BYU football has now been having fall camp for a couple of weeks now. We broke down how the competition has been going for the 3 QBs, but BYU just had their first scrimmage of fall camp over the weekend.

First Fall Camp Scrimmage Tidbits

Lets look at some of the tidbits that the coaches said and pointed to after the scrimmage.

First off we have Kalani Sitake. He said that the defense won the day and that they got about 100 plays in. You can view his interview here. Kalani said that its pretty typical that the defense is ahead of the offense for the first scrimmage. His only concern was that they didnt force any turnovers. That was a big difference maker last year for both defense and special teams. He went on to say that it wasnt horrible for the offense but the defense was just really good. Especially with breaking in new QBs, I would expect the offense to not be the better product yet.

Coach Hill, the defense coordinator, was very appreciative of the defense. He said they were heading in the right direction. One thing I thought was interesting was that he said they have about 3 good corners right now but they like to utilize more and are looking for some more corners to step up.

Coach Roderick, the offensive coordinator, called the offense a little bit sloppy. He said that it was good to get into game action with real refs because the offense was able to learn about some of the things they needed to work on. He continued saying he is not freaked out by the offense because this is typical performance for the first couple of weeks when they scrimmage.

Both Coack Kalani and Roderick said that they havent made any decisions about the QB situation. Coach Roderick did say that they will have a pecking order soon about who is in the front so that the QB can start to build some more reps with the first team offense.

Biggest Questions for the 2025 Team

The two biggest questions right now for BYU heading into week 3 of fall camp and concluding the week with 2 weeks to their first game are these:

• Who is going to be our QB? Of course. I wouldnt be surprised if things go McCae Hillsteads way. Reporters who have seen the media availability of the practices have said he has been the slightly more consistent QB. But they have also said that the fact that it is still close after 2 weeks shows that Bear actually has a shot at being the starter and has done enough to impress. I still see BYU leaning towards the guy who has Division 1 experience and played games and started before. But if it still close over the next 2-3 weeks, BYU should lean towards Bear because he has the most potential. Will they? I doubt it, but they should.
• Who are the starters and what kind of depth is there for both the offensive and defensive lines? The offensive line is replacing 2 starters, both at the tackle positions. The two guys most likely to fill the places are good players, Andrew Gentry and Isaiah Jatta, but they will have to consistently be good and jive with the other starters. On the defensive side of the ball, BYU lost 2 of their 3 starters in Tyler Batty and Blake Mangelson. On the edge, there are some guys with experience and play time from last year in Schoonover and Lutui. The interior of the defensive line will be completely new. Tanuvasa and Kirkland should be the main starters but they are both transfers, coming from Utah and Oklahoma St. They will have a lot to prove and show that they can play and compete. Behind these 4 guys however, the defensive line is very inexperienced so guys will have to step up.

Preseason AP Poll

The first official preseason ap poll came out and here is the list:

1. Texas 0-0 Southeastern
2. Penn State 0-0 Big Ten
3. Ohio State 0-0 Big Ten
4. Clemson 0-0 Atlantic Coast
5. Georgia 0-0 Southeastern
6. Notre Dame 0-0 IA Independents
7. Oregon 0-0 Big Ten
8. Alabama 0-0 Southeastern
9. LSU 0-0 Southeastern
10. Miami (FL) 0-0 Atlantic Coast
11. Arizona State 0-0 Big 12
12. Illinois 0-0 Big Ten
13. South Carolina 0-0 Southeastern
14. Michigan 0-0 Big Ten
15. Florida 0-0 Southeastern
16. SMU 0-0 Atlantic Coast
17. Kansas State 0-0 Big 12
18. Oklahoma 0-0 Southeastern
19. Texas A&M 0-0 Southeastern
20. Indiana 0-0 Big Ten
21. Ole Miss 0-0 Southeastern
22. Iowa State 0-0 Big 12
23. Texas Tech 0-0 Big 12
24. Tennessee 0-0 Southeastern
25. Boise State 0-0 Mountain West
    Others receiving votes: BYU 156, Utah 144, Baylor 132, Louisville 90, Southern Cal 64, Georgia Tech 63, Missouri 33, Tulane 23, Nebraska 23, UNLV 21, Toledo 13, Auburn 10, James Madison 9, Memphis 9, Florida St. 8, Duke 6, Liberty 5, Navy 5, Iowa 5, TCU 4, Pittsburgh 3, Army 2, Colorado 1, Louisiana-Lafayette 1.

As you can see, BYU is the first team outside of the top 25, technically at #26. But its also interesting to see that Utah is right behind BYU and Baylor is right behind Utah. With those 3 teams being the first 3 teams outside of the top 25, there are 7 Big 12 teams in the top 28. Those teams are, in order, Arizona St, Kansas St, Iowa St, Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, and Baylor. In other words, no one knows how the Big 12 is going to go. It is, again, wide open this year.

I definitely thought BYU would be like 23-25 but am not super disappointed at them being the first team out of the top 25. We lost our QB and have some questions there and that is the most important position. I also think it gives BYU a little bit of a chip on their shoulder. BYU plays better as an underdog. Of the 6 other teams in the top 28, BYU only plays 3 – Utah at home, Texas Tech on the road, and Iowa St on the road. No Baylor, Kansas St, or Arizona St this year. Its not too tough of a schedule so if BYU can get going and have decent QB play, they should be able to win a good amount of games. The Big 12 is still competitive, so still games are going to be a fight.