Anyone going to the Spring Clinic/semi-scrimmage tomorrow?

[Coach McGuirk]

And if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you. Or some swampland. Take your pick.

I may have that on tape. I am looking now.

[MarkGrace]

Thanks for the report, CJ.

[MarkGrace]

Comments from Bronco:

Combing through various reports, BYU’s sports information department issued the following wrapup of the spring battle to be the team’s starting quarterback this way:
Riley Nelson 29-of-51 for 389 yards and 5 touchdowns
James Lark 27-of-46 for 253 yards and no touchdowns
Jake Heaps 62-of-105 for 774 yards and 7 touchdowns

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Still trying to find out what happened to outside linebacker Jordan Atkinson during today’s open practice at LaVell Edwards Stadium. He left a defensive huddle after having words with coach Jaime Hill and walked out of the stadium. He did not return, as far as I could tell.
In a much lighter moment, 340-pound offensive lineman Terence Brown attempted to do one of those jumping chests bumps with coach Bronco Mendenhall.
“That was initiated by Terence, and I was more trying to get out of the way,” Mendenhall said. “Sometimes, if the guy is coming at you....He bumped me. Terence is fun. He adds a nice element of toughness and nastiness, with a smile -- a goofy humor that you never know when he is going to pull anything on you.”

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Here’s a wrapup of some of Mendenhall’s post-practice comments (that I have not previously published), perhaps the last time reporters will be able to talk to him until the MWC football media days in late July in Las Vegas:
On whether playing in the stadium changed performances of some players:
“Sure, especially the younger the players are, the more influence the stadium will have. I think we saw that especially at the beginning of the scrimmage. Knowing today was mostly for the younger, less experienced players, I think that was reflective. It got a little bit cleaner as the scrimmage went on.”
On whether there were any major injuries in camp other than Famika Anae (knee) and Marcus Mathews (fractured ankle):
“I think it is only those two [Anae and Mathews] of any significance, and Marcus is supposed to be back before the season. That might be the best statistic of all. I can’t verify that for sure, but I think that’s right -- Famika and Marcus.”
On whether there was any thought during spring camp of naming a starting QB:
“Not even a general thought that that might be the case. Knowing that we weren’t going to have enough offensive linemen to do significant scrimmage work, to get enough team reps to really make an assessment. Our main hope was that we could get some combination work between the quarterbacks and receivers, some timing done, get a few young linemen developed, if possible -- and then basically just push it to the spring, summer and fall camp as healthy as we could get, and I think that’s what we did.”
On whether any new leaders emerged:
“I think emerging is the right word. They are capable and they are willing. The number of players that have experience, that will fill those roles, I think we are going to be OK, too. It will just take a little bit more time.”
On whether any position battles were won during camp:
“Quarterback, no. Center, I would give the edge to Terence Brown, as of right now. Free safety, I would give the edge to Steven Thomas, right now, with Andrew Rich being his partner.
Middle linebacker, it is still early to call the Mike linebacker spot. Those are the biggest ones that I pay most attention to.”
On what position Zac Stout will play when he enrolls this fall:
“Middle linebacker -- Mike linebacker in specifics. Mike linebacker, as we already know, controls most of the front. And so Austen Jorgensen will also be competing for that spot. And Uona Kaveinga got a ton of work, by necessity, although he won’t be eligible to compete next year.”
On whether Brandon Ogletree is the leader at Mike:
“He is playing Buck linebacker as well, along with Aveni Leung-Wai. And we did that in terms of crosstraining, anticipating that Austen and Zac are going to be really good competitors at Mike, so it made sense to try to get a head start on developing depth.”
On whether a leader emerged in the tight end battle:
“Devin Mahina is starting to show real signs of just his mission conditioning wear off, and his normal person conditioning coming back.
Mike Muehlmann as well. If I were to say right now at that spot, those two are dead even.
Marcus Mathews was emerging as the No. 3, but you also know we have Bryan Sampson and Austin Holt coming this fall, so we are going to be really good at tight end, I believe. Youthful, but I think we are going to have enough players.”
On what freshmen Josh Quezada and Kyle Van Noy showed in spring camp:
“I really like Josh. Josh was clearly a bright spot this spring. He’s a very, very good person, a great young man and a good running back. I feel fortunate that he is here.
Kyle Van Noy is learning a lot about our system and about how hard he is expected to play. He certainly has the potential, his biggest work in progress is adapting to the culture and the demand.”
On Jameson Frazier making play after play in spring camp:
“Jameson Frazier, if you are looking for some of the biggest surprises, I would list him as maybe the biggest surprise. He went from maybe a special teams contributor to possibly a starter through the spring. And not one that is getting it by default. He has really played well.”
On whether he is comfortable with the group of tight ends:
“I am comfortable for the future. The timing of this next season, certainly they won’t be at that [Pitta/George] level that fast. But for the future it looks very positive.”
From a Seattle Times reporter on the progress of Jake Heaps:
“Phenomenal. He’s a great young man, an excellent leader, one of the brightest prospects at quarterback that I have seen. We forget that he is still a high school senior. He is everything we thought he would be, and we are very fortunate that he is here.”
On Harvey Unga’s emergence as a leader:
“Harvey has done a really nice job of leadership, and right now is probably the best condition he has been in, I would say since his redshirt freshman year. So I have been really encouraged and happy with what he has done to this point.
“Spring and summer, though, is really the continuation of consistency of what he has started is really important. My guess is, as the quarterbacks continue to develop, the running game is going to be really, really important. Harvey is a huge part of the running game.”
On whether Unga’s role will change depending on who wins QB battle:
“I don’t think so. The number of touches will be the same. Then, whatever the quarterbacks do will be patterned after that. It will start with Harvey, not with the quarterbacks.”
On whether he plans to use an H (slot) receiver more:
“J.J. DiLuigi, if we use an H, and McKay Jacobson, both have trained. And so we have the option to do that. If our tight ends aren’t seasoned enough as we start the season, J.J. and McKay are, and so there is a chance we could play the H [more].”

http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

[frank ryan]

Comments from Bronco:


http://blogs.sltrib.com/byu/index.php

BYU can't afford to lose another linebacker. I hope Atkinson returns.

[Coach McGuirk]

Yeah it did, thanks. You got some good seats, or were you on the field?

Just good seats. We were allowed to be on field for the first hour of the "clinic" but then to the seats. There were good seats everywhere; way better than my actual season tickets.

[venkman]

Thanks for the updates Coach and others. Wish I could have been there.

[cougjunkie]

Quezadas cut back on that swing pass was pretty sweet too. I forgot to mention that. Shaka did in the other thread.

My only knock on Quezda is his stupid number 36 is a special teams contributor number. I hate it.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Quezadas cut back on that swing pass was pretty sweet too. I forgot to mention that. Shaka did in the other thread.

My only knock on Quezda is his stupid number 36 is a special teams contributor number. I hate it.

Jerome Bettis, Brian Westbrook. I'd be content with him turning out similar to either of them.

[Shaka]

I was in chat on TBS last night and there was a scandal about Hafoka pulling up on the long ball from Heaps so that he could help his buddy Nelson. Jacobsen was also mentioned as being a conspirator. They also were stating how Nelson talks a lot of crap and people are sick of him.

I'm calling BS on all of it. Hafoka pulled up and he admitted it but I doubt it was for that reason. It's funny how paranoid some BYU fans are.

[jay santos]

I was in chat on TBS last night and there was a scandal about Hafoka pulling up on the long ball from Heaps so that he could help his buddy Nelson. Jacobsen was also mentioned as being a conspirator. They also were stating how Nelson talks a lot of crap and people are sick of him.

I'm calling BS on all of it. Hafoka pulled up and he admitted it but I doubt it was for that reason. It's funny how paranoid some BYU fans are.

That's total and complete bs. Heaps panicked and threw it too quickly. The play had broken down and Hafoka was coming back to the ball.