The final BYU football scrimmage of fall camp was, predictably, sloppy.

The good news for Cougar fans? Few, if any, of the first unit players took any reps. The scrimmage was designed for coaches to make some final decisions on players second, third and fourth on the depth chart.

"Our intent was to allow every 2, 3 and 4 on our team to play and to show where exactly they stand," said BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall. "I was disappointed overall, not only in assignments, but in execution in position mastery and just effort overall.

"We hoped to see where we'd have to consider some players to play and to move up. What we saw was not only a big drop off with the offense and defense but special teams took a drop off even more. Some players at some positions there was so far of a drop off we couldn't function."

The only touchdown drive came at the end of the scrimmage when fourth-string quarterback Stephen Covey came in to run the option offense. He completed a 57-yard pass to redshirt freshman J.J. DiLuigi to the 5-yard line, then scooted into the end zone from three yards out two plays later.

"Stephen Covey gets one drive and does what the other quarterbacks were unable to do and that's get into the end zone," Mendenhall said. "I thought O'Neill Chambers showed athleticism and made some plays just as he has in every scrimmage. I thought the defense was more in a state of readiness than the offense, and the offensive line controls that."

Another touchdown of sorts was scored when Rex Morgan, a freshman wide receiver from Greeley, Colo., blocked a punt against the second string. Matt Marshall ran the ball into the end zone. In fact, BYU tried to punt five times and was blocked four times, twice by Landon Jaussi.

"There will be other things that stand out when we watch film," Mendenhall said. "The lack of readiness can be leveraged. If we uncovered a punt blocker or another receiver or defensive back, it was worth the format today."

Backup Brenden Gaskins was 12-of-15 for 99 yards and two interceptions and third-stringer Kurt McEuen was 6-of-12 for 56 yards and one pick. DiLuigi had three catches for 96 yards.

There were plenty of highlights defensively. The interceptions, which all came off of tipped balls, were made by JC transfer nose tackle Tevita Hola, junior linebacker Jeff Bell and walk-on freshman safety Travis Uale. Senior defensive end Brock Richardson, sophomore nose tackle Rick Wolfley, freshman walk-on linebacker Jefferson Court and freshman linebacker Michael Alisa were credited with sacks. Redshirt freshman defensive end Matt Putnam and freshman walk-on nose tackle Victor Unga both knocked down passes at the line of scrimmage.

Despite the sloppy play, Mendenhall said he was pleased with the progress his team has made during fall camp.

"I feel like we have a really good team," he said. "It's the furthest along any team has been since I've been coach. We've accomplished the goals and objectives we set out to do. We're as healthy as we've ever been, as talented as we've ever been and I think our execution is solid right now. My hope was after today I'd feel better about our depth. That's not what I feel now, but the players in front of them I feel very good about."

• Put some leg into it: During kicking drills, sophomore Mitch Payne made field goals from 30, 39, 49 and 56 yards, then came up short from 63 yards. Freshman Justin Sorensen tried the same sequence but made only the 30- and 56-yarders.

• On the mend: BYU junior wide receiver Austin Collie (stress fracture) looks to be a little closer to being game-ready. He ran some pass patterns on Wednesday at the stadium and caught a few passes as well. Trainers have indicated Collie should be ready for the Aug. 30 opener.

• What's next? Wednesday was the last opportunity for the team to be in the stadium and scrimmage before the opener. Today, players will have weight training and rehab while the coaches finalize the Northern Iowa game plan. There will be a team activity tonight to signal the end of fall camp.

"A lot of the Northern Iowa work was done this summer," Mendenhall said. "We'll go back and revisit that with more knowledge of our team now. We'll see if our plans still fit or if we need to alter them."

Friday will be a "Monday" game week practice with scouting reports, first looks and impressions and basic schemes. Both Saturday and Monday practices will be considered "Tuesday" game week practices in structure.

• Follow the leader: The team's leadership council was named on Tuesday. It includes senior Travis Bright (offensive line), junior Dennis Pitta (tight ends), Collie and senior Michael Reed (receivers), senior Fui Vakapuna (running backs), junior Max Hall (quarterbacks), junior Jan Jorgensen (defensive line), junior Matt Bauman (inside linebackers), senior David Nixon (outside linebackers), senior Kellen Fowler (defensive backs) and Payne (special teams).

Captains were chosen by the team earlier in the week. They were Hall and Bright as offensive captains and Jorgensen and Nixon as defensive captains.

• Mirror images: Despite returning only three starters, Mendenhall continues to praise his defense.

"I don't see any significant differences right now from this defense to last year's or the year before. It's certainly logical to say we're young and inexperienced and it may take them a while, and it might. But when I look at the leadership of Fowler, Bauman, Nixon and Jorgensen, I think it will end up being a good defense. I don't think it will take as long as some people expect."

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Read his blog at cougarblue.com.