BYU football: Joe Critchlow to make first career start for Cougars
BYU football will be without quarterback Beau Hoge against UNLV, meaning it will be Joe Critchlow getting the start for the snake-bitten Cougars.
Say it ain’t so, Beau.
In a year when no BYU football player is safe from injury, the Cougars will be without backup quarterback/now starting quarterback Beau Hoge against the UNLV Rebels tonight.
BYU head coach Kalani Sitake confirmed to Greg Wrubell on pre-game radio that it will be freshman Joe Critchlow getting the start.
Re: QB tonight, Kalani tells me “Beau (Hoge) is not going to be able to go, so we’ll have Joe Critchlow take the first snap, and Kody Wilstead will be behind him; just waiting to see if we need him. Hopefully, Joe can get it going—they’ve had a pretty good week of practice.”
— Greg Wrubell (@gregwrubell) November 11, 2017
For what it’s worth, I’ve heard some pretty good things about Critchlow from players. Obviously we don’t have much of a sample to judge him on, but Ed Lamb has a pretty good eye for talent.
Critchlow is 6-of-11 passing this season for 59 yards. The former Vanderbilt commit is 6-foot-4 and 200 lbs.
Behind him will be Kody Wilstead.
Wilstead has yet to play this season, but turned some heads when he was vocal about not wanting to redshirt this year.
Wilstead was a three-star recruit out of Pine View High School in Saint George, Utah. He’s not much of a scrambler, but seemingly has a pretty good arm in the pocket. He stands at 6-foot-6 and weighs in at 220 lbs.
It’s also worth noting that BYU football will be without running backs KJ Hall and Ula Tolutau. Hall is still injured and Tolutau, while he is with the team tonight, is suspended. So the Cougars will be heavily relying on Squally Canada and Brayden El-Bakri to take the pressure off of Critchlow/Wilstead.
The Cougars and Rebels kick off at 8:30 PM MST. UNLV is 2.5-point favorite and is given a 52 percent chance of winning, according to ESPN’s Matchup Predictor.