When the pads go on, the intensity goes up

Fall camp for BYU is about to change.

After several days running around in helmets and shorts, the Cougars will put on full pads starting Monday in preparation for the Aug. 31 opener against Southern Illinois. Starting center Connor Pay is among the veteran leaders on the team. He knows when the pads go on the intensity goes up.

“You get to play real football. That’s when it begins,” Pay said. “It’s a lot of mental stuff in those days in just helmets, but now you get to really hit each other and play football. It becomes real.”

At 6-feet-5, 315 pounds, the senior from Highland anchors an offensive line that is motivated by new offensive line coach TJ Woods to restore the physicality up front that is demanded in the Big 12. The next two weeks in the trenches of camp are critical to get there.

“You have to play with an edge and an attitude to play on the offensive line,” Pay said. “It’s something we lost a little bit last year. Coach Woods is doing a great job setting the tone and we have to follow suit.”

Putting on the pads is just as significant for a defense that surrendered 29.8 points per game last season. There is work to do.

“Getting the pads on changes everything. It changes the tempo of the practice, the speed, the aggression,” defensive end Isaiah Bagnah said. “Coach (Jay) Hill wants us to be nasty, know our jobs and be confident with it.”

The Boise State transfer is preparing for his second season at BYU. He and his teammates are also into the second year of understanding Hill’s defense.

“We are all so much more comfortable with it,” Bagnah said. “You can see the way we are communicating from the defensive ends to the linebackers to the safeties. Even the safeties are communicating with us defensive ends. We are all more comfortable and quicker at the snap. It’s awesome.”

No one may be more eager to practice in pads on Monday than junior safety Micah Harper. It was last August when Harper tore his ACL and missed the entire season.

“I’m so excited. The last time I was in full pads was the Oklahoma game when they let me dress out. I was just itchingto get on the field and help my team,” Harper said. “It’s really been a whole year since I practiced live in full pads. Everybody is looking forward to that first day of pads, hitting, tackling and trying to see who’s ready for the season.”

There is a noticeable theme running through each position group — individual toughness.

“Just be as physical as possible, that’s why pads coming on is going to be a big step,” said junior receiver Kody Epps. “Coach (Aaron) Roderick always preaches, ‘We want to be a physical team. We want to dominate, and we want to be able to push the ball with our physicality.’”

Putting the pads on will give the Cougars a jolt of reality that their second season as a Power Four program in the Big 12 is just weeks away.

“Everybody is excited (to put the pads on). Wearing T-shirts and shorts is not the same,” Epps said. “I think it’s mostly different for the defensive and offensive linemen because they want to get nasty and physical every day, but they have to slow down on that. When the pads come on, we don’t want to hurt each other obviously, but we can be a little more physical.”

Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com .