BYU football: Has Tanner Mangum done enough to keep his job?

Is Tanner Mangum BYU football’s starting quarterback for the remainder of the season?

The biggest question going into BYU football’s game against Mississippi State was not whether they would win.  For me, it was if Tanner Mangum would do enough to keep his starting role as quarterback.

At first glance, this answer looks obvious.  However, a closer look just might surprise you.

Mangum threw just 26 passes on Saturday, completing 16 of them. It was actually one of the more efficient performances of his career, completing 61.5 percent of his attempts.

Two of these incompletions were drops. One was an interception that actually was more like a punt.

All and all, it was a pretty good day. In fact, Tanner played well. He did the most with the opportunity given him.

I recognize that the Cougars started drives on the Mississippi State 32 and 29-yard lines and came up with no points.  How can a quarterback play well with such results?

It wasn’t Mangum’s fault…

Analyzing these two series reveals that Mangum had little to do with these occurrences.

In the first of these series, Mangum completed a four-yard toss on first down. On second down, a Ula Tolutau fumble ended the drive.

The second series started with Mangum completing a sideline screen for a one-yard gain. Then a sack came on second down. Third down was an incomplete pass to Aleva Hifo, that should have been a pass interference call. Finally, the fourth down was the already mentioned interception.

The point is that Mangum had almost no control over what happened. He did all that was asked of him. Putting the blame on him, in my eyes, is completely irrational.

I believe that Mangum has done enough to hold onto the position, for at least another week.  East Carolina will provide the perfect testing ground to evaluate whether he should keep it.

If he struggles against the Pirates, then there’s definitely a case to start someone else. But until then, he deserves a chance to show what he can do facing a lesser opponent.

Personally, I feel Mangum will turn the corner this game, get back his confidence, and start BYU football on an impressive run for the rest of the season. He’s earned the right to prove it.