2010 BYU Preview: the Quarterbacks

By far the biggest question in Provo these days is who will be the new BYU quarterback in 2010.

Head coach Bronco Mendenhall announced this week during Mountain West Conference media days that the race could go on well into the season.

Oh-oh!

Prevailing wisdom says that it doesn’t usually work out very well. You know the old saying—“if you have two starting quarterbacks, you don’t have any.”

Mendenhall mentioned Wednesday in an interview with Salt Lake City radio station 1280 The Zone that he wants to allow time for the competition to completely develop. It will become clear to everyone in the program who the best quarterback is and who should be the starter.

Bronco also said in the interview that during the spring, Jake Heaps performed more like a player in his third year in the program rather than like a kid who should be finishing up his final semester of high school.

You’ll have to copy and paste it, but here is the link to the page with the interview: http://www.1280thezone.com/

If you listen to the interview and are good at reading between the lines, what you also heard was, “we need to get some of our veteran players on board and help them to see that this baby-faced high school kid is the guy that can take us to where we want to go.”

It sounds like he wants the battle to continue, so it doesn’t appear that the young buck received something he didn’t earn.

Then again, I was just hearing things.

It’s only natural on any team for players to split into camps when there is a quarterback controversy. BYU is no different. There are players in the Heaps camp and others in Riley Nelson’s camp.

When all is said and done though, the players will follow the guy that can best get the job done on the field and gives them the best chance of winning games.

That’s what Mendenhall wants his players and coaches to see and come to a consensus. Hopefully the battle will not linger too long.

Here is a look at the quarterback candidates as the Cougars ready for fall camp.

Riley Nelson (6-0, 207 Jr) presents a dual threat for BYU opponents. His legs bring a different dimension to the Cougar offense. Fans might remember another guy that was a pretty good runner at quarterback, some guy by the name of Steve Young.

No one will confuse Nelson for Young, but he can do a pretty good impression of another guy, Brandon Doman, who just happens to be his position coach. Doman was a dangerous runner, and had enough going for him as a passer to give opponents fits.

Like Doman, Riley doesn’t have the biggest arm in college football.

Not even close.

When he throws it deep, he uses all of his body to get it there. With Nelson on the field, opposing defenses have less of a worry about the deep ball.

But what they do have to worry about is Nelson’s constant threat to tuck it and run. And he is a good enough short to medium range passer to keep defenses off balance.

Riley is also a winner. He’s a leader and a very tough-minded competitor.

In 2005, Nelson led Logan High School to the 3-A Utah State high school football championship, demolishing Pine View (who was quarterbacked by another future Cougar, James Lark).

I was present at that game and have never seen a player dominate a high school game the way Nelson did that night. He passed for 335 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 161 yards and four touchdowns, mostly in the first half. Logan cruised to the state championship 56-21.

Riley finished his senior season with 4,041 passing yards and 1,774 yards rushing. He accounted for an astounding 84 touchdowns running and passing that year. He finished his career holding nine state offensive records and was rewarded by being named a Parade All-American.

But because of his lack of height (his listing of 6′0″ tall on the roster is generous) and concerns about arm strength, Nelson had few Division-1 scholarship offers.

After signing with Utah State in 2006, he started eight games as a true freshman quarterback for a hapless Aggie team. The highlight of the season was a 13-12 upset of Fresno State, a game in which Riley led the winning drive, tossing a touchdown in the final moments.

As BYU’s back up behind Max Hall last season, Nelson completed 7 of 10 passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. He also ran 21 times for 122 yards and three scores.

In spring practice this year, the lefty completed 29 of 51 passes (57 percent) for 389 yards and five touchdowns.

BYU coaches figured Jake Heaps (6-2, 205 Fr) was going to be a special player. What they weren’t prepared for was how well Heaps would take over the reins at Quarterback, straight out of high school.

With all the great quarterbacks who've passed through the halls of BYU, the Cougars have never started the season with a true freshman as the starting quarterback.

History could be made in 2010.

Heaps was so impressive in spring practice that he made the stoic and famously understated Bronco Mendenhall gush. He had BYU quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman comparing him to a 23-year-old veteran.

The 18-year-old won over offensive linemen, like 2010 Outland Trophy candidate Matt Reynolds. Reynolds referred to him as a “great” player, and he had Cougar defensive backs raving.

Sorry if this sounds like I'm over-hyping the kid, but Jake Heaps is simply the most polished quarterback coming out of high school that BYU has ever seen, including Ty Detmer. Jake already demonstrates an unusual understanding of the game and an ability to read and understand defenses and coverages.

He has great placement with the ball, putting it where it has to be for his receiver and giving no chance to defenders. Meanwhile, he appears to have been born in the pocket. His pocket presence and ability to slide and move and sense pressure is uncanny for a freshman.

Another thing that stands out about Jake is his accuracy downfield. Whenever Heaps does take the field, the Cougars will get vertical in a hurry. He has great confidence in his ability with the long ball.

He can make the throws, and his talents will allow the Cougars to stretch the field vertically and horizontally in a way that we haven’t seen Provo do in a long time.

As a high school player, Jake quarterbacked the Skyline Spartans to three consecutive 4-A state championships in Washington. For his career, he passed over 9,000 yards as well as 114 touchdowns against just 18 interceptions.

He was 40-2 as a starter, named as the Gatorade Washington Player of the Year, Seattle Times MVP, and played in the 2010 U.S. Army All-American bowl.

He was named by recruiting gurus as the top quarterback recruit in the nation for the 2010 class, and virtually all considered him the most ready to contribute at the college level.

During spring practice Heaps didn’t disappoint, completing 61 of his 98 attempts (62%) for 743 yards and seven touchdowns.

By the way, those close to Heaps say that he wants to face the University of Washington in the worst way.

There is little love lost between him and the Huskies. Jake knows many of the Husky players very well, and they have made no bones about the fact that they want their shots on the upstart that they feel spurned them to go to BYU.

Lost in all the Heaps vs. Nelson hype is James Lark (6-2, 200 So) . At many other places, James would probably be the guy. But in Provo, he is currently running third.

Lark redshirted in 2006 and was primarily a scout team member in 2007 prior to serving a mission in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Lark is a capable quarterback with a good arm who will look to take the battle to the other QB contenders come the beginning of fall camp. He has some serious ground to make up, though, and will have to fend off another contender on the depth chart: Jason Munns who returned in May from his mission in Mexico.

Cougar coaches have commented on how much James grew and developed as a person on his mission and how that has affected both his game and his leadership for the good. He’s definitely taken his game to the next level.

Sadly, while serving in Russia, Lark had to deal with the tragic loss of his longtime girlfriend and BYU heptathlete Chelsi Petersen, who was killed in a car accident in Provo Canyon.

James' excitement to reunite with the Cougar team was evidenced last December, when he flew home from the mission field directly to Las Vegas to witness BYU’s beat down of the Oregon State Beavers in the Las Vegas Bowl.

During spring ball, James was 27 of 46 through the air (59%) for 253 yards and no touchdowns.

Coach Mendenhall made the statement during media days that he would open the competition up to four guys. This indicates that recently returned missionary Jason Munns (6-5, 244 Fr) will get his shot when fall camp begins.

His shot may be a long one, though, since he just returned home.

Munns is blessed with size and talent. He starred at Southridge High School in Kennewick, Washington where he passed for nearly 6,000 career yards.

Jason redshirted during the 2007 season due to a season ending knee injury during fall camp. Before the injury, he impressed coaches with his ability. If he shows a work ethic and can handle the mental part of the game, he has all the physical skills to become a terrific quarterback.