KSL.com’s PROVO Following Saturday’s opening scrimmage of training camp at LaVell Edwards Stadium, which concluded the second week, Aaron Roderick referred to his BYU offense as sloppy.
However, defensive coordinator Jay Hill wasn’t doing a victory lap either, three weeks prior to the Cougars’ 2025 season opener against FCS Portland State on August 30.
After nearly two weeks of camp, including the final five days or so of fully padded practice, head coach Kalani Sitake and coordinators acknowledged to reporters that the defense was ahead of the offense. According to Sitake, during the closed-door scrimmage, the Cougars performed over 100 reps, many of them live, and some special teams work.
Treyson Bourguet, McCae Hillstead, and true freshman Bear Bachmeier were the three quarterbacks that shared an equal amount of time with the starting offense, but none of those reps had an interception. Emerson Geilman, a true freshman, also played quarterback for a while.
However, Roderick pointed out, that might soon alter. When the three coaches spoke with the media via video conference on Saturday afternoon, he did not name a starter, but he seemed eager to advance in the race for what is perhaps the most crucial position in the offense.
According to Roderick, maintaining equal reps won’t last forever. I’m not sure when precisely, but there will come a time when we’ll need to start constructing a hierarchy and finding someone with more experience with the ones and twos.
He went on to say that no one will be prepared to play in our first game if we continue in the same manner indefinitely. Soon, that move will take place.
The defense’s early advantage in training camp was to be expected, but Hill stated that as he begins his third season as head coach of the Cougars defense, he still has a lot of unanswered questions. First and foremost is the defensive line, where senior John Taumoepeau, Southern Utah’s Anisi Purcell, and Utah transfer Keanu Tanuvasa all performed really well, while Oklahoma State transfer Justin Kirkland is still improving after returning from injury.
As the team transitions to more live work, Sitake recognized that players were hurt today. Hill also noted that cornerback Tre Alexander hurt his shoulder, but the ailment isn’t expected to keep him out for too long. Along with Evan Johnson and Mory Bamba, a former junior college transfer who will start his fourth season at BYU in the fall and has been cleared to play, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound sophomore from the Atlanta area is ranked among the top three cornerbacks.
Since spring, Hill has caught glimpses of Euless, Texas native Jonathan Kabeya and Pine View alum Marcus McKenzie. However,
He continued by saying, “We need someone to step up in that room.”
The introduction of full pads in the last week has intensified the defensive shuffle, which is taking place on the other side of the line of scrimmage under the scrutiny of a quarterback competition. It might be difficult to balance that narrow line. According to Hill, he wants to push his defensive backs to go for picks and his edges to rush the quarterback.
Of course, there is also value in the offensive working itself out.
We had to tackle today, Hill joked. I needed to hit some guys, and A-Rod had some guys that needed to be hit.
Playing on a full-sized field with a full-time officiating staff and offensive penalties accounted for the majority of what Roderick called sloppy play. Not as much of a problem? The offensive line is led by Andrew Gentry and Isaiah Jatta, and the run game is powered by returning tailbacks LJ Martin and Sione Moa. Carsen Ryan, a transfer from UCLA and Utah, is a tight end who can play every down, run, or pass.
“Our running game is going to be really good,” Roderick said, adding that the Cougars are currently awaiting an NCAA appeal for Hinckley Ropati to be eligible for another season. We will have the ability to run the football.
Sitake was added: How our offense reacts to today will be a part of who we are. They didn’t have a bad day, but they had a great defensive day.
He claimed that even though they didn’t win every rep, they played incredibly well. I will be quite happy if they perform at that level.
