BYU Football: Five big questions as fall camp kicks off

No. 1: The Quarterback Battle

It’s been the most talked about question throughout the offseason, and it’s still far from resolved.

Who will start at quarterback for the Cougars?

Will it be Tanner Mangum, the senior coming off an injury?

Or will it be Beau Hoge, the junior coming off an injury?

Maybe Joe Critchlow, the walk-on who was thrust into the starting role as a freshman last year?

Or there’s Zach Wilson, this year’s freshman phenom.

While all four will enter camp with a shot to claim the starting spot, it seems that there are two frontrunners. At an alumni event in southern Utah last week, offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes addressed the quarterback situation.

He mentioned that he wants to have the starter determined within the first two or three days of camp, even though they may not announce it until just before game time on September 1st.

Even if they know who the signal caller will be, that doesn’t mean Arizona has to know who to prepare for.

He also mentioned that they would try Hoge out at other positions during camp. The fact that they’re considering that could mean that he’s falling behind in the competition.

Grimes remained relatively silent on Wilson, but not on Critchlow and Mangum. He mentioned that Critchlow has all the tools to be the next great BYU quarterback at some point in his career.

And speaking of Mangum, he said that the senior didn’t respond well to the previous offensive staff, but seems to be doing much better with the new coaches. He’ll have some catching up to do, though, since he wasn’t able to full participate in spring practices.

There’s a very real chance that BYU will have a starting quarterback by early next week, but it’s an answer that Cougar fans may have to wait weeks to find out.