Jenkins will sit as Cougars prepare for Washington

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    By ERIK R. RASMUSSEN

    Ronney Jenkins, last year’s freshman football standout, has been reinstated to BYU as a full time student, though his football suspension is still in effect.

    Suspended by the Honor Code Office last spring, Jenkins, 20, a sophomore from Port Hueneme, Calif.,was not expected to attend BYU this fall and was prepared to enroll at Utah Valley State College for fall semester. The enrollment became unnecessary as BYU cut his academic suspension short.

    But the football suspension remains in effect. Jenkins will not be eligible to play in games until next season.

    “I’m very pleased, he’ll do fine and he’ll be very successful,” BYU Football coach LaVell Edwards said of Jenkins’ return. “He’ll red-shirt this year. He won’t be at fall camp, but we’ll re-evaluate him after two-a-days.”

    Lee Bartlett of the Communications department spoke on behalf of the university about Jenkins’ situation. “Ronney will be enrolled in school this coming academic year. He will definitely not play, it will be treated as a red-shirt year, which means he will be allowed to practice with the team. The Honor Council works out a program the person is expected to comply with; he is meeting those terms and will continue that process with the support of the coaching staff.”

    Jenkins was a major part of BYU’s potent offense last year. With Jenkins and Brian McKenzie in the backfield, the Cougar’s finally lived up to the perennial pre-season hype of a strong running game. Jenkins averaged 5.7 yards-per-carry, ran for 11 touchdowns, and was named Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year.

    With what was arguably the best backfield in BYU history, the Cougars shattered the old BYU record for rushes in a season, going to the ground 101 plays more than the previous school record. The running game was a huge factor in the success of the Cougar aerial attack with teams having to respect this new-found aspect of BYU’s offense.

    Cougar faithful are alarmed at the loss of Jenkins, wondering if the offense can be as effective. But with returning senior, Brian McKenzie, and fullback Kelaokalani Fifita Sitake the backfield is formidable.

    Questions arose about the defensive secondary as well when defensive back, Omarr Morgan, was suspended from the team for the first three games of the season. Coaches remain upbeat, despite the two suspensions, and are busily preparing for the home opener against third ranked Washington on Sept. 6.

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