In regards to the Tico subject, I am not sure that he will start at the beginning of the season and he will probably switch to Safety and not CB. But he was not defending George and in fact was playing the opposite side of the field.

In regards to him playing soft on the one time that a pass was completed in front of him, that is a defensive scheme and not his mistake. The fact of the matter is that when it was caught, he closed fast and made a solid wrap up tackle that last year may have gone for 15 yards.

Also you will see a vastly improved Robinson this year. I think Robinson and Howard will probably be your starting corners this year and with the improved emphasis on technique they will be just fine. The area of concern should be D-line this year and not our secondary.

As I was wandering around afterward I noticed quite a few former Cougar players but I didn't see Kyle Whittingham anywhere. Hmm....anybody know why he didn't show up? Oh that's right, he's coaching our rival on how to beat us....my bad. Maybe he isn't invited???

I didn't really take much from the scrimmage because of the patchwork of players and diluted play calling but I did enjoy hearing the crack of the helmets and see the classic "Y" prancing around the stadium like the days of yore. Individually speaking, it was fun to see the guys up close to get a sense of their character, demeanor and their physical size. There were a handful of guys that seemed small to me but then there were those who seemed much larger than I an envisioned. Maybe because I'm 6'3" guys that are 6'0" seem short to me, I dunno???? It was fun to be there and mingle with the team. The players with the most attention aftwards were John Beck and Fui Vakapuna. Fui's touchdown run was awesome....gettig trapped be hind the line, getting out of pressure, stiff-arming a defender and then leaping into the endzone. Lance Reynolds Sr was right, he runs with a passion. He and Brown are going to keep defenses very busy and hopefully by the 4th quarter....completely worn out.

Personal impressions from what I saw.
#1. Fui Vakapuna. If there was one thing that I went into the practicewanting to see, it was to see what all the hype about this guy was. I couldn't even remember him from when he played before his mission. And when I left the scrimmage, believe you me, I know who Vakapuna is now. On the first play, he took a handoff from John Beck, right up the middle, stick-armed a "fully invested" linebacker....bounced off one or two more tacklers, took a cut to the outside and outran everyone down the sideline...DBs included. Three defenders finally pushed him out of bounds 25 yards down the field. You could tell a couple of things by the next couple of times he got the ball. First, little people (including linebackers) know better than to go low on this guy. Second, he has more speed than Tahi and gets up the field a lot better. I was very impressed with this guy.

#2. The rest of the RBs. BYU pretty well taken care of running back, not only for this year though. The stable is well stocked with the horses needed to carry the load that Brown and Tahi did last year. Ray Hudson is small, but compact and as quick as I've seen in a while. Kind of looks like a smaller but quicker version of Brian McKenzie (remember him? He was on the '96 team with Ronny Jenkins). Manase Tonga is the blocking back that we need and they'll give him a few touches just to keep him happy. I couldn't get a very good reading on Wayne Latu. A lot of people are high on him and say he's really fast but I didn't see anything that really got me excited about him.

#3. The defense seemed improved but with lots of room for improvement. The number one area that the team needs help with is NOT the defensive backfield. They seemed to be able to hold their own - granted the BYU receivers aren't going to keep many opposing coaches up at nights but they made some plays on the ball (how often did we see that last year?) and they generally seemed like they were in better position and had better technique than last year. The real area of need is the defensive line. They made some good plays and most of the actual tackling and pass rushing responsibilities fall on the linebackers in this defense with the defensive linemen just there to take up space, but it's been a while since BYU has had a consistent game changer on the D-line....probably back to Ryan Denney in 2001. There is help on the way with the other Tonga, Funga, and Foeki (however you spell it) and they need these freshmen to step up big.

#4. The DBs. They still need to learn how to tackle efficiently though. The DB coach, Jaime Hill, is teaching them though. When the defense rotated from 1st to 2nd strings, the DBs would come over and Hill would talk to them in a group, then he'd pull a few out of the group and talk to them one on one. He'd even get down in the stance with them and show them what they needed to be doing. I didn't pay much attention to that last year with Mitchell but the DBs should be learning.

#5. The offense didn't seem to be in sync and missed on a lot of the drives but several key players (Harline, C. Brown, basically half the O-line) were missing. So I don't read a whole lot into that. BYU needs a back up QB though. Max Hall seems to have been anointed the successor to John Beck and he'll be on campus in the fall and hopefully he'll come around because if any of the back ups right now have to see extended action, BYU is in real trouble unless someone comes out of nowhere to save them.

All in all, I did come out of the scrimmage encouraged and excited for the
season. The defense seems tweaked and a little better and the offense should be fine. No special teams were on display so who knows how those will be.

[color=darkblue:c0566be197]
[size=9:c0566be197]And let's not forget that he and other return missionaries are attributing their current conditioning to the mandatory 30 minutes of exercise that's now required of missionaries. You can stay in pretty good shape that way. Even if all you can do is push-ups and sit-ups, you'll come back pretty cut. Throw in a 30-min run a few times a week and you're doing more than most Americans.[/color:c0566be197][/quote][/size:c0566be197]

[b:c0566be197]Sorry man you STILL can't look that chisled. I'm sure he was lifting weights.[/b:c0566be197] Who cares? I'm excited to see this guy strap up the chin strap!

RISEandSHOUT51

Sorry man you STILL can't look that chisled. I'm sure he was lifting weights. Who cares? I'm excited to see this guy strap up the chin strap!

Ya! He must have been using some Bond-juice or something. BTW, this is a joke for all you freaks who can't tell.

lweb8fan

- I'm not sure why Tico Pringle #17 is on the third team? I felt that he was the best cover corner that we had out there. I think when all is said and done in the fall, HE WILL START.

Why Tico is not on first team presently and may not start this fall:

The ones allowed 2 completions, the twos allowed 7, one for a touchdown, Tico was a two. 3 of the 7 completions were to his side/man.

To be specific:
1. who did George beat for his touchdown catch in the North east end zone? ......i.e.#17
2.The pass that Tico "broke up", was under-thrown, if on the money it is a completion.
3. His big hit was after he bit on a fake and was too soft in his coverage, 8 to 10 yards off the receiver.

As fans, our eye is often drawn to a BIG hit or a break up, but often we do not see everything that happened first. Only the entire perspective tells the story. That is why the coaches study film.

Please understand I am not picking on Tico, I am just amazed that so many people are crowning him the player of the day, and next all star corner back. IMO, when you consider all the facts of Saturdays scrimmage, they do not necessarily support that conclusion.

Actually, the throw was not under thrown and Tico made an athletic play that no other BYU corner has made in a long time.

Also, his big hit was not after he bit on a fake. He was playing the ball the perfect way possible.

Listen, Tico hater, get your facts right, and just admit that the new man on campus is already out-performing all of our other secondary guys. Once again, he will be starting by the fall.

And one more thing, keep in mind that our secondary last season was not just bad, they were the most horrible secondary in the country. Wouldn't you agree the addition of Tico Pringle would be a great thing for the benefit of this football program? I understand you may have ties with our current secondary players, but don't allow your personal bias to influence your judgment of true skill and talent.

Tico Pringle is the only secondary guy that's even built like a true Division I athlete. Justin Robinsons' 5'6" 150lbs frame, would not qualify him for a scout team on any major division I conference team. Please be objective to all players, not just your personal favorites or somehow connected with you on a personal level.