How the BYU offensive line plans to deal with not having Connor Pay
As Utah football fans can attest, quarterbacks who get hurt get the majority of the injury headlines.
The reality, though, is that having any elite player go down can have an enormous impact on the team — with some having a greater impact than having a hurt QB.
BYU is dealing with just such a situation right now as veteran center Connor Pay fractured his foot and will be out for at least a month.
Cougar offensive line coach TJ Woods explained after practice on Wednesday how impactful Pay’s injury is, saying: “Connor has a lot of roles on our team and does a lot for not only the offensive line, but for the offense and for the team. There is obviously his leadership out there and his knowledge of the assignments. He’s like having a coach out there on the field. Not having that are definitely obstacles that are a little challenging to overcome.”
On the surface, the next step for BYU is pretty straightforward according to Cougar offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick.
“We’ll keep doing what we do,” Roderick said. “It’s about the next guy up. Sonny Makasini played well in his place and we have been working Bruce Mitchell there too. We also have some contingencies plans so we are ready for anything.”
Woods believes guys like Makasini, Mitchell and Jake Eichorn are ready to go and will do well.
“The positive is we’ve got guys that we feel very comfortable and confident in to step in there and be the next man up,” Woods said. “All those guys have trained for that. They’ve prepared for that mentally and physically, and we have all the faith in the world in all of them to be able to go out there and execute.”
But he also said it’s not just about having the guys who are stepping in play well. Replacing Pay’s presence requires a team effort.
“Everybody’s got to step up when someone goes down,” Woods said. “There’s more on Weylin Lapuaho’s plate. Now there’s more on Bryaden Keim’s plate. Some of the veteran guys have to pick up some of that slack too so that it doesn’t all fall on the one guy who replaces Connor. That’s kind of what we’ve been working on and I’ve been pleased with what I’ve seen so far this week in practice.”
He said that having the extra practice time with the bye week helped with the preparation part but he felt like all of the linemen have demonstrated they are ready when needed.
“We cross train the players,” Woods said. “I try to do a good job of mixing them in every once in a while, here or there, just so they know, that if something happens or a shoelace breaks right here, they know what they’re doing.”
This isn’t the first time this season that the Cougars have had linemen get hurt but generally speaking the replacements have done well as their roles changed.
“I’ve been very impressed,” Woods said. “I feel very fortunate to be able to coach these guys,
with the attitude that they bring, the effort that they bring. They’re intentional about their preparation and they’re smart. All those things play in and it’s really fun to be around them and challenge them, and watch them grow, and watch them rise to the occasion.”
He acknowledged that BYU still has seven games left in the regular season, so there will be more adversity to overcome.
Woods believes that no matter who is on the field, his unit should be performing at a high level. When asked about the run game, for example, he said if the offensive line takes care of its business then the running back will be successful.
“We’ve got a lot of good backs,” Woods said. “I think when we’re right up front and we’re doing what we’re asked to do and we’re doing it with the right technique, it really doesn’t matter who’s carrying the ball, because we got faith in all those guys. It’s more about the consistency for us. That’s still an area of growth.”
He wants to see his guys doing a great job every time, not having ups and downs. That was a focus during the bye week and will need to be on display when BYU hosts a good ARizona team on Saturday (2 p.m. MT, FOX).
“They have a very aggressive style of defense,” Woods said. “They don’t play timid on defense. I think the challenge is the physicality on our end. They’re going to force you to execute, and if you do execute, then good things will happen. If you don’t, then really bad things happen. I think that’s kind of what you’ve seen this year with them defensively and it is going to be a heck of a challenge for us.”