PROVO -- The Cougars wrapped up Spring Camp on Saturday at Edwards Stadium, competing in front of a record 10,536 fans in the 32nd Annual Blue-White Game.
While the offense managed to move the ball--especially, early in the 79-play scrimmage--the defense came up with key plays to keep the offense out of the endzone throughout the entire scrimmage. Despite not scoring a touchdown, the BYU offense did manage three field goals, including Jared McLaughlin's 31-yarder in the first half and a 22-yard second-half field goal.
"The defense tried hard," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "When it came down to making enough plays to keep the offense out of the endzone, they did that. That's going to help us win some football games. Points are the most critical issue, not only how many we score, but how many we give up. At the beginning of the scrimmage, you saw glimpses of what our offense will look like."
The offense posted 335 yards of total offense, including 258 yards passing and 77 yards rushing. The defense forced two sacks and three interceptions on the afternoon.
"I think we progressed in terms of establishing expectations and willingness on the parts of our players," Mendenhall said. "As far as execution and consistency, we have a ways to go. There were a lot of things I didn't like, but it was a good way to end. Every time we get together, I learn more about this team."
Junior quarterback John Beck completed 15 of 24 attempts for a team-high 116 yards. Senior quarterback Matt Berry notched five completions for 54 yards, while junior Jason Beck totaled four completions for 75 yards.
"I'm not ready to name a number-one quarterback," Mendenhall said. It's a three-way race between John, Matt and Jason. I didn't see anyone stand out today."
In the opening series, John Beck completed six-of-eight attempts, including six straight, to drive the Cougars 77 yards in 13 plays. McLaughlin nailed a 22-yard field goal for the game's first points. During the series, Beck hooked up with sophomore tight end Jonny Harline on back-to-back completions for 23 yards.
On Beck's second drive, he connected with Fahu Tahi and Zac Collie to set up a Tyler Holt 34-yard field goal.
On Berry's first complete drive, the senior completed his first four attempts, including a 28-yard first-down toss to Harline. Following a seven-yard completion to Daniel Hansen, Travis Epperson missed a 39-yard field goal.
On his third series, John Beck had three more completions before senior linebacker Cameron Jensen recorded the second interception of the game. Jensen was credited with a 12-yard return.
Junior Curtis Brown led all ball carriers with 47 yards rushing on seven carries, while Tahi had 27 yards on 10 carries. Brown also had four receptions for 38 yards. While he didn't have any carries, running back Nate Meikle had five receptions for 34 yards.
Defensively, K.C. Bills and Quinn Gooch each had a team-leading six tackles, while linebacker Markell Staffieri had five stops. Vince Feula, Michal Marquardt, Staffieri and Aaron Wagner were each credited with a tackle for loss, including sacks for Marquardt and Staffieri.
"We're thin in the offense and in the secondary," Mendenhall added. "The other weakness is just where we are as a program--our consistency and our confidence to win. Those things are being built step by step. Our biggest strength right now is our collective mindset. The other strength I see is that we're getting to know each other. I know how I'm going to have to coach them, and they know how they're going to be coached.
"I envision a clean, fast, great executing football team, and we're a ways away from being that."
BYU BLUE-WHITE GAME STATS
RUSHING Att Gain Lost Net TD Long
C. Brown 7 47 0 47 0 19
Tahi 10 33 6 27 0 8
Semanoff 3 10 0 10 0 5
Latu 2 3 4 -1 0 3
Jo. Beck 2 0 5 -5 0 0
Ja. Beck 1 0 11 -11 0 0
Hansen 1 4 0 4 0 4
J. Brown 1 6 0 6 0 6
TOTALS 27 103 26 77 0 19
PASSING Att-Com-Int Yds TD Lng Sack
Jo. Beck 24-15-1 116 0 25 1
Berry 10-5-1 54 0 28 0
Ja. Beck 7-4-0 75 0 34 1
Mortensen 1-0-1 0 0 0 0
J. Brown 6-3-0 13 0 7 0
TOTALS 48-27-3 258 0 34 2
RECEIVING No. Yds TD Long
Hafoka 1 6 0 6
Gillespie 1 7 0 7
Collie 3 36 0 25
Harline 6 89 0 28
C. Brown 4 38 0 19
Cooper 1 16 0 16
Meikle 5 34 0 11
Tahi 3 7 0 5
Mauhika 1 12 0 12
Smith 1 6 0 6
Hansen 1 7 0 7
TOTALS 27 258 0 28
DEFENSE UT AT TOT TFL SCK INT PBU
AhYou 1 3 4 0 0 0 0
Anderton 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Bates 1 2 3 0 0 0 0
R. Beck 2 0 2 0 0 0 0
Bills 5 1 6 0 0 0 0
Buchanan 1 1 2 0 0 0 2
Christ. 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Clark 1 0 1 0 0 1 0
Feula 1 1 2 1 0 0 0
Gabriel 1 1 2 0 0 0 1
Q. Gooch 4 2 6 0 0 0 0
Gordon 0 2 2 0 0 0 0
Hada 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Hale 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Hill 3 0 3 0 0 0 0
Jensen 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Maddux 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
M.Marqu. 1 0 1 1 1 0 0
Nelson 0 3 3 0 0 0 1
North 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Sekona 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Sitake 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Soelberg 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Stacey 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Staffieri 2 3 5 1 0 0 0
Sullivan 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Tew 0 3 3 0 0 0 0
Wagner 3 2 5 1 1 0 0
White 2 0 2 0 0 1 0