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Provo • BYU held its first scrimmage of preseason training camp at LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday morning, and rookie head coach Kalani Sitake — the former defensive coordinator at Oregon State and Utah — said the defense won the day.

We will have to take his word for it.

Sitake closed the scrimmage to the media and public, saying the coaching staff wants to use the element of surprise as much as possible this year.

"We are in a unique position right now where not a lot of people know what is going on with what we are doing offensively and defensively," he said. "I think we are more secretive than we will ever be."

As for the defense dominating — stats were not made available after the scrimmage, and the number of series and plays was not divulged, either — Sitake said that is almost always the case the first scrimmage of every camp he's been involved with, but he expects the offense to even things up eventually.

"The offense had their moments as well," he said. "We will watch the film. Offense probably had a little more success than what we are used to seeing. But that is a huge credit to the talent and skill we have on offense."

Neither offensive coordinator Ty Detmer nor defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki would declare their side the winner, and Detmer alluded to several holding and false start penalties that stalled drives. Sophomore quarterback Tanner Mangum did say the offense scored a couple of times, but wouldn't say which QB directed the drives.

Yes, the ongoing quarterback battle between Mangum and senior Taysom Hill is what everyone wanted to ask about — but neither Detmer nor any of the combatants wanted to say much.

"It is hard to compare, because they are going with different groups, different plays, different situations," Detmer said. "You don't really compare too much during this time, but they are all starting to get it. … We are starting to get there. We still got a couple of weeks to go to really tighten it up."

Hill, playing in a "real" game for the first time since he suffered a Lisfranc foot injury in the opener at Nebraska last season, said he and Mangum got "89 percent of the reps" and third-stringer Beau Hoge directed one series. Hill didn't wear the special shoes that Nike made for him and his injury because "they are a little rigid, and I am just trying to figure out if I am going to be able to break them in, and if I like them."

He said there were times Saturday when he felt "a little rusty," but overall was "happy" with his performance.

Mangum said there were things he needs to clean up, but felt like he showed the coaches he is making better decisions and is freelancing less, a mistake that got him into trouble last year.

"As a whole, as a quarterback group, we made good decisions, took care of the ball, didn't throw any interceptions, moved the chains and had a couple scores as well," Mangum said.

Sitake reiterated what he said the first day of camp — that he wants to name the starter as soon as possible. Asked whether any quarterbacks stood out, he said: "The two always stand out. Tanner and Taysom always stand out."

Pressed regarding which guy looked better, Sitake still wouldn't bite.

"I couldn't tell you what the stats were, but they both did well," Sitake said. "They both had some success on offense, and our defense had some success. So yeah, it was kind of a back and forth day."

Another issue facing offensive coaches is who to play at tight end. In another sign that the staff isn't happy with the five guys in camp — none has caught a pass in a major college football game — freshman defensive end Alema Pilimai has been moved to tight end.

"Right now, it is a little bit by committee," Detmer said.

Twitter: @drewjay —

Storylines

R Head coach Kalani Sitake gave the edge to the defense in Saturday's closed scrimmage, which he said is common early in camp.

• Either senior Taysom Hill or sophomore Tanner Mangum played at quarterback in every series but one.