PROVO -- Nearly 400 high school coaches were in attendance as BYU finished its first week of Spring practice with a physical session at LaVell Edwards Stadium.
"This (LaVell Edwards Stadium) is where our best work has to be," head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "The execution wasn't where I wanted to see it, but the spirit of the practice was here today."
The practice was the first Spring session to be held in full pads and full contact. The practice session ended with a scrimmage that saw both the offense and defense make big plays.
The scrimmage started with the first-team offense wasting little time to get the ball into the end zone. On just the third play from scrimmage, Max Hall found Austin Collie streaking down the sideline for a 71-yard touchdown reception. Hall completed his first two passes on the three-play drive for 80 yards and a touchdown.
The second-team defense came up with a big play on the next drive. After the offense moved to picked up a pair of first downs, defensive back Scott Johnson stepped in front of a Cade Cooper pass and picked it off. Johnson scampered 80 yards for a touchdown.
The defense wasn't done as it held the offense without points for most of the rest of practice. Behind Cooper the first-team offense had an efficient drive going until Bryan Kehl came up with back-to-back sacks to force a third-and-22 and eventual fourth down that ended the drive.
Two drives later the second-team defense forced a Ryan Folsom fumble. Defensive back David Tafuna picked up the ball and scampered 30 yards for the touchdown.
The first-team offense came up with another big play. With Cooper quarterbacking the offense it marched 65 yards for a touchdown in just three plays. Cooper completed passes of 12 yards to Manase Tonga, 10 yards to Collie and a 43-yard touchdown strike to Michael Reed.
Two drives later, the defense found the end zone for a third time. Dan Van Sweden collected a tipped Hall pass and ran 30 yards up the sideline for a touchdown.
"I'm encouraged by the physical nature of this practice," Mendenhall said. "Through the first week of practice we are further along this year than we were last year in terms of what we have been able to accomplish. We aren't as far along in terms of the execution."
Hall and Cooper split time between the first and second teams. Brenden Gaskins saw his first Spring action in team drills. Hall completed 7-of-14 passes for 142 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Cooper completed 10-of-14 passes for 107 yards with a touchdown and interception. Collie led receivers with three catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Reed added three catches for 68 yards and a touchdown.