Yesterday, I was at the annual Blue & White game.  Exciting to once again see BYU Football.  It was a great day except for the foot injury to Quarterback Cade Cooper.  I didn't quite understand how he was injured, it was some freak accident from how it appeared.  I was upset after it happened.  It makes you realize that depth can be gone instantly in the game of football.  Hopefully we hear soon the severity of his injury.  When I went down on the field after the scrimmage his foot was really puffy, he was making light of the situation but it was apparent that he was in obvious pain.

Aside from the Cooper injury, I came away impressed with the overall execution of this team.  Here are a few of my observations from the scrimmage.

Hall and Gaskins

Seeing Max Hall perform today solidified that he is definitely the starter, and that is not due to the Cooper injury.  Hall seems very calm and collected in the pocket and throws a nice ball.  He is going to be a very good QB this season, I'm very confident in that.

Didn't plan on seeing Brenden Gaskins very much today but due to the injury of Cooper he filled in nicely, leading the visiting "White" team on a 97-yard drive that culminated on a 5-yard TD pass to Reed White (Danny White's son).  Gaskins was interviewed by KUTV and showed some emotion for how grateful he was to have the chance to be playing at BYU.  I thought that was really great to see, I think it is great to see a player showing passion for his team.

Also saw Kurt McEuen for one play, and Parker Mangum for a few plays.

But it is very clear that on Monday Mendenhall will announce Hall as the starting Quarterback.  Which is a smart move so Hall can gain leadership with the offense and the team.

Cornerbacks

Coach Jaime Hill is doing another great job this season with these corners.  This was a hard hitting unit today.  I was very impressed with Andre Saulsberry.  He had numerous hard hits, he did however miss one tackle, but I'm alot more confident in Saulsberry being a candidate to start at that field position corner alongside Criddle.  Speaking of Criddle, he was on the sidelines and still had a limp to his walk. Hopefully Criddle over the summer is at full strength.  He was on the east sideline before the scrimmage throwing the ball around with another Corner Brandon Bradley.  Bradley is another player that would be nice to see healthy and on the field, he has great size.

Brandon Howard had a nice PBU that otherwise would have went for a Touchdown.  Howard has made great strides this Spring.  I'm very confident that if this group of Cornerbacks gets healthy and stays healthy that they will be very good this season.

Offensive Line

The O-Line struggled alot at the beginning of this scrimmage, allowing the D-line to get in the backfield and force the QBs to scramble.  The back-up Center, I believe was Garrett Reden was struggling with bad snaps.  One of which was the reason for Cooper's injury, after that he was pulled.  But over the course of the scrimmage they played alot better giving Hall and Gaskins time to make the passes.

Tight Ends minus Vic So'oto

We all know the reason that Vic So'oto was not in attendance today at the scrimmage, so we won't get into that.

So Dennis Pitta and Andrew George took center stage.  George had a nice catch down the sideline from Hall for 20+ yards on the first drive of the game.  Dennis Pitta is now #32, and looks to be in great shape.  Brock Hansen who used to be a Quarterback had a few catches as well.  The TE spot without So'oto still looks to be very good, but if you add So'otos athleticsm your looking at a TE unit that is once again the best in the conference.  Hopefully he returns to the team soon.

Miscellaneous

Aside from Cooper's injury, LB Dan Van Sweden limped off the field.  He looked to be nursing a ankle injury as well...Saw recent Cougar commit Austin Holt in attendance along with some former Cougars from last season (John Beck, Cameron Jensen, Nate Meikle, and Zac Collie)

A fun day of Cougar Football.  Now the dog days of summer loom until the revenge game against Arizona.

--Mitch