PROVO, Utah – In its final week of fall camp, the BYU football team is turning its attention to the first game of the 2020 season against Navy on Sept. 7.
Led by senior Matt Bushman, the tight ends will be major contributors to the 2020 BYU football squad. Bushman, after forgoing the NFL Draft following the 2019 season, returns for his senior season with the Cougars. The Arizona native has played in every game since his freshman year, racking up 1,719 receiving yards on 125 catches with nine touchdowns during his career. Last season, he lead the team in receiving yards with 688 on 47 receptions and ranked No. 6 in receiving yards among FBS tight ends.
BYU also returns senior Kyle Griffitts and sophomores Masen Wake and Hank Tuipulotu at the tight end position. With a handful of underclassmen, the Cougars return redshirt freshmen Isaac Rex and Carter Wheat while adding new faces in junior transfer Lane Lunt and freshmen Bentley Hanshaw and Ben Tuipulotu.
The following quotes are from Tuesday's post-practice Zoom media availability.
Head coach Kalani Sitake
Full interview here
On today's practice
Looking at our prep now, our guys look really good. We are past fall camp now and are focused on our first opponent which is Navy. We have had good practices so far with a really good practice today with the defensive side. We are getting great looks from our scout teams. Offensively, we have to get used to what Navy does defensively which is a lot of high pressure and different types of pressures. Now we have made them more directly with the scout teams and have moved to just directly preparing for the game and getting some work in and extra meetings in for the teams. That has been our focus and we are ready to go. We are trying to get everything ready, and hopefully with 13 days away we can get this done.
On how to defend the triple option
I think the key for us is limiting the key plays. You look at the teams that run this kind of offense: they love getting yards and grinding it out on these long drives, but we are going to have to be better than them on these long drives. I don't think you can really sell out and get too disruptive because they will get it all. They have their quarterback be a viable running back, but also the key part of it is that it is a big difference than what everyone else does. It makes you have to play their quarterback like a regular player, not like a guy that you don't have to cover. They spread the field but they use all their skill and they focus on toughness and discipline. So we have to find a way to be disruptive and disciplined. For us, that means being controlled and disciplined but also tough. We are looking forward to the match and its just something that is unique and we haven't seen it in a number of years here at BYU. A lot of the guys go back to it when they played against it in high school. We just had to teach them the rules on the offensive side of it and what the offense is thinking and what they are trying to get done. We just have to be really sound and focus on being physical and being great tacklers. Limiting the big plays is going to be the key for us.
On the running backs
I think that we have a lot of guys that can do a lot of different things. We have certain backs that do good things out of the backfield including blocking and catching the ball. So I think utilizing those guys, you are going to see a bunch of different packages on the field. We are going to utilize all of the talent that we have. We aren't going to be playing with the same 11 guys; we have a lot of talent and I expect our offense to use them all to score points.
Linebacker Max Tooley
Full interview here
On his role with the team
On this defense, there is a lot of different opportunities to play wherever I can, mainly in the linebacker spot whether it's on the line or off the ball. We are trying to stay flexible and I am trying to play where I can make the most impact.
On finding the balance between being disruptive and disciplined against Navy
Obviously, with teams like Navy, they have their game plan and when they get going, they get going. So it's just a matter of keeping them on their toes, mixing things up, getting them off rhythm and finding that balance. I think that is how you defeat teams like that and then getting them off track.
On how different these the first two games will be versus other teams later on in the season
It's a totally different game. These two teams run a completely different offense, different techniques, different personnel on the field, but I think our first two games we are playing these two t-wing teams and focusing on what we need to do to stop the triple option. Obviously, there will be a difference but we are just focusing on Navy at this point.
Wide Receiver Neil Pau'u
Full interview here
On the quarterback group
They are just experienced. Experience across the board. It's exciting to see them all come out each and every day and compete for the starting job. There is still a ton of work for each quarterback and what the receivers have to do before we are ready to go against Navy, but I feel like we are on track.
On the depth at wide receiver
I think that it's important for any offense across the country to have people come in and try to fill that role as best they can. They have played before, so it's not something new where they will be shocked by the lights or the opponent, they come in just like practice. Practice makes perfect.
On how excited he is for his first game back after a year
I'm very excited. I just stay up watching highlights and films just to be in that moment with fans or not. When you've been away from the game you're just excited to get back. Just knowing that you're not somewhere else, you're not on the scout team, you're not at practice and that there is something that you get to play for and represent. So it's exciting.