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PROVO — In the absence of quarterback Tanner Mangum, who suffered a season-ending Achilles’ tendon injury in Saturday’s 20-13 loss at Fresno State, backup Beau Hoge will be the starter going forward.
Or not. Yes, if he’s healthy. Maybe. Probably.
Is that non-committal enough? It’s by design. At the very least, health will play a significant role in the three-way quarterback competition head coach Kalani Sitake said would determine the starter Monday.
BYU offensive coordinator Ty Detmer said the job is likely Hoge’s to lose, given the redshirt sophomore signal caller from Fort Thomas, Kentucky has a significant experience advantage on true freshmen Joe Critchlow and Kody Wilstead.
But Detmer didn’t fully commit to one starter, either, when asked by several reporters after practice Tuesday about the quarterback competition prior to Friday night’s 8:30 p.m. MT kickoff at UNLV (4-5).
"He is the guy," Detmer said when asked about Hoge’s experience. "If he is feeling good enough to go, then he will probably be the guy."
That leaves plenty of room for "if." Hoge made his first career start in a 40-6 home loss to then-No. 10 Wisconsin, but he suffered a significant injury in a 40-24 loss at Utah State a week later.
Mangum returned to the lineup despite a serious ankle injury in a 24-7 loss to Boise State, but Critchlow also saw action as the coaches elected to remove any option for the recently returned missionary to redshirt the 2017 season.
In all, the Cougars (2-8) have rotated five players at "quarterback" in Mangum, Hoge, Detmer, Critchlow and Kafentzis. Hoge and Critchlow were listed as co-starters on the depth chart this week, and the team is preparing for anything—though Hoge’s health is likely a key determining factor.
"As an O-line, it doesn’t make a difference to us," offensive lineman Thomas Shoaf said. "We take everyone with the same amount of preparation. We don’t control plays or who is in the backfield. We just focus on doing our portion of the job and playing the best that we can."
When Mangum went down early in the fourth quarter in Fresno, Hoge relieved the starter and completed just 3-of-10 passes.
But putting too much emphasis on Hoge’s 49-percent completion rate or 257 yards passing with two touchdowns and three interceptions probably isn’t fair, Detmer cautioned.
"I don’t think it’s a fair assessment on Beau all the way," the second-year offensive coordinator said. "He’s been in and out with injuries, and we want to try to be fair in evaluating. Everybody is up in the air as far as what they bring to the team."
Hence, Critchlow and Wilstead—who could still redshirt in 2017—remain options. But a possible redshirt status won’t be the final determination, either.
"It’s not the worst thing to keep that (redshirt) around for a little while," said Detmer, who noted Wilstead "doesn’t want" to take a redshirt year. "Look at Tanner; if he’s not ready to return next year, he will still have a redshirt. We aren’t worried about redshirts, and neither are the players."
