BYU Football

Running back Charles West, who is committed to play at BYU in 2015, was shot in the arm Sunday while playing basketball at Coppell Middle School East in Coppell, Texas.

According to Claire Z. Cardona of the Dallas Morning News, the 18-year-old recruit ran after getting shot, was admitted to the hospital and has since been released.

Tim Montemayor of 1320 KFAN in Salt Lake City provided a look at the police report following the incident:

In the wake of his release from the hospital, West gave an update with regard to his health on Twitter:

Per Cardona, no arrests have been made, although police do have a person of interest. West's lawyer, Hunt Bonneau, also released a statement regarding the interest.

"It was broad daylight ... it wasn't like he was doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing," Bonneau said. "It's just kind of a really scary event that he'd been very lucky to get through."

West is a 3-star prospect who ranks as the No. 76 running back and No. 1,018 overall player in the Class of 2015, according to 247Sports.

The 5'9" Coppell High School standout is set to join a Cougars team that lost No. 2 running back Paul Lasike to graduation and currently has starter Jamaal Williams on the shelf with a knee ailment.

It is unclear how the injury as a result of the shooting might impact West's ability to play in 2015, but he is certainly lucky that something much worse didn't happen.

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BYU was one of the first teams to conclude its spring practices, ending with an Alumni Day scrimmage last week. Despite having many key players sit out because of academics or rehabilitate after injuries, the Cougars took big strides in the month of practices.

“I think we became a more mentally tough team. We became more disciplined. Our execution improved. Our identities became a little more clear on both sides of the ball,” said head coach Bronco Mendenhall (via the Deseret News). “Our team has great chemistry and unity. I think those are the things that I would say did happen [during spring practices]."

Although the team made big improvements, several individual players stepped up as well. On the contrary, several players hurt their chances of having a big role this fall with poor spring performances.

Here is the final spring practice stock report for BYU.

Stock Up: Mitch Mathews

Mitch Mathews had the best season of his career last year, and he could have an even better one in the fall. If anything, his improved speed has caught the attention of the coaches.

If Taysom Hill can stay healthy, Mathews could easily emerge as BYU's go-to receiver. Keep an eye out for the 6'6" speedster this season.

Stock Down: Manoa Pikula

Manoa Pikula is projected to start at middle linebacker, but he didn't do anything on the field this spring to help his stock. In fact, he didn't do anything on the field, period.

Academic issues restricted Pikula from participating in spring practices, which will be a big hurdle to jump. Unless he can make noticeable strides by the time fall camp starts, it will be tough for him to regain that starting spot.

Stock Up: Eric Takenaka

BYU always tends to have a JUCO guy steal the spotlight in spring practices, and this spring, it wasn't Nick Kurtz—it was Snow College transfer Eric Takenaka.

Takenaka led the nation in kick return average at Snow, and he could help fill the vacancies left by Craig Bills and Dallin Leavitt. The safety-turned-return specialist could see plenty of field time this fall, whether it be on defense or special teams.

BYU is still months away from its opener at Nebraska, but the Cougars have already been receiving plenty of attention. With the basketball squad's early exit in the NCAA tournament, fans are already getting excited and ready for football season.

It's been an eventful offseason for the Cougs, from their recruiting class to the aftermath of the Miami Beach Bowl fight. But several storylines have emerged in the past few months and will continue to evolve in the near future.

Here are some of the biggest storylines from BYU's offseason.

BYU Stays Quiet on Post-'Miami Beach Brawl' Discipline

Although Memphis announced its punishments shortly following the bowl game fight, BYU has stayed quiet. It's an interesting public affairs tactic for a program that is trying to gain national attention.

The Cougars will announce the details sometime before the season opener at Nebraska, but that leaves plenty of unknowns surrounding players (like Kai Nacua, among others). At this point, Cougars fans will have to wait it out and hope that none of the punishments seriously affect on-field success.

Taysom Hill, Jamaal Williams Work to Be Ready for Season Opener

BYU's two most recognizable offensive stars, Taysom Hill and Jamaal Williams, suffered season-ending injuries last year. Hill is back practicing for the Cougs, but Williams is still rehabbing off the field.

If both players can get back to their former levels, BYU will be in a much better situation this fall. The Cougars need both to be healthy in order to have a big season, especially with the huge schedule coming up.

Big Schedules Ahead for Cougars

The SEC recently announced that it would consider BYU as a Power 5 opponent, which has already reaped benefits for future Cougars schedules. BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe announced last week that BYU will play Mississippi State in Provo in 2016 and travel to Starkville the following year.

This year, BYU is slated to play Nebraska, UCLA, Michigan, Cincinnati and Missouri. The 2016 schedule already boasts games against Arizona, UCLA, Michigan State, Mississippi State and the revival of the series with Utah.

With big games ahead for the next several years, BYU will need to step up to gain any national attention.

Spring ball has just picked up for BYU, and the Cougars are completely focused on the upcoming season. Although next year's national signing day is nearly 11 months away, it's never too early to look at the incoming recruiting class.

BYU has already received commitments from five 2016 recruits, and surely more will follow. But the biggest challenge for the Cougs will be landing some of the high-star guys they are going after.

Here are a few of the top targets in BYU's 2016 class.

All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports.

3. Alec Simpson 

• Position: Inside Linebacker
• School: Palisades HS (Pacific Palisades, CA)
• Rating: 3-star
• Offers: Nevada

BYU started showing interest in Simpson after his sophomore season, but he has not yet been offered a scholarship. Simpson received his lone offer from Nevada, but he has garnered interest from Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon, Cal and Washington State, among others.

In Bronco Mendenhall's 3-4 system, Simpson could flourish as a solid middle linebacker. Keep an eye out for his decision in the coming months.

2. Troy Warner 

• Position: Cornerback
• School: Mission Hills HS (San Marcos, CA)
• Rating: 3-star
• Offers: Arizona, Boston College, BYU, Cal, Notre Dame, Utah, San Jose State, Stanford, UCLA, Utah

Troy Warner is arguably the best defensive back that BYU has offered in the 2016 class. As the little brother of current Cougar linebacker Fred Warner, Troy is familiar with the program and could be a huge steal.

BYU was the first team to offer Warner and is one of the front-runners at this point. With the impressive list of schools going after Warner, it won't be easy to get him to Provo.

1. Garett Bolles 

• Position: Offensive Tackle
• School: Snow College (Ephraim, UT)
• Rating: 4-star
• Offers: Alabama, Auburn, Arizona State, BYU, Florida State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah

As undoubtedly the top commit of BYU's 2016 class, Bolles' stock will only increase during the upcoming months. He has already received offers from SEC, Big 12, Pac-12 and ACC schools, and it will be tough for BYU to hang on to him.

Bolles emerged as an elite JUCO lineman last fall at Snow and is a returned LDS missionary. As the No. 3 junior college recruit in the nation, it would be huge for the Cougs land him.

Despite not being a high-profile recruit, Motekiai Langi is one of the most intriguing prospects to watch from the 2015 class. He's also exactly the kind of player a school like BYU needs to be taking a chance on. 

Langi drew headlines on national signing day after committing to the Cougars, mainly because of his massive size, via BYU's official Twitter:

It's not unusual to see large athletes playing football, but a 6'7", 410-pound lineman is a rarity. For comparison, New England Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork is a mountain of a man who "only" checks in at 6'2" and 325 pounds.

What makes Langi so unique is his lack of football experience. BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said with a tongue in cheek at a press conference, via Tony Manfred of Business Insider, what his plan for the new lineman will be.

"Maybe we'll just have him lay sideways right off the snap and just block the whole thing out," Mendenhall said. "There's got to be someway he can do something."

Mendenhall's recruitment of Langi was unique, as Kevin Draper of Deadspin noted the BYU coach made a scholarship offer after an assistant saw him play basketball.

"But there was a good reason [no one knew anything about Langi]: apparently his own future head coach has only spent 15 minutes with him, and he was recruited because a BYU assistant coach thought he was light on his feet during a game of pickup basketball two years ago," Draper wrote. 

Saying that Langi was off the radar this recruiting season is an understatement. On 247Sports, he's listed as the 247th offensive tackle and ranked 2,563 overall. There are no photos, and a scouting report is impossible because he didn't play organized football in high school.

Mendenhall told Jay Drew of The Salt Lake Tribune what he knows about Langi and why he wanted to take a chance on the young man.

"It is not a fat 410 [pounds]," Mendenhall said. "Lean isn't the right word. He is a solid-looking, healthy, giant man. I shook his hand, and his hand went almost up to my elbow. … I have never done anything like this before. … I just felt, why not?"

Drew also mentions that Langi won't enroll at BYU until 2017 because he "will serve an LDS Church mission in Arizona" first. 

The last question is critical to understanding why this is such a notable move for BYU. The Cougars aren't the kind of program that's going to attract the top-tier recruits. They ended signing day ranked 59th overall by 247Sports with 23 total commitments and 16 3-star recruits. 

Being an independent program has its benefits, as the school doesn't have to share revenue with other programs, but it's also limiting unless you're a prestige program like Notre Dame. 

Mendenhall has been able to build a consistent program over the last three years, winning 26 games and going 2-1 in bowl games. He's not going to lose anything by offering someone the coaching staff clearly sees a lot of potential in. 

If Langi turns out to be such a good athlete that he can handle himself against FBS competition, BYU will have gained more than it risked in this case. 

There's also something to be said about the publicity Langi's signing brought BYU. More national exposure can only help entice future recruits who may not have had the school high on their lists. Everything in sports is an opportunity. Mendenhall took full advantage of an opening he saw to upgrade his program. 

The jury is still out on whether Langi will work out, yet there's little doubt his journey when arriving at school in 2017 will be worth watching. 

After closing out the regular season with four consecutive victories, Bronco Mendenhall and BYU (8-5) came up short in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl, falling 55-48 to Memphis (10-3) in double overtime.

As bad as the Cougars defense looked, though, nothing was as ugly as the postgame fight that broke out after the Tigers sealed their impressive victory. Punches were thrown, helmets were swung and it took the efforts of both coaching staffs to prevent absolute mayhem from breaking out. 

That was some bizarre, off-the-field drama that marred what was a fun and entertaining game. 

Brawls aside, how did BYU grade out from its seven-point defeat to Memphis? 

Pass Offense: Christian Stewart was hot early, connecting on his first nine pass attempts as he dissected a solid Memphis defense. He finished the first half with 246 passing yards and three touchdowns with one interception, keeping the Tigers off balance by connecting with seven different receivers.

Things slowed for BYU after the break, though. Stewart completed just one pass for four yards in the third quarter as the Tigers scored 14 unanswered points to capture a 38-28 lead. In the second half and overtime, BYU completed just six of 23 passes for one touchdown and two interceptions. 

Run Offense: The Cougars run offense had a hard time finding its bearings against Memphis’ strong defensive front. Algernon Brown was effective early, totaling 48 yards on 11 carries through two quarters. The rest of the team, though, combined for a loss of eight yards on 15 carries in the first half.

It didn't get better after the break. Brown finished with 79 yards on 19 carries, and Paul Lasike accounted for 11 rushing yards and two touchdowns in goal-line work. The rest of the team lost 13 yards on 16 carries. 

Pass Defense: Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch struggled a bit against BYU’s defense in the first half, completing just half of his 20 passes for 150 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Those struggles faded in the third quarter as Lynch completed seven of his nine passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. That’s when the back end of BYU’s defense stepped up.

Two fourth-quarter interceptions helped the Cougars rally, erasing a 10-point deficit before eventually taking a seven-point lead. But that tough stand gave way to Lynch in overtime as he found Roderick Proctor in the end zone for the go-ahead 11-yard touchdown. Lynch finished with 306 passing yards and four touchdowns.

Run Defense: The Tigers running backs didn’t find many lanes against BYU’s defense, but Lynch and wideout Keiwone Malone gave the Cougars fits. The two accounted for 79 of Memphis’ 174 rushing yards, and Lynch was especially effective in the red zone, scoring on three rushing touchdowns.

Overall, BYU's run defense played well. The Tigers only averaged 3.4 yards per rush, and the Cougars held starting running back Brandon Hayes to just 49 yards on 22 carries. 

Special Teams: BYU’s special teams got off to a rough start early in the first quarter. After the Cougars’ first touchdown, Trevor Samson botched an attempted squib kick, setting Memphis up with a short field. The Tigers capitalized, marching 58 yards in eight plays for a touchdown.

Things turned positively in the fourth quarter. Samson connected on an easy 23-yard field goal to cut Memphis’ lead to seven. On the ensuing kickoff, BYU forced a fumble from returner Joe Craig, which the Cougars pounced on to set the offense up at Memphis’ 26-yard line. That led to a BYU touchdown, which tied the game at 38.

Samson did all he could in overtime, connecting on a 45-yard field goal in the first session. Punter Scott Arellano was incredible, averaging 46.5 yards on nine attempts. 

Coaching: Simply put, BYU was outcoached by Memphis in the second half. The Cougars failed to adjust after the break, allowing the Tigers to score 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to capture a 10-point lead. BYU got back into it as a result of boneheaded plays from Lynch and the Memphis offense, but Bronco Mendenhall and the BYU staff didn't put their foot down and win the game.

Questionable time management down the stretch cost the Cougars a chance to win the game in regulation. With 45 seconds left, Mendenhall wasted two valuable timeouts in an effort to freeze Memphis' kicker on an extra point. It was a baffling decision that prevented BYU from attacking the middle of the field on its ensuing possession, which ultimately forced overtime. 

Justin Fuente and the Tigers coaching staff just did a better job of executing their plan and managing the game.

All stats via NCAA.com.