PROVO — No. 7 was back in BYU’s Indoor Practice Facility this week.

No, former BYU quarterback Taysom Hill did not receive another season of eligibility from the NCAA. But the Cougars got back to work on the first day of spring camp, and it included a few number changes — notably, Beau Hoge taking back his old No. 7 jersey after Hill switched from No. 4 last year as a tribute to his older brother.

Of course, one could’ve mistaken Hoge for the athletic Hill; the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Hoge put on significant muscle mass in the offseason, as did most of his teammates while working through the winter with strength and conditioning coach Nu’u Tafisi. Even presumed starting quarterback Tanner Mangum beefed up to 225 pounds in the offseason.

“Coach Nua and all those guys do a great job,” Hoge said. “I think everybody has put on a little weight, including myself. But I still feel faster and stronger.”

The Cougars didn’t open spring camp with any major competitions for starting spots, especially at quarterback. Mangum is the established starter, the only player with significant game experience, and Hoge appears to have the inside track at backup quarterback.

After spending the 2016 season running the scout team, and while using his redshirt, Hoge is preparing for 2017 with the attitude of a starter. After all, he is only one injury away from being called upon — something he knows well from his freshman year, when he replaced a briefly injured Mangum against East Carolina and saw a few snaps in blowout wins over Wagner and Fresno State.

“I just have to prepare like I’m the starter and be ready whenever they need me,” Hoge said. “My role is to be ready, and then support the new guys and the new quarterbacks.”

Preparing like a starter could prove difficult with the limited reps to spread around six quarterbacks in BYU’s spring camp huddle. Beyond Mangum and Hoge, redshirt sophomore Koy Detmer Jr. will also be in the mix at the backup spot, as well as recently returned missionary Kody Wilstead, junior college transfer Young Tanner and former Pleasant Grove quarterback Jeremiah Evans.

The new quarterbacks can’t talk to the media during spring camp, but Hoge said Wilstead and other newcomers have already fit in well to the system, even on the first day of practice.

“He looks really good,” Hoge said of Wilstead. “He’s super tall and has a great arm. Really, he just has a few mission legs and gets a little sore. But he looks good and says he’s really good.”

The backup quarterbacks have an ally in their role on the team in offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ty Detmer. A former Heisman Trophy winner at BYU, Detmer was an admitted career backup in the NFL, most notably to Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

It’s safe to say he knows what to look for in a quality backup.

“You have to give the coaches confidence that they can put you in and run the offense,” Detmer said. “If they got to go in, there may be a little dropoff from lack of reps. But you have to be able to adjust, take care of the football and execute. That’s what we want from those guys: execution, doing what you want them to do, and then they go out and do it.”

Spending time as Hill’s backup a year ago has also benefitted Mangum, even as the presumed starter for the upcoming season, which maintains an aura of optimism as it does with every other team in the nation.

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Mangum spent time on the headset with Detmer every game, and his knowledge of the first-time collegiate offensive coordinator’s system has already improved from 2016.

“He made a lot of audibles today that he struggled with last spring,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Mangum. “Now it’s a little bit easier for him because he is on the same page with Ty. I think having that time to sit and watch with the coach has been good for him.

“I thought he threw the ball well. He executed the offense well and made the adjustments that he needed to. For day one, that’s amazing.”

Even if Mangum won’t be looking over his shoulder at another starter to take his job, Hoge, Detmer, Wilstead and the rest of the quarterbacks will prepare as if they will be called upon.

You can never have too much depth, after all. But there’s no need to be too serious about it.

“It’s definitely competitive. But at the end of the day, we’re good friends,” Hoge said. “There’s a good balance and we’ve done a good job of finding it. Last year, it was a pretty open competition — but there was still some balance. If you find that balance, it makes things a lot better.”

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