PROVO -- Defense ruled the second scrimmage of Fall Camp as the BYU offense struggled to consistently move the ball.
BYU practiced at LaVell Edwards Stadium for the first time this season in the scrimmage that was open to the public. Just over 2,800 fans showed up for the scrimmage.
The Cougars put pressure on the quarterback up front and covered well in the secondary throughout the 62-play scrimmage.
"In assessing our last scrimmage, there was an offensive tone," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "When one unit establishes itself, it is encouraging to see the other unit respond in the next scrimmage."
The offense started out moving the football early in the first possession. Behind Curtis Brown and Fui Vakapuna, the first-team unit got to midfield. The defensive line began to assert itself, picking up a pair of sacks on consecutive plays. Ian Dulan and Russell Tialavea broke through the line to get the first of the two non-contact sacks. Brett Denney bulled his way into the backfield to pick up a "coverage" sack on the next play.
The next drive was stopped on third-and-short when the defensive front stopped Vakapuna in the backfield. Aaron Wagner helped stall another drive when he broke up consecutive pass plays on second and third down.
Linebacker Kelly Poppinga flew around the field, making several plays for the defense. Poppinga batted a ball down at the line of scrimmage and made an open field tackle to stop another pass play for no gain. Poppinga got into the backfield to drop running back Ray Hudson for a four-yard loss.
The offense managed to get the ball in the end zone on one drive. On second-and-10 from the offense's 30-yard line, Beck improvised on a play where the secondary initially had everyone covered. Scrambling to his right, Beck spotted Mike Hague going across the middle and dropped a perfect pass, which Hague turned up field and took 70 yards for a touchdown.
"The play was a mix of a defensive lineman not containing, Mike [Hague] making a good adjustment to his route and one player in the secondary not executing his coverage," Mendenhall said.
John Beck led all passers, going 5-of-8 for 108 yards and the touchdown. Jason Beck was 7-for-11 for 53 yards. Manase Tonga led the team in rushing yards with 22 on just two carries.
In the evening practice segment, which was closed to the public, the offense struck back. In 11-on-11 team drills, John Beck led the offense to two touchdown drives while completing 12-of-12 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns in drills that were not full contact. The highlight of the evening session was a third-and-six play when Beck read blitz, called an audible and hit McKay Jacobson for a 56-yard touchdown strike.
"We still have work to do," Mendenhall said. "I would like to see a full-contact scrimmage where both units show a high level of energy and execution before our first game."