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Provo • Wintry weather forced the BYU football team to practice in the Indoor Practice Facility on Tuesday morning, a move the Cougars took in stride because most of the other nine workouts have been conducted outdoors in dry, but chilly, conditions.
"A lot warmer today, going inside," said running back Squally Canada. "So that was nice."
The Cougars are hoping that the storm that socked the Wasatch Front will move on quickly, because the annual spring game is scheduled for Saturday at 2 p.m. at LaVell Edwards Stadium, and will be played rain or shine.
But it won't necessarily be a full game, new head coach Kalani Sitake said, due to a shortage of healthy offensive linemen. Only nine are healthy, so the proceedings will be more scrimmage, less game.
"I want to entertain the fans a little bit, but I don't want to give away the playbook, so next year's spring game will be a lot different than this year," Sitake said. "We are going to do a few things differently than we have done in the past. … We are going to hold out some guys, but we will have enough that [fans] will see some highlights, especially from the younger guys who have done well in the spring."
Sitake said players have remained relatively healthy during practices, but offseason surgeries and the dismissal of star center Tejan Koroma have made the OL thin.
BYU fans are used to not having a full spring game — Bronco Mendenhall didn't have a full one the last four years of his tenure.
"We will see how many plays we can get out there. It will be competitive. But we will have a good warm-up, and a good portion of it will be [non-contact]," Sitake said. " We will have Taysom [Hill] involved as well. Then we will see how the scrimmage part goes. It is kinda just open to whatever we can do, and how many guys we can get some reps."
Speaking of Hill, the quarterback still recovering from a foot injury suffered in the opener last fall against Nebraska, Sitake said both he and Tanner Mangum have looked sharp in practices, but Hill won't play in the scrimmage portion of the event on Saturday.
"So I can't tell you exactly what the scrimmage is going to be like," Sitake said. "I am not going to set a limit and say we are going to do this many plays. I am just going to keep it open to evaluate all our players on this team."
Pro Day is coming
Representatives and scouts from more than 20 NFL teams will work out former members of BYU's 2015 football team on Friday during the annual Pro Day at the IPF on campus. The headliner expected to go through drills for scouts Friday is defensive end Bronson Kaufusi, projected by many to be a drafted in rounds 3-5.
Southern Utah quarterback Ammon Olsen, the former BYU QB, will work out and throw to receivers because the Cougars did not have a senior QB in 2015. As usual, BYU Pro Day is closed to the general public.
Dye adapting to new position
An inside receiver last season, junior Trey Dye learned he was being moved to running back a few weeks ago when he was included in a group text to the running backs by new offensive coordinator Ty Detmer. He said he was totally fine with the switch, partly because it means he can eat as much as he wants now.
"I changed my diet up a little bit because I knew I was not going to be running the ball successfully weighing 173 pounds, so I gained about 10 pounds here in the last couple of weeks," Dye said. "So, I am just feeling good and just having fun with it."
Dye, the son of former BYU great James Dye, said he played a lot of running back in high school and has been able to "hit the ground running" at his new spot.
Briefly
Sitake said it is not a big surprise, but the "buy-in level has been awesome with the players," when he was asked what the biggest surprise of spring camp has been to date. … Sitake said his dancing routine during last Friday's BYU basketball game "was not rehearsed, otherwise I would have done the robot [dance] better. It has been years since I used to breakdance on cardboard boxes."
Twitter: @drewjay —
BYU spring football Blue & White Game
When • Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where • LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo
Format • Warmups begin at 2 p.m.; Scrimmage begins at about 2:15 p.m.
Parking and admission • Free