BYU football: Boise State has a lot of Cougar quarterbacks to prep for
By Shaun Gordon
Boise State will have a challenge in preparing for Friday’s matchup against BYU football: five different Cougar quarterbacks could see the field against the Broncos.
The carousel at quarterback for BYU football keeps spinning around and around.
Against Utah State, the Cougars saw their third and fourth quarterbacks get game action. A fifth was warming up on the sidelines just in case.
At the rate things are going, it’ll be a close contest between the number of quarterbacks the Cougars use and the number of wins they’ll finish with.
As they look toward Friday’s matchup with Boise State, it’s anybody’s guess who will start at signal-caller for BYU. Fans may not find out until the Cougars trot out onto the field.
Fortunately, the Broncos will have to wait just as long as fans.
They’ll get to spend the week preparing for five different quarterbacks. Not a fun proposition on a week’s notice.
One or more of those five may see the field on Friday, and each brings a completely different dynamic.
Let’s look at all five quarterbacks that the Broncos have to prepare for:
Tanner Mangum
The season starter sprained his ankle on the last offensive play against Utah, causing him to miss both the Wisconsin and Utah State games. With BYU’s silence on injuries that aren’t season-ending, there’s been no stated timetable on Mangum’s return.
After Friday’s loss, Kalani Sitake didn’t rule out Tanner’s return against Boise State:
"“We’ll have to see what happens with Tanner. He’s really anxious and wants to play this (Boise State) game for obvious reasons.”"
While Mangum’s start to the season has been far from spectacular, he showed flashes of his 2015 self when Ty Detmer used him in shotgun formation. If he’s healthy, he still represents BYU football’s best chance of knocking off the Broncos.
Beau Hoge
The offense looked the best it has all season before Hoge went down against the Aggies. The Cougars moved the ball steadily, with good balance.
In fact, Hoge’s 195.33 efficiency rating was the highest for a Cougar quarterback since Tanner Mangum against Wagner in 2015.
Unfortunately, Hoge likely has a concussion, and it would take a small miracle for him to be healthy and cleared by Friday. While BYU football won’t comment on injuries unless they’re season ending, Hoge was listed as the starter (alongside Mangum) on BYU’s depth chart. So it’s safe to assume Sitake and the coaches are trying to gain an upper hand in game prep, because it seems unlikely either of them play.
Koy Detmer Jr.
Detmer’s play against Utah State could best be described as disastrous. While Hoge’s efficiency was the best in two years, Detmer’s (43.22) was the worst since Riley Nelson against Boise State in 2012.
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While he seemed to be overmatched in high-level college football, he may get the nod against the Broncos purely by default. If Mangum and Hoge can’t go, Detmer may be the only one with enough reps and knowledge of the offense to start.
Austin Kafentzis
Don’t bet on Kafentzis starting against the Broncos on Friday, but don’t rule out him seeing some run in a wildcat package.
He ran that package for one drive against the Aggies. The Cougars gained a first down before Kafentzis fumbled the ball, one of seven turnovers for BYU on the night.
If Detmer gets the start against the Broncos and struggles, you may see a few similar drives against Boise State.
Joe Critchlow
The recently returned missionary was warming up during the Utah State game, but ultimately never saw the field. It’s tough to know how much, if any, time Critchlow might get – because in addition to not knowing the entire playbook, he’s an RM who is still shaking the rust off.
After the game, Sitake gave his reasoning for holding him out of the game:
"“We could have put Joe in there, but I just thought it was unfair to him, not knowing the entire package and not being able to have all those (practice snaps).”"
The plan has been to redshirt Critchlow, but that may not be in the cards. The 6-foot-4 freshman originally committed to Southern Utah before his mission.
If neither Mangum nor Hoge can go, Sitake and Detmer may decide that the Cougars have a better shot with Critchlow under center than Detmer. Sitake even mentioned on Monday that removing Critchlow’s redshirt (or Kody Wilstead’s) is an option they haven’t ruled out.