the chemistry. I like how the team responded during spring drills. Hopefully that energy and excitement will carry over and show up in our style of play.

"There are some ups and downs in this profession. Even when I felt like we had a poor offensive season, we still finished in the middle of the pack in terms of total offense. That is probably the lowest I have done in a long time. I'm the first to admit that I'm human and made some mistakes. But, considering the injuries we had along the offensive line, the quarterback situation, I really feel like those were correctible situations, and we can now move forward. I would suspect that we will be right up there among the better offenses in the country this year."

ON THE COACHING STAFF:

"I feel very confident with our staff. I think we have an outstanding staff. I think we will work together and be very competitive this coming season. We have a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm. From what I have seen, that excitement has carried over to the players. I think we are all just looking forward to the season."

ON THE SCHEDULE:

"We have a very tough schedule. The concern I have is that we play two very tough teams early in Georgia Tech and USC. It's not that I'm afraid of those teams, rather it's a concern that you go in and play those teams and then get beat up, then you go in to your third game and have to face a conference opponent. We want to make sure we grow and get better through those first games, and not get beat up and then have to play your second- and third-team guys when we get in to conference play. It is a great schedule though. It's a very aggressive schedule, and I think we will do well."