'That's a brother right there': Gunner Romney's return another spark for BYU's offense

PROVO — Gunner Romney waited four games, and then a little longer, after a lacerated kidney suffered in training camp in August to make his 2022 season debut with the 19th-ranked BYU football team.

He and quarterback Jaren Hall weren't going to wait a minute longer to remind everyone what they were missing.

On the Cougars' first offensive play from scrimmage, Romney bolted upfield against Utah State, cut across the body of defensive back Michael Anyanwu, and lunged for a deep ball to complete a 34-yard pass from Hall. One play later, the redshirt junior capped a two-play, 34-second drive with a 31-yard bomb to Keanu Hill, and the Cougars were off and running in an eventual 38-26 win in the 91st edition of the Wagon Wheel rivalry.

And Romney? Romney was back, if you couldn't tell by the guttural scream he released after that first catch.

"We talked about it before the game; that was something we were going to try to set up, to be aggressive on the first play," said Romney, who was targeted seven times for four catches for 51 yards, the second-most on the team. "It just happened that I was in the right spot.

"We wanted to be aggressive from the start."

With Romney on the field, BYU (4-1) certainly did that. The 6-foot-2, 195-pound receiver from Chandler, Arizona, who had 1,306 receiving yards last year, isn't a breaker known for his afterburners — he had just 2 yards after the catch against the Aggies. But he is a game changer, capable of getting downfield in a hurry and stretching the defense to open the vertical passing game for Hall and the rest of the offense.

In short, Romney makes BYU better, which is why his injury — as well as an ankle injury to fellow top wideout Puka Nacua in the first game of the season — was so devastating for an offense that has picked up the pieces remarkably well.

Even so, it was good to see Romney back in uniform, head coach Kalani Sitake said.

"He's been waiting for a while to get this thing going," Sitake said. "I didn't want to believe it until I saw him catch his first pass, and then that was nice. We're a better team when Gunner's playing. We feel great about our receiving group, but Gunner came back this year for a reason and I'm glad that he's able to get out there and make plays now.

"I loved seeing that light in his eyes and the excitement of being on the field. This is what he enjoys. Missing out on all those games since camp has been really hard on him, so hopefully he makes some more memories for us next week."

Nacua's status remains questionable, at best, for the Cougars' next road trip, a neutral-site game against Notre Dame next Saturday in Las Vegas (5 p.m. MDT, NBC). But even as Kody Epps, who had a team-high 86 yards and a touchdown against the Aggies, Brayden Cosper, Keanu Hill and tight ends Isaac Rex, Masen Wake and Ethan Erickson have stepped in to fill a much-needed hole, Romney's return was embraced by his fellow pass catchers and the rest of his teammates.

"That's a brother right there," Epps said. "That's a dude that I love to death, and I'm gonna love him for the rest of my life. As a true friend, as a true brother, to have him back on the field and see him make that first catch was epic. I know he's been waiting for a while. I've been wanting to for him, and the team has been waiting for him, so it was pretty sick to see that."

In many ways, Romney, who said after the game he would be "ready to go" next week, is simply another weapon for Hall, the quarterback whose NFL draft stock is rising five games into what many expect to be his last year with the program due to age and experience.

Romney is another target to add to a list that includes Epps (198 yards, 3 touchdowns), Hill (329 yards, 4 TD), Cosper (192 yards, 1 TD) and Chase Roberts (223 yards, 1 TD), who missed his second-straight game Thursday night with an undisclosed injury and remains questionable-but-possible to face Notre Dame.

Roberts never dressed to warm up before the Cougars' game against the Aggies, which was tied 17-17 at halftime before a 28-3 run in the second half helped the 24-point favorites pull away.

"We started out super hot on that first drive, then we went into a lull. We knew Utah State was going to come out firing, and we weren't prepared for it," Romney admitted. "They had more energy than us, they were more physical than us; it seems like they were more ready to play.

"But luckily, we went back, made some good adjustments at halftime, came out with a little more fire and we were able to get that done."

Romney has worked out for the better part of the first weeks of the season, since he was recovered from an eight-day hospital visit to repair his ruptured kidney. But he didn't return to full practice until the past week, and even if he thought he was in good enough physical shape after team doctors granted him full clearance, Romney admitted to sucking wind, to being "not even close, conditioning-wise."

"I was out of breath the entire game," Romney added, laughing about it. "But that's just something where I haven't practiced too often until this week, and it was a short rep to get in as many reps as I can, to stay fresh. But that's just something that will come with time."

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