{"id":249895,"date":"2025-07-31T05:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/249895\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T05:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T05:49:09","slug":"observations-from-first-fall-camp-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/249895\/","title":{"rendered":"Observations From First Fall Camp Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

PROVO, Utah\u00a0\u2013 BYU football kicked off fall camp practice for the 2025 season<\/a> at the Zions Bank practice fields at the Student Athlete Building.<\/p>\n

Temperatures at the Student Athlete Building were in the low 90s.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The observation perch for practice was a little bit of a throwback. Local media members watched the final 15 to 20 minutes of practice from the balcony of the Student Athlete Building.<\/p>\n

Who remembers the days of going to an open practice with a few thousand Cougar fans watching from that balcony?<\/p>\n

Those days are long gone.<\/p>\n

Still, the media got a chance to watch this 2025 edition of BYU football in action.<\/p>\n

Here were some of my observations from an eventful day in Provo.<\/p>\n

Breaking down what we saw from the BYU football quarterbacks on day one<\/p>\n

The first quarterback in the media observation was Treyson Bourguet
\nNext, McCae Hillstead with the second team offensive line
\nLastly, Bear Bachmeier with the first team offense<\/p>\n

Before BYU jumped into the team portion during the media session, the local media saw offensive personnel going through skelly work.<\/p>\n

Once that was finished, it was an 11-on-11 team segment, and the first quarterback the media saw was former Western Michigan transfer Treyson Bourguet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bourguet\u2019s first pass was a nice ball to redshirt-sophomore Jojo Phillips.<\/p>\n

Shortly after that excellent pass, Bourguet tossed an interception into the hands of junior safety Raider Damuni.<\/p>\n

The second-year quarterback then had an overthrown ball that was intended for Stanford transfer Tiger Bachmeier<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Former Utah State transfer McCae Hillstead then stepped in, and his first pass was a low ball near the ankles of running back Jovesa Damuni.<\/p>\n

After a nondescript set of plays with Hillstead, true freshman Bear Bachmeier made his debut in front of the BYU media.<\/p>\n

Bachmeier\u2019s first play was a simple handoff to running back LJ Martin.<\/p>\n

The former Stanford quarterback had a pair of completions to Phillips, one of which was thrown slightly behind Jojo over the middle.<\/p>\n

Bachmeier\u2019s best throw was a chunk yardage play that was completed to wide receiver Chase Roberts. Surprisingly, the senior pass-catcher bobbled the pass initially, before gathering and bringing it in.<\/p>\n

The freshman also completed a nice pass to tight end Will Zundel over the middle.<\/p>\n

Bachmeier, like the other quarterbacks, had ups and downs. He has a low throw ball on a screen attempt for Phillips that was near ground level.<\/p>\n

After Bachmeier, Hillstead was back in at quarterback, and he showed good touch on a pass near the sideline to Tigeter Bachmeier.<\/p>\n

Hillstead attempted a deep pass that slightly missed the intended hands of freshman tight end Tucker Kelleher.<\/p>\n

Coming out of day one, is there a leader? Hard to say. Patience is needed for these quarterbacks, as they were all taking their first official snaps with BYU\u2019s first team offense on Wednesday. However, it\u2019s less than a month until it\u2019s time for games.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to watch if this three-man battle gets trimmed down to two soon.<\/p>\n

First group of wide receivers to open the team portion<\/p>\n

Chase Roberts, Jojo Phillips, Cody Hagen<\/p>\n

Chase Roberts enters his senior season as a preseason All-Big 12 selection. Expectations are high for Roberts, who was competing in his first practice after suffering an injury last December in the Alamo Bowl win over Colorado.<\/p>\n

Alongside him in the first team offense with Treyson Bourguet at quarterback were Jojo Phillips and sophomore speedster Cody Hagen.<\/p>\n

\u2018Big Dawg Bidness\u2019 along the offensive line<\/p>\n

BYU offensive line coach TJ Woods, who is entering his second year on the staff, was on the field wearing a shirt that said, \u201cBig Dawg Bidness\u201d with some of his offensive linemen, Weylin Lapuaho, Austin Leausa, Sonny Makasini, and others, pictured.<\/p>\n

The Cougars have some tough \u2018bidness\u2019 in front of them to replace first-team All-Big 12 performer Caleb Etienne at offensive tackle, along with consistent starter Brayden Keim at the right tackle spot.<\/p>\n

We got a glimpse of what BYU\u2019s \u2018big dawgs\u2019 at the tackle spots could look like this season on day one of camp.<\/p>\n

Former Colorado transfer Isaiah Jatta continues to anchor the left tackle spot. Then, at right tackle, we got our first glimpse at Michigan transfer Andrew Gentry. He missed all of spring practice as he was recovering from an injury he suffered last year with the Wolverines.<\/p>\n

BYU head coach Kalani Sitake believes he has nine players along the offensive line who could start in games, if called upon.<\/p>\n

A pair of freshmen that caught my eye along the offensive line\u2019s second unit on Wednesday were Kaden Chidester and Andrew Williams\u2014young, talented players, who could find themselves in the two-deep after Gentry and Jatta.<\/p>\n

New faces worth writing about from Day 1<\/p>\n

Weber State\/New Mexico transfer tight end Keayen Nead
\nNew defensive tackles Kelepi Latu-Finau and Kaufusi Pafoke
\nStanford transfer wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier<\/p>\n

New Mexico transfer Keayen Nead took some snaps in the media observation window with the first team offense. The nephew of former BYU standout Spencer Nead is a good blocker, and that was apparent on day one.<\/p>\n

BYU has completely overhauled its defensive tackle unit in 2025. A pair of under-the-radar names caught my attention on day one.<\/p>\n

Those players include true freshman Kelepi Latu-Finau and Weber State transfer Kaufusi Pafoke. Pafoke caught my attention with his size at 6-foot-3, 345 pounds.<\/p>\n

Then Latu-Finau, a three-star signee in the class of 2025, picked BYU over offers from Stanford, Arizona, Baylor, and others. Ideally, BYU won\u2019t need to rely on him in 2025, but he\u2019s a name to watch in the future. He was listed at 250 on Signing Day last winter. Now, he\u2019s up to 280 pounds.<\/p>\n

His brother, Siosiua, an offensive lineman, is 6-foot-5, 310 pounds.<\/p>\n

The other newcomer that caught my attention from day one was Tiger Bachmeier. There are high expectations for the Bachmeiers at BYU. It will be intriguing to watch how Fesi Sitake and Aaron Roderick find ways to utilize Bachmeier\u2019s speed this season.<\/p>\n

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE<\/a>) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12\u20133 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch\u2019s coverage of BYU athletics in the Big 12 Conference on X<\/a>: @Mitch_Harper.<\/p>\n

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