PROVO -- Practice for Day Two of Fall Camp began much like the first, with newcomers and freshman beginning at 3:30 p.m., 30 minutes prior to the veterans. Once together, the team ran through a series of drills, including field goal and extra-point scenarios led by kickers Mitch Payne and Justin Sorensen.
The hot sun and warm temperature quickly exhausted many of the players during pursuit drills. Head coach Bronco Mendenhall noticed a significant difference in his team's performance on Monday as opposed to what he saw on Saturday.
"I thought it was sloppy and a little undisciplined today," said Mendenhall." A lot of the attention to detail and enthusiasm to perform lacked, and it took almost the entire practice to get it back. Perhaps I praised them too early. Today concentration as a team wasn't where I wanted it to be."
During 11-on-11 non-contact drills the defense was successful in holding the offense out of the endzone. Junior quarterback Max Hall led the longest and final drive of the day, finding Michael Reed and Dennis Pitta for seven and nine-yard receptions, respectively. Set up on the five-yard line and with time for only one final play, Hall made an attempt to score by targeting Reed, only for sophomore defensive back Brandon Bradley to breakup the pass.
"I thought the defense did really well today," said senior linebacker David Nixon. "We definitely have a lot of new guys and right now we're just letting them get experience. We veterans need to keep doing what we've been doing. Position mastery and execution is definitely the key."
Hall led all quarterbacks with 8-of-13 passing for 50 yards, while Pitta recorded 26 yards receiving.
The entire team will begin practice at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.