PROVO, Utah — After reporting to fall camp yesterday, BYU football held its first practice of fall camp on Wednesday afternoon at the Zions Bank Practice Fields.
The first session on the gridiron signaled the 2024 season is just around the corner as the new squad sets its sights on year two in the Big 12 Conference.
Learn more about BYU Football in the 2024 Almanac.
Following today's practice, head coach Kalani Sitake addressed the media, along with linebacker Ben Bywater and quarterbacks Gerry Bohanon and Jake Retzlaff.
Read select comments from those interviews and watch them in their entirety below.
On losing linebacker Ben Bywater to injury “We knew this was a possibility. We were hopeful that he could get back and be ready for us to play but it’s just too risky. As much as he would love to play for us this year, it’s just not worth the risk. He has a future in life, and possibly in football too. I’m thankful for what he’s done for us. He’s going to transition to a different role. He’s a leader, a captain for us. We’re going to need him in a different way. It’s a good thing he’s still working with our linebackers and mentoring them, because he knows this place and he’s put a lot of investment here. It’s important to him that we have success. It’s an honor for me to be connected to him and his family and to have been his coach.”
On the timeframe for deciding on a starting quarterback “It’s not a deadline thing, it’s about how we feel and how the team’s doing. I can tell you that it’s not going to happen this week. All four quarterbacks [Gerry Bohanon, Treyson Bourget, McCae Hillstead and Jake Retzlaff] did a great job today. Their job is making it hard for us to decide on a starter. I feel comfortable having a bunch of guys who can do it. Right now, that one hasn’t stood out yet.”
On the state of the offense on day one “Our guys are in pretty good shape. We went through a script of a bunch of plays and got done early. We did no-huddle stuff and the guys are a lot cleaner than they’ve been. I can see that they’ve put a lot of work in this offseason. There weren’t a lot of mistakes made. The technique needs a little work but that’s because it’s day one. For day one, it was good, but we need to keep improving every day.”
On the development of running back LJ Martin “LJ looks like he’s way more comfortable. Last year, he was a true freshman getting used to the locker room, college life and all that. Now, it’s night and day. He’s a leader now and he’s helping Pokai [Haunga], Sione [I Moa] and the other running backs.”
On the offensive line’s day one performance “They were clean. I don’t think [defensive coordinator Jay Hill] was giving them too many different looks on defense but it’s good that they weren’t making a lot of mistakes, and we were able to move the ball. We’ll see if they can do that against the install on defense tomorrow. TJ Woods has made a big difference for our offensive front.”
On the veterans on the offensive line “Connor [Pay], Caleb [Etienne], Weylin [Lapuaho] and Brayden [Keim], those guys are all very comfortable. They’ve been through position battles. All summer they’ve been teaching the next guys up. Right now, the offensive line is right where I want them to be.”
On Gary Andersen’s role with the team “Gary is a consultant for us. He has a connection to me, [offensive coordinator] Aaron Roderick and Jay Hill. He’s spending a lot of time with Jay and the defense. He has tons of knowledge and knows the offensive line too. He comes from the Ron McBride coaching tree, so he’s been around and knows exactly what the offensive and defensive fronts should look like. I need more eyes up front, so he’s been very helpful for us.”
On the status of his shoulder injury “The status is not good. Obviously, I am in street clothes right now and I wish I was out there with those guys. I had some tough conversations the other day and medically I am not cleared to go and I won’t be medically cleared to go. It looks like my days of playing college football are over and it absolutely breaks my heart. I worked my tail off to get back and it just never got better.”
On his right shoulder “I have some nerve damage there. I have had multiple surgeries, worked with a great staff and seen some of the best doctors in the world. I have done everything to get the shoulder to come back, but it just didn’t.”
On his relationships with the team “The camaraderie is the best I have seen in my time here. Everyone loves each other and it is a brotherhood. A lot of tears were shed, but it is all love. Those guys are lifelong friends and I am so grateful.”
On what it has meant to play football at BYU “I am from Utah and my dream was to play BYU football. I did that and it is a blessing. I can’t cry that it is over, I smile that it happened.”
On his plans for this season “I am going to be around with the boys. I will be at every game, in and out of practices, watching film with the guys and being an extra set of eyes.”
On playing football at the next level “The next step for me is just getting healthy. I am done with college football. I am not saying pro football will never happen, but as of right now, I don’t know if I can completely answer that.”
On Wednesday’s practice “I thought today was a good day. We need to go watch the tape and clean up some stuff, but I thought it was a good day. Everybody was juiced up, came out and competed and had fun. That’s what we want to do: execute at a high level. I have some little things to work on and fix but I thought it was good to have everybody.”
On what sets BYU’s offense apart from other programs he’s played at “I want to say that it’s balanced. We could go out there and put up 50 points to win. We can take it into overtime and put up 21 points to win. The run game is good. We kind of do some of everything. We try to export the ball to all of our weapons, so I think that is one of the things that complement this offense.”
On working with the wide receiver group “Those guys work. We get in, work, watch film together, we throw routes already together, so we have got some pretty good time in. Those guys know what they’re doing on the offense. They are hungry to learn, hungry to compete and get out there and work. I think everybody’s doing a really good job.”
On personal and team objectives for fall camp “I think we just have to continue to get better. We need to get better up front to improve the run game and down the field game. We just need to kind of understand what we’re trying to do within every play. For me, it’s just about continuing to take in the offense, come out here and replicate it and execute at a high level. Now I’m at a good point where I can just get out there and react to whatever the defense does.”
On running back LJ Martin “He’s a powerful running back. He can do some of it all. To get a young guy like that and play him as a freshman, that’s a big up for him. It’s good for him to get those reps and a feel for the college level and the speed of the game. LJ brings a lot to the table. He works hard, he talks and is a guy everybody loves. That’s all you want in a guy on the team.”
On the competitive state of the Big 12 Conference “Every year there is somebody different winning. There’s no dominant team like Alabama or Georgia that you expect to win every year. Typically whoever people pick to win are wrong. I see an open conference, so I let the guys know that we need to come in and work. This is a competitive conference. We can’t ever expect to go in and win. We have to earn the right to win everyday.”
On the quarterback compeition timeline "Go out there and get a bunch of opportunities to play my game. They haven’t expressed a specific timeline, it's just about going out there and doing my thing and letting the rest take care of itself."
On team chemistry "Chemistry isn’t always going out and throwing the football all day it’s going to the pool, hanging out, swimming, playing golf and so the chemistry with the guys has made us a really tight group now and we’re just getting tighter and tighter everyday."
On learning from last season "The L’s in the loss column are they’re for lessons. So learning what you can from those lessons is what makes great players great."
On having experience in the offense now "Anybody who has played this position knows that the more years you’ve got in an offense the more you know it and the more further you’ll get along."
"I think I took a huge step from a year ago to today. There’s definitely big improvement to my game especially within this offense and I feel like I’m showcasing that more and more everyday."
On going up against BYU's defense and Big 12 defenses "One thing I love about Jay Hill and his defense is they can throw so much at you that going against this defense is gonna be the best training for us all fall camp."
"The big 12 got some interesting defenses that are different than your old defenses back in the day and so being able to see a bunch of different stuff from him and then just kind of getting the film study that this is going to be important for us this fall."
On competition "It's good to have competition all the time because competition at the quarterback position will breed higher levels of play and higher competition at the other positions."
