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LOGAN — After he went down with a season-ending ACL injury, BYU linebacker Keenan Pili was promised to still play a role on this year's Cougars team.
Perhaps his biggest role since BYU's leading tackler was forced off the field came midway through BYU's 34-20 win over Utah State in Logan.
Padding a 24-13 halftime lead, the 13th-ranked Cougars (5-0) were staring down the possibility of being forced to their third-string quarterback of the season, Jacob Conover. Jaren Hall was in street clothes on the sidelines at Maverik Stadium, and Baylor Romney had just exited the game with what appeared to be a head injury after completing 15-of-19 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown before the break.
So it was up to Conover, the true freshman quarterback just over a year removed from a church mission to Paraguay who hadn't played a snap of competitive football in more than three years, to figure things out on the road in front of the most hostile crowd BYU had faced to date in an in-state rivalry game with a trophy on the line.
But first, it was up to his BYU teammates to step in and support him.
Enter Pili.
"Payton Wilgar and Keenan Pili, the rest of the captains, they did it," BYU linebacker Ben Bywater said when asked who rallied the troops in the locker room. "We heard when Baylor was out; that's tough. He's a great player. But we believed in Jake, and he came in, did a great job, didn't turn the ball over and marched down the field to get us some points."
Indeed, Conover — the former four-star recruit who won three Arizona 6A state championships at Chandler High School and passed on offers from the likes of Alabama and Arizona State to sign with BYU — didn't wow the casual observer with a glance at his line in the box score. He completed 5-of-9 passes for 45 yards and didn't scramble for anything else with his legs.
As the Cougars tried to run out the clock in the second half, his biggest job was perhaps handing off the ball to Tyler Allgeier, who had a career-high 218 yards and three touchdowns against the Aggies (3-2).
But Conover did exactly what he needed to do. No interceptions. No fumbles.
Not even a sack, thanks to his offensive line of Joe Tukuafu, Clark Barrington, Connor Pay, Blake Freeland and Campbell Barrington, among others.
"He did great," Allgeier said of Conover. "He came in for the second half after what happened to Baylor, and literally did his thing. Everyone was ready, and he just did what he did."
When the time came, Conover sprinted out of the halftime locker room near the front of his team, galloped to the sideline for one final word — and a pair of dabs — from wide receivers coach Fesi Sitake, and began to warm up vigorously.
He was going to be prepared for his shot at Division I football.
"It was pretty surreal," Conover admitted. "Just a moment I've been preparing for, and a great team win.
"They were coming after Baylor hard and had a good defensive scheme. He took some shots, and I was ready. The players knew I was going to go in with that. They showed their trust in me; it was like a big family."
On Conover's first play call of his collegiate career, offensive coordinator Aaron Roderick called a pass — and his attempt under pressure to Gunner Romney missed by a significant margin. The rest of the drive didn't go well, either — another incompletion intended for Neil Pau'u and Allgeier's 3-yard loss that brought in punter Ryan Rehkow for a 57-yard bomb.
"We trust him to be a quarterback, and not just hand the ball off," Sitake said. "I thought he did a good job taking shots down the field and also making adjustments and checks, especially in an environment where it was really loud. Credit to Utah State's fans."
But having that trust from his OC and the rest of his team meant everything.
"I know coach A-Rod trusts each and every one of us," Conover said. "He trusts Jaren, he trusts Baylor, he trusts me, he trusts Sol-Jay. The offense doesn't skip a beat with any of us at the helm."
Conover eventually settled into the game, not doing too much but also doing just enough to keep a normally aggressive Utah State defense off balance. He wasn't perfect — Conover himself would be the first to admit that. But he showed a little bit of why the Cougars recruited him so heavily, and just enough to spark his confidence should he be called upon again while he adapts to the speed of the college game.
And of course, it helps to have a running back like Allgeier, who propelled a season-high 466 yards of offense while the Cougars' front-seven held the Aggies' top 10 offense nationally to 336 total yards and just 22 on the ground.
"It's so demoralizing for a defense to know someone can just run it right down your throat," Conover said of Allgeier.
Romney's status for next Saturday's home game against Boise State remained up in the air Friday night. The Cougars will seek further tests and medical advice for what looked like a head injury as he walked off the field at halftime with the athletic training staff.
The redshirt sophomore returned to the sidelines in street clothes, wearing sunglasses and ear plugs as he congratulated his teammates. Meanwhile, Hall was "close" to returning through four days of practice, Sitake said, but Romney had the better week and Hall's return from a rib injury suffered against Arizona State kept him sidelined for a second consecutive week.
The BYU starter may be able to return against the Broncos. Or maybe Conover will see his first career start against the same Boise team that Romney started his first career game in 2019 — a 28-25 win over the then-No. 14 Broncos.
Either way, the freshman from Chandler, Arizona, will be ready.
"I'll never forget this experience. It was awesome," Conover said. "But we've got to keep moving on to next week, and I'll be ready."
