PROVO, Utah – To conclude BYU football's fall camp, the team held a final fall camp scrimmage at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.
With the season opener against Utah just over one week away, the Cougars break fall camp and continue to prepare for their matchup with the Utes on Aug. 29.
The following quotes are from Wednesday's post-scrimmage media availability.
Head Coach Kalani Sitake
On the scrimmage
I thought it went really well. For our mock game situation and getting all our guys out there, especially with special teams. I thought it went really well. We decided not to go live today. In the past, we’ve even gone live with the young guys towards the end but a few years back and last year, we have a lot of guys get injured. Even on our prep squad and those guys are very valuable to us getting the right looks. So, today was a little bit more of a slow tempo, but from what I saw, it was really competitive and good. I’m pretty pleased with what our team did today.
On the emphasis of health on the team
I think the emphasis on health has been trying to get them trained in the weight room and with the conditioning coaches. But, we have to be mindful of our players and how much of the physical part we’re putting them through. I have to be mindful of the amount of live reps and who’s getting them. I think having a deliberate effort on our staff and being able to just focus on who needs the live reps, who doesn’t and being able to plan that every day has been nice for our guys. We’ve had a good amount of live reps with the guys that need them the most and I was really pleased with it. I will find out in a week, but I think our guys are ready and we came out. Obviously, we’ve had injuries happen, but for the most part I thought we did a pretty good job as a staff preventing as much as we can.
On the depth of the team
I think we have a pretty young team. More than half our team are young newcomers and freshman. I think being able to put in a lot of reps and sinking a lot of effort into them has been really helpful for us in developing depth. We have a lot of young guys on this team that have experience, so that’s always going to help. Then we focused on peer-to-peer learning and having our guys teach each other. I thought that it went really well with our players and I’ve been really pleased. I like the culture that they’re buying into of everyone helping each other and teaching each other.
On LaVell and Patti Edwards
This morning we were lucky to have Patti Edwards come speak to the team and that was important because we get to play in LaVell Edwards stadium. I’m feeling old because a lot of the guys weren’t even born when I was playing here. It makes me feel old, but that makes me think that they don’t really know LaVell Edwards and who he is as a person. So throughout camp we’ve really been trying to have an emphasis on teaching them more about LaVell and the impact he had on college football, but also the person, father, husband, mentor and coach that he was. Having Patti speak to the team this morning was a really special treat for our players. They were really excited to have her talk and she did an amazing job, so that was a big part of it. I think we’re going to be back in here again, under the lights, and I want our guys to visualize it and have success. Now that they know a little bit more about LaVell, it can be a little bit more personal for them when they see his name on the stadium and when they play on this field.
Quarterback Zach Wilson
On progress during fall camp
A ton of progress has been made. We have cleaned things up and have been getting everything installed—repetition and preparation makes perfect. It’s been a really good camp for us so far.
On excitement of Utah game
It’s exciting. It’s an amazing opportunity to be in our home stadium with our fans. I know the guys are ready to go—we’ve prepared for this. We’re doing the same things, just executing plays one-by-one.
On the pressure fueling him
Pressure is one of those things that will always be there, no matter what the situation is, especially being a quarterback. I think that’s where preparation really comes in. One of our coach’s sayings is “preparation brings swagger,” and I completely think that’s true. If you are in the film room, doing your job in practice, giving 100%, and you can see that the team is making plays then it gives you confidence and the pressure starts to fall off.
On reviewing the Utah games and what he’s learned
I’ve watched our game against them and the last couple seasons a ton of times. I’m just trying to get used to it. I can see that we need to finish. I can tell the momentum shifted, and that’s something we need to keep on our side, especially in the second half.
On connection with Ty’Son Williams
The connection is really good. He’s a new guy and I know it’s hard for him to come in here and try to make friends, especially last second. The guys have done a really good job taking him in. He’s hung out with us and comes to the team activities and I think he fits in really well