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PROVO — Jacob Conover's BYU debut went as well as any reasonable person could expect.
Sure, the former four-star recruit completed just 5-of-9 passes for 45 yards in the Cougars' 34-20 road win at Utah State, and the offense centered around running back Tyler Allgeier, a top 10 tailback nationally who exploded for a career-high 218 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries against the Aggies.
But Conover's role was more nuanced than Allgeier.
The freshman entered the game after Baylor Romney was pulled at halftime following what looked to be an apparent head injury, and the former third-string quarterback went to work.
He leaned on Allgeier, which is exactly what he was supposed to do, and limited any chance of the Cougars' in-state rival of getting back into the game.
More important than his final stat line, Conover finished with no interceptions, no fumbles and didn't even take a sack.
"Jacob won the game," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "Tyler Allgeier was the hero of the game, but I think it's important for everybody to recognize that Jacob came in with an 11-point lead and extended it to a 14-point lead. We won the second half with our third-string quarterback."
The Cougars, now 5-0 for the second-straight season and one of 17 teams nationally still undefeated, also won with Allgeier. And, perhaps most overlooked of all, their defense.
To paraphrase Marilyn Monroe about diamonds and girls, a strong defense — and the No. 8 running back in the country with 564 yards and seven touchdowns — are a freshman quarterback's best friend.
Conover took over the game with a 24-13 halftime lead and never let the Aggies get closer. Under Conover's direction, BYU put together three scoring drives, four that ended in a punt from the nation's fourth-best punter Ryan Rehkow (50.62 yard average), and another that ended with a pair of kneel downs with 1:19 to go.
But that only tells half the story.
BYU's defense went to work after Romney's injury, determined to make Conover's debut a successful one. They couldn't control how he threw the ball, how his receivers caught or dropped passes, or how Allgeier ran.
But they could do their part.
"As soon as we knew Conover was going to come in, we felt the same: We trust Conover; I feel like that's the mindset for our whole team," BYU defensive lineman Atunaisa Mahe said. "If that was going to happen, we were going to have the offense's back, whatever situation we needed to. It was just having a mentality of finishing strong, which we tried to do."
"We trusted the offense, and the offense trusted us to step up and ball out."
Utah State punted on two of their three third-quarter drives, with the other ending in a turnover on downs. In total, the Aggies had 51 yards on 17 plays in the quarter following the injury to Romney — a scoreless stalemate for both teams.
"The players stepped up in a huge way," BYU defensive coordinator Ilaisa Tuiaki said during his weekly Coordinators Corner coaches show on BYUtv. "Going to a third-string quarterback and the offense trying to find their rhythm, just listening to A-Rod talk in the box and making sure he was protecting the team was something I thought was huge for us.
"The offense protected the ball, limited the turnovers, and we got back to doing what we're doing."
The defense also bottled up the Aggies' offense, limiting them to 336 total yards and 0.6 yards per carry for 22 net yards on the ground.
The Cougars rank 73rd nationally in total defense because they allow 378.8 yards per game and have allowed lengthy possessions to their opponents, including most recently South Florida and Utah State. But that same defense allows just 19.4 points per game, the No. 35 mark nationally after surrendering just 10 touchdowns and eight field goals through the first five contests.
That's a mark on par with Florida, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, San Diego State, Washington and Minnesota, to name a few teams around BYU in those rankings.
Utah State's offensive series were bookended by a pair of interceptions — first by Malik Moore, who is having his own breakout season with 11 tackles and two interceptions, and the debut pick by Jakob Robinson.
The Utah State transfer who prepped at Orem High nearly had another, too. But one clutch play (almost) made up for the missed pick he had in the first half.
Robinson finished with three tackles, a pass breakup and that final game-sealing pick.
"It was a great game for him; it would've been even better if he had caught the first (interception) that he dropped," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Robinson. "But I was really pleased with some fo the things he did, coverage-wise. Coach Gilford has done a great job with the corners. They've had to learn the hard way, and now we have some depth. It's a good sign for us."
The Cougars' depth has been tested, especially on defense, with losses to cornerback Keenan Ellis and linebacker and leading tackler Keenan Pili, among others, in the first five games of the year.
Sitake wouldn't confirm or rule out the availability of any of his quarterbacks when he met with the media Monday, but it seems highly unlikely that Romney will be available Saturday against Boise State.
The redshirt sophomore was rocked near the end of the first half against the Aggies, becoming at the time the eighth quarterback injury in the Old Wagon Wheel rivalry series since 2012. He did not return and was in street clothes on the sideline, wearing sunglasses and earplugs as he met his wife and slapped palms with teammates following the win.
First-string quarterback Jaren Hall's availability is more up in the air. The former Maple Mountain standout went down with a rib injury two weeks ago in the final moments of the Cougars' win over Arizona State when Romney replaced him.
But Sitake said Hall returned to practice late last week, though the condensed practice week and Friday night kickoff made playing him virtually impossible.
That will be key in determining the starting quarterback for No. 10 BYU's home tilt Saturday against Boise State (1:30 p.m. MT, ABC).
"They're a really tough opponent," Sitake said of the Broncos. "I know we are going to get their best shot. Our entire focus is on us improving; there are things we saw from last week that we could do better, but I'm probably going to say that every week. I think the issue is just us not being assignment-sound enough.
"I'd like to see (opponents) guys maybe make plays on us, but where we're always in the right spot."
And with all of the questions surrounding the quarterbacks — whether they be Hall's ribs, Romney's head, or Conover's youthful experience — BYU's signal callers have to be at the ready.
At the very least, we know Conover — who started the season at third-string — will be.
"I'll never forget this experience. It was awesome," Conover said of his debut in Logan. "But we've got to keep moving on to next week, and I'll be ready."
