PROVO, UT – BYU football is back. The Cougars kicked off 2025 Spring camp on Thursday afternoon with a practice outside of the Student Athlete Building. Here is a recap of everything that happened during the media portion of the first day of Spring camp.

The play of the day came on the first day of media observation. Sophomore cornerback Tre Alexander tipped a pass and grabbed an interception. It happened right as the media entered the field, so the quarterback that threw the interception was not in the line of sight at that point.

Alexander’s development is an important storyline of the offseason. He is one of a few young cornerbacks that will look to fill the large void left by Jakob Robinson and Marque Collins.

He changed his number to no. 1. He is one of a handful of players that changed their numbers for this season.

It’s challenging to evaluate the play of the offensive and defensive lines on the first day of camp. The players don’t wear pads on the first day, so the defensive line has a little bit of an advantage. With that being said and taking everything with a grain of sale, the defensive line was very disruptive in the limited media availability on Thursday.

Outside of the first-team offense picking up a first down or two, the BYU offense was mostly held in check. That was primarily driven by the defensive line. Utah transfer Keanu Tanuvasa had a tackle for loss for the first-team defense.

Carson Tujague had a sack on Treyson Bourguet when the second and third-string players were on the field. Choe Bryant-Strother had a tackle for loss.

There were a lot of new faces along the defensive line for the first and second units. Including the aforementioned Keanu Tanuvasa, SUU transfer Anisi Purcell and Texas transfer Tausili Akana got a lot of run. Akana came in weighing 235 pounds. Weight was an issue for Akana at Texas, but he’s been able to put on good weight since moving to Provo.

A handful of freshmen got their first collegiate reps on day one. Wide receiver LaMason Waller had a pair of catches in the team portion of practice.

Linebacker Pierson Watson has returned from his mission. He saw the field with the reserve units and had a tackle during the team portion.

In total, there are six players from BYU’s 2025 recruiting class that enrolled early to compete in Spring camp.

The battle for the backup quarterback job is one of the top storylines of the offseason. The Cougars have only three quarterbacks on the Spring roster, so that leaves only two players competing for the backup job:

1. McCae Hillstead
2. Treyson Bourguet

McCae Hillstead, who will wear the number 3 in 2025, was the better of the two quarterbacks in the limited media portion. Hillstead picked up a few yards with his legs and he connected with Marquis Taliulu on a quick slant.

Hillstead did have one misfire on a throw near the boundary, but the offense seemed to move a little better with Hillstead under center than it did with Bourguet.

As expected, Utah transfer Carsen Ryan got some reps with the first-team offense. Behind Ryan, Noah Moeaki got a lot of run with the first and second teams. Moeaki was a standout two-way player at American Fork High School. It’s still way too early to call, but Moeaki is a player to watch at tight end.

A few potential starters were not available on Thursday for the offensive line, so all five starters on Thursday probably won’t be the starters for Portland State. Still, the first-string offensive line included Isaiah Jatta at left tackle, Sonny Makasini at left guard, Bruce Mitchell at center, Kyle Sfarcioc at right guard, and Austin Leausa at right tackle.

There were a few plays that the media didn’t have a chance to watch, but BYU was gracious enough to include them in the post-practice highlights.

Jake Retzlaff had a fantastic throw to Keelan Marion. Marion, who will wear number 1 in 2025, is a candidate to be BYU’s second-leading wide receiver behind Chase Roberts.

Jake Retzlaff connected with Utah transfer Carsen Ryan for a first down and more.

In one-on-ones, sophomore cornerback Jonathan Kabeya had an ice interception while guarding Tei Nacua.